Off Beat
By Gladys Matar  كلاديس مطر

A collection of articles on the concept of art in general.

Although The definition of art is controversial in contemporary philosophy, Ms Matar attempted in this book to link the subject to our daily cultural features.

This was published by Naufal publishing house in Beirut.

(To Purchase Ms. Matar's Books Visit Our Links Section) 

BOOK REVIEW

Well, it is hard to discuss Gladys, the story teller, without diving into her lucid thought processes and viewpoints, and her vast and diverse erudition, which enable her to offer her thoughts and philosophical takes on the mysteries of life and death. In the same fashion, Gladys manages to sum up several milestones of human societal wisdom to portrait man as a trans-generational artistic character.
 
…..and as she (Gladys) dares to be aware, she declares that “one must have the audacity to seek and venture into thinking, understanding, and exploring, for there is no true satisfaction from the mere reassembly or transfer of someone else’s originations.”
 
…. she (Gladys) also considers that “Our long human history, and our near complete understanding of life’s fundamental essence and how it responds to events around life, lead us to see that there is not one definite destination to life’s events, as these tend to have a circular mode.”
 
….she (Gladys) intended to impel the Arab reader, to attempt to evaluate and compare the issues of concern to us as Arabs… in a world torn between openness and reticence and the abandonment of dialogue…) 
 
Author/Critic Rabab Hilal, Al-Thoura Cultural Bulletin – May 23, 2001 – issue #11486