Overview

Stanley Kubrick is generally acknowledged as one of the world's great directors. Yet few critics or scholars have considered how he emerged from a unique and vibrant cultural milieu: the New York Jewish intelligentsia. Stanley Kubrick reexamines the director's work in context of his ethnic and cultural origins. Focusing on several of Kubrick's key themes-including masculinity, ethical responsibility, and the nature of evil-it demonstrates how his films were in conversation with contemporary New York Jewish intellectuals who grappled with the same concerns. At the same time, it explores Kubrick's fraught relationship with his Jewish identity and his reluctance to be pegged as an ethnic director, manifest in his removal of Jewish references and characters from stories he adapted. As he digs deep into rare Kubrick archives to reveal insights about the director's life and times, film scholar Nathan Abrams also provides a nuanced account of Kubrick's cinematic artistry. Each chapter offers a detailed analysis of one of Kubrick's major films, including Lolita, Dr. Strangelove, 2001, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, and Eyes Wide Shut. Stanley Kubrick thus presents an illuminating look at one of the twentieth century's most renowned and yet misunderstood directors.

Full Product Details

Author:   Nathan Abrams
Publisher:   Rutgers University Press
Imprint:   Rutgers University Press
Edition:   New in Paperback
Dimensions:   Width: 14.90cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 22.50cm
Weight:   0.513kg
ISBN:  

9780813587110

ISBN 10:   0813587115
Pages:   344
Publication Date:   16 October 2020
Recommended Age:   From 16 to 99 years
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  General/trade ,  Professional & Vocational ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Introduction 1          Looking to Killing 2          The Macho Mensch 3          Kubrick’s Double 4          Banality and the Bomb 5          Kubrick and Kabbalah 6          A Mechanical Mensch 7          A Spatial Odyssey 8          Dream Interpretation 9          Men as Meat 10        Kubrick’s Coda Epilogue Acknowledgments Notes Select Bibliography Index

Reviews

[A] pathbreaking new book. --I.Q. Hunter Tablet Magazine ?Lost Stanley Kubrick screenplay, Burning Secret, is found 60 years on by Dan Alberge--I.Q. Hunter The Guardian/Observer ?Scholar reveals morbid roots of lost Stanley Kubrick script, by JP O'Malley--I.Q. Hunter The Times of Israel [An] extraordinarily entertaining new book. --I.Q. Hunter Village Voice Abrams asserts that if you look closely enough, the tension between being a cultural and religious Jew turns up frequently in Kubrick's work. --I.Q. Hunter Jewish Journal Abrams combines close readings of the films with intensive, archival research into the source material-- scripts, production documents, and Kubrick's personal papers and artifacts--which collectively tell a Jewish story. --I.Q. Hunter Jewish Review of Books Abrams...makes a very convincing case that while Kubrick posed as an atheist technocrat filmmaker who wanted his films to appeal to worldwide audiences, among the many things he was burying in their subtexts were 'the concerns of Jewish intellectuals in the post-Holocaust world'....Ultimately though, are Abrams' assumptions correct? Many of them ring true and likely are. --I.Q. Hunter PJ Media Abrams...[identifies] each and every Jewish allusion in Kubrick's oeuvre that he can find. --I.Q. Hunter Times Literary Supplement Abrams's study--this is not the least of its virtues--encourages us to revisit the films with a refreshed, enlightened eye. This is what any serious and good work of film criticism should do. --I.Q. Hunter Senses of Cinema Brilliantly documents and analyzes Kubrick's Jewish sensibility by locating him in the lifelong context of his Jewish cultural and intellectual milieu. Abrams breaks acres of new ground. Essential reading. --Geoffrey Cocks author of The Wolf at the Door: Stanley Kubrick, History, and the Holocaust How Jewish Was Stanley Kubrick? by Nathan Abrams--I.Q. Hunter Zocalo Public Square Irresistible reading. --I.Q. Hunter Cineaste Kubrick, the enigmatic Jew, by Nathan Abrams--I.Q. Hunter Jewish Chronicle Kubrick's Universe, the Stanley Kubrick podcast - 9 Stanley Kubrick New York Jewish Intellectual with Nathan Abrams--I.Q. Hunter Kubrick's Universe podcast Nathan Abrams' recent and remarkably insightful book published by Rutgers University Press in 2018. --I.Q. Hunter Senses of Cinema No film or Jewish history holding should be without this different approach to Kubrick's film magic. --I.Q. Hunter Donovan's Literary Services No stone is unturned, no link untraced. Fans will revisit Kubrick's movies with increased appreciation of the depth and complexity that make them compelling, and new ideas to fuel speculations. Academics will find plenty to rekindle debates about matters such as authorship, genre, adaptation, context, and audience address, making this a significant intervention beyond the subfield of Kubrick studies. --I.Q. Hunter H-Judaic Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpiece, by Michael Benson by Nathan Abrams--I.Q. Hunter Times Higher Education Stanley Kubrick's films all had one thing in common: Jewishness by Nathan Abrams--I.Q. Hunter The Conversation The power of the book as a whole...will be riveting reading for anyone who loves Kubrick's film. --I.Q. Hunter Jerusalem Post Magazine The Secret Jewish History Of '2001: A Space Odyssey' by Nathan Abrams--I.Q. Hunter Forward With imagination and intellectual rigor, using archival research and close readings of the films, Nathan Abrams explores Stanley Kubrick's relationship with his Jewishness in this exceptionally readable and convincing book. --Robert P. Kolker author of The Extraordinary Image Written by Nathan Abrams, a superstar of contemporary Kubrick studies, this wonderfully knowledgeable and scholarly account of the great director's Jewishness is the most original film book I've read for many years. --I.Q. Hunter author of Cult Film as a Guide to Life: Fandom, Adaptation, and Identity Jewish Views podcast interview with Nathan Abrams--I.Q. Hunter Jewish Views Podcast Weekly Book List, May 25, 2018 by Nina Ayoub mention of Stanley Kubrick--I.Q. Hunter Chronicle of Higher Education In Nathan Abrams's Stanley Kubrick: New York Jewish Intellectual, [an] exploration of the contradictions of Kubrick's relation to Jewish identity, the film is seen through the lens of Biblical allusion and Kabbalistic interpretation. --I.Q. Hunter Wall Street Journal Every scholar and devotee of Kubrick will want to read Stanley Kubrick: New York Jewish Intellectual. --I.Q. Hunter Film Quarterly An impressive work of original scholarship, Stanley Kubrick: New York Jewish Intellectual presents an exceptionally informative study of one of the twentieth century's most renowned and yet misunderstood film directors. --I.Q. Hunter Midwest Book Review A must-read for anyone interested in Kubrick, this original and provocative study combines wonderfully perceptive film analyses with extensive archival research and a dazzling display of cultural-historical and biographical knowledge. --Peter Kramer author of BFI Film Classics on Dr. Strangelove and 2001: A Space Odyssey Stanley Kubrick is outstanding in its approach and the material it covers. As a pioneer work, anyone investigating Kubrick in the future would not be able to overlook Abrams' findings and arguments. --Marat Grinberg coeditor of Woody on Rye: Jewishness in the Films and Plays of Woody Allen We're still finding Jewish clues in Kubrick's work 20 years after his last film, by Nathan Abrams https: //blogs.timesofisrael.com/were-still-finding-jewish-clues-in-kubricks-work-20-years-after-his-last-film/--I.Q. Hunter Times of Israel

No stone is unturned, no link untraced. Fans will revisit Kubrick's movies with increased appreciation of the depth and complexity that make them compelling, and new ideas to fuel speculations. Academics will find plenty to rekindle debates about matters such as authorship, genre, adaptation, context, and audience address, making this a significant intervention beyond the subfield of Kubrick studies. --I.Q. Hunter H-Judaic Readers interested in a systematic dissection of how Jewish themes are coded in Kubrick's work are directed to Nathan Abrams' Stanley Kubrick: New York Jewish Intellectual. --I.Q. Hunter Pop Matters [A] pathbreaking new book. --I.Q. Hunter Tablet Magazine ?Lost Stanley Kubrick screenplay, Burning Secret, is found 60 years on by Dan Alberge--I.Q. Hunter The Guardian/Observer ?Scholar reveals morbid roots of lost Stanley Kubrick script, by JP O'Malley--I.Q. Hunter The Times of Israel [An] extraordinarily entertaining new book. --I.Q. Hunter Village Voice Abrams asserts that if you look closely enough, the tension between being a cultural and religious Jew turns up frequently in Kubrick's work. --I.Q. Hunter Jewish Journal Abrams combines close readings of the films with intensive, archival research into the source material-- scripts, production documents, and Kubrick's personal papers and artifacts--which collectively tell a Jewish story. --I.Q. Hunter Jewish Review of Books Abrams...makes a very convincing case that while Kubrick posed as an atheist technocrat filmmaker who wanted his films to appeal to worldwide audiences, among the many things he was burying in their subtexts were 'the concerns of Jewish intellectuals in the post-Holocaust world'....Ultimately though, are Abrams' assumptions correct? Many of them ring true and likely are. --I.Q. Hunter PJ Media Abrams...[identifies] each and every Jewish allusion in Kubrick's oeuvre that he can find. --I.Q. Hunter Times Literary Supplement Abrams's study--this is not the least of its virtues--encourages us to revisit the films with a refreshed, enlightened eye. This is what any serious and good work of film criticism should do. --I.Q. Hunter Senses of Cinema Brilliantly documents and analyzes Kubrick's Jewish sensibility by locating him in the lifelong context of his Jewish cultural and intellectual milieu. Abrams breaks acres of new ground. Essential reading. --Geoffrey Cocks author of The Wolf at the Door: Stanley Kubrick, History, and the Holocaust How Jewish Was Stanley Kubrick? by Nathan Abrams--I.Q. Hunter Zocalo Public Square Irresistible reading. --I.Q. Hunter Cineaste Kubrick, the enigmatic Jew, by Nathan Abrams--I.Q. Hunter Jewish Chronicle Kubrick's Universe, the Stanley Kubrick podcast - 9 Stanley Kubrick New York Jewish Intellectual with Nathan Abrams--I.Q. Hunter Kubrick's Universe podcast Nathan Abrams' recent and remarkably insightful book published by Rutgers University Press in 2018. --I.Q. Hunter Senses of Cinema No film or Jewish history holding should be without this different approach to Kubrick's film magic. --I.Q. Hunter Donovan's Literary Services Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpiece, by Michael Benson by Nathan Abrams--I.Q. Hunter Times Higher Education Stanley Kubrick's films all had one thing in common: Jewishness by Nathan Abrams--I.Q. Hunter The Conversation The power of the book as a whole...will be riveting reading for anyone who loves Kubrick's film. --I.Q. Hunter Jerusalem Post Magazine The Secret Jewish History Of '2001: A Space Odyssey' by Nathan Abrams--I.Q. Hunter Forward With imagination and intellectual rigor, using archival research and close readings of the films, Nathan Abrams explores Stanley Kubrick's relationship with his Jewishness in this exceptionally readable and convincing book. --Robert P. Kolker author of The Extraordinary Image Written by Nathan Abrams, a superstar of contemporary Kubrick studies, this wonderfully knowledgeable and scholarly account of the great director's Jewishness is the most original film book I've read for many years. --I.Q. Hunter author of Cult Film as a Guide to Life: Fandom, Adaptation, and Identity Jewish Views podcast interview with Nathan Abrams--I.Q. Hunter Jewish Views Podcast Weekly Book List, May 25, 2018 by Nina Ayoub mention of Stanley Kubrick--I.Q. Hunter Chronicle of Higher Education In Nathan Abrams's Stanley Kubrick: New York Jewish Intellectual, [an] exploration of the contradictions of Kubrick's relation to Jewish identity, the film is seen through the lens of Biblical allusion and Kabbalistic interpretation. --I.Q. Hunter Wall Street Journal Every scholar and devotee of Kubrick will want to read Stanley Kubrick: New York Jewish Intellectual. --I.Q. Hunter Film Quarterly An impressive work of original scholarship, Stanley Kubrick: New York Jewish Intellectual presents an exceptionally informative study of one of the twentieth century's most renowned and yet misunderstood film directors. --I.Q. Hunter Midwest Book Review A must-read for anyone interested in Kubrick, this original and provocative study combines wonderfully perceptive film analyses with extensive archival research and a dazzling display of cultural-historical and biographical knowledge. --Peter Kramer author of BFI Film Classics on Dr. Strangelove and 2001: A Space Odyssey Stanley Kubrick is outstanding in its approach and the material it covers. As a pioneer work, anyone investigating Kubrick in the future would not be able to overlook Abrams' findings and arguments. --Marat Grinberg coeditor of Woody on Rye: Jewishness in the Films and Plays of Woody Allen We're still finding Jewish clues in Kubrick's work 20 years after his last film, by Nathan Abrams https: //blogs.timesofisrael.com/were-still-finding-jewish-clues-in-kubricks-work-20-years-after-his-last-film/--I.Q. Hunter Times of Israel

"Stanley Kubrick is outstanding in its approach and the material it covers. As a pioneer work, anyone investigating Kubrick in the future would not be able to overlook Abrams' findings and arguments."" —Marat Grinberg, co-editor of Woody on Rye: Jewishness in the Films and Plays of Woody Allen ""With imagination and intellectual rigor, using archival research and close readings of the films, Nathan Abrams explores Stanley Kubrick’s relationship with his Jewishness in this exceptionally readable and convincing book."" —Robert P. Kolker, author of The Extraordinary Image ""Brilliantly documents and analyzes Kubrick's Jewish sensibility by locating him in the lifelong context of his Jewish cultural and intellectual milieu. Abrams breaks acres of new ground. Essential reading."" —Geoffrey Cocks, author of The Wolf at the Door: Stanley Kubrick, History, and the Holocaust “A must-read for anyone interested in Kubrick, this original and provocative study combines wonderfully perceptive film analyses with extensive archival research and a dazzling display of cultural-historical and biographical knowledge.” —Peter Krämer, author of BFI Film Classics on Dr. Strangelove and 2001: A Space Odyssey"

Author Information

NATHAN ABRAMS is a professor of film studies at Bangor University in Wales. He is the founding coeditor of Jewish Film and New Media: An International Journal, and he is also the author of several books including The New Jew in Film: Exploring Jewishness and Judaism in Contemporary Cinema (Rutgers University Press). 

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