The Benefactor

Name: The Benefactor
ISBN: 9787532743230

Susan Sontag / 姚君伟Shanghai Translation Publishing House · ChinaJul 2015

3.7

Word count: 156K words
Chapters: 20
ISBN: 9787532743230

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Summary

In The Benefactor, Susan Sontag's fascination with dreams and hallucinations gives readers the dream-life of its protagonist and narrator, 'I.' In this short narrative work, 'I' dreams thirteen dreams in all — not counting their different versions — and passes some sixty-one years of life more or less dreaming and interpreting dreams. Dreams and fantasies here seem not merely to unfold the plot; they are rather the chief actors of the novel: dream follows dream, and there are 'dreams within dreams,' which even acquire a life and logic of their own. Dreams and hallucinations lay bare the confusion and solitude of 'I' in self-perception and self-exploration, and the inner world of 'I' is thereby faithfully rendered.

Editor's review

Susan Sontag's debut novel "The Benefactor" is a modernist novel steeped in philosophical speculation and dream experimentation, revealing the early literary explorations of the writer who would later become a public intellectual. The novel follows the first-person narrator Hippolyte's spiritual wanderings as its main thread, exploring core propositions such as consciousness and existence, reality and fiction, freedom and constraint through a series of absurd and richly symbolic dreams. Sontag abandons the linear narrative of traditional fiction, fusing philosophical meditation, psychological analysis, and surreal imagery into a whole, creating an inner world that is both intimate and universal.

As the starting point of Sontag's literary map, "The Benefactor" anticipates the themes she would pursue throughout her life: self-consciousness about form, attention to sensory experience, a latent interest in "camp" aesthetics, and the spiritual predicament of the intellectual. Hippolyte's obsessive recording and interpretation of dreams can be seen as Sontag's own early rehearsal of the relationship between "interpretation" and "transparency." Despite being a debut, its precision of language, control of structure, and density of thought already reveal the author's extraordinary intellectual edge. Reading this book is like watching a thinker hammer at the hard stone of experience with the tool of fiction, the sparks illuminating both the dark corners of the inner world and the universal anxiety of postwar intellectuals in an age of collapsing meaning. It is not a novel that offers answers but a speculative journey that invites readers to participate in the construction of meaning.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers with a strong interest in modernist literature and philosophical fiction
Readers who wish to understand the origins of Susan Sontag's thought and literary creation
Deep readers who enjoy exploring themes of dreams, consciousness, and existence
Readers who appreciate a refined, cool, and intellectually dense prose style

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting traditional, plot-driven stories
Readers impatient with abstract speculation and nonlinear narrative

Reading tips

It is suggested to read this book alongside Sontag's later essay collections (such as "Against Interpretation") to glimpse the continuity and development of her intellectual trajectory
While reading, pay attention to how "dreams" function both as content and as formal vehicle, and how the narrator's relationship to dreams changes
Do not rush to seek a plot "resolution"; it is better to immerse yourself in its distinctive linguistic rhythm and fragments of thought and experience its meditative quality

About the publisher

Shanghai Translation Publishing House China · Founded in 1978

Shanghai Translation Publishing House is a Chinese publisher oriented mainly toward translation and publishing. Its publications cover foreign literature, world classics and classic works, as well as social culture, folk literature and classical poetry. The database contains 2,618 titles, including Never Let Me Go, Les Misérables (2 volumes), Don Quixote (illustrated collector's edition), The Complete Comedies of Molière (4 volumes), The Complete Novels of Kafka (3 volumes), The Collected Works of Dostoevsky (9-volume set), Reason and Persons, and Oedipus Rex (Translation Classics). Its author resources include foreign writers such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Victor Hugo, Cervantes and Molière, as well as translators such as Zheng Kelu, Sun Jiameng, Li Jianwu and Zhang Kun. The publisher has brands such as "Translation Classics Selections" and "Translation Documentary," and emphasizes translated works in foreign literature and the humanities and social sciences, while also publishing bilingual dictionaries and foreign-language educational books. Public information is limited; the above is based on the book information in the database.

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译后记

FAQ

What kind of novel is "The Benefactor"?

It is a highly speculative modernist philosophical novel centered on dream experimentation, focusing on the protagonist's inner world and spiritual exploration rather than external plot. It is Sontag's literary experiment with the novel form and the possibilities of consciousness.

As Sontag's debut, is this book mature?

Despite being a debut, it is already quite mature in depth of thought, formal exploration, and linguistic control, laying the foundation for the core concerns and stylistic tone of Sontag's subsequent work. It is an important starting point for understanding her intellectual system.

What are the challenges of reading this book?

The main challenges lie in its unconventional narrative structure and strong philosophical speculative flavor. It has no clear plot progression; it is more like an intellectual and imaginative wander through dreams, reality, and self-perception, requiring corresponding reading patience and openness from the reader.

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About the author

Susan Sontag Author · American · 1933–2004

Susan Sontag (1933–2004) was an American writer and critic, often called "the conscience of the American public." Her work ranged widely across literary appreciation, foreign literature, photography, essays and miscellaneous writings, and travel. Her representative books include Against Interpretation, On Photography, Illness as Metaphor, Under the Sign of Saturn, and the volumes of essays and literary diaries collected in The Complete Works of Susan Sontag. Her criticism is known for its sharp questioning and distinctive style, linking literature, visual culture, and public issues; she was also long involved in human rights and anti-war activities. She received the National Book Award and the Jerusalem Prize, and her works continue to be translated and read in the Chinese-speaking world, with forty titles available on this site.

姚君伟 Author

Yao Junwei is an author and translator whose work centers on foreign literature. Public information about him is limited, and no systematic account of his life is available. Judging from the nineteen titles included in the database, his focus lies in introducing English literary classics and authors: he has taken part in compiling and translating Maugham's longer works, including The Moon and Sixpence, and has consistently attended to the writings of Susan Sontag, covering The Benefactor of Saturn, Under the Sign of Saturn, and the literature and diaries volumes of Sontag's collected works. His selections lean toward classics and intellectual biographies of writers, while also touching on social and cultural themes and miscellaneous essays. His translations aim to stay close to the originals and preserve their literary texture, offering Chinese readers relatively reliable editions for understanding modern and contemporary English literature.