The Hall of Uselessness: Collected Essays

Simon Leys’ cultural and political commentary has long been legendary for its profundity and acerbic wit. In The Hall of Uselessness his most significant essays are finally gathered together, on subjects ranging from China to Orwell, from Quixotism to the sea.

Leys feuds with Christopher Hitchens, ponders the popularity of Victor Hugo and analyses whether Nabokov’s unfinished novel should ever have been published. He dissects Mao’s Cultural Revolution and the Khmer Rouge, and discusses Waugh, Simenon and Confucius. He considers Chinese art, culture and politics, the joys and difficulties of literary translation and the fate of the university.

The Hall of Uselessness is an illuminating compendium from a brilliant and highly acclaimed writer – a long-time resident of Australia who was truly a global citizen.

• Shortlisted, 2012 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards

• Shortlisted, 2012 NSW Premier's Literary Awards

About the Author

Simon Leys is the pen-name of Pierre Ryckmans (1935 - 2014), who was born in Belgium and settled in Australia in 1970. He taught Chinese literature at the Australian National University and was Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Sydney from 1987 to 1993.

His writing appeared in The New York Review of Books, Le Monde, Le Figaro Littéraire, Quadrant and The Monthly, and his books include The Hall of Uselessness, The Death of Napoleon, Other People’s Thoughts and The Wreck of the Batavia & Prosper.

In 1996 he delivered the ABC’s Boyer Lectures. His many awards include the Prix Renaudot, the Prix mondial Cino Del Duca, the Prix Guizot and the Christina Stead Prize for fiction.