A Sudden Flicker of Light
First published 2026 · debut
Reception
Mostly positive. 12 of 14 critics were positive or better.
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“While the movies have declined, Thomson argues that so too has life ‘become a movie.’ We are so enclosed by screens that we struggle to think beyond them”
2 more quotes
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“A book-length renunciation of his career would be quite the ave, but Thomson can’t commit to that. He pleads his case like a brilliant drunk representing himself at night court”
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“I can’t recall such a bleak appraisal of an art form since Tipper Gore went after Twisted Sister in the 1980s”
- 2026
- 2026
Read the 2 reviews
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A Sudden Flicker of Light by David Thomson review – a brilliantly eccentric history of the movies
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A Sudden Flicker of Light
“I can’t recall such a bleak appraisal of an art form since Tipper Gore went after Twisted Sister in the 1980s ... Thomson’s book, coming late in his career, is more successful as a provocation than as a persuasive indictment of cinema ... Thomson sprinkles critique throughout his book like seasoning unevenly applied to a gamey piece of meat. He concedes that his argument jumps around confusingly, ”
By Michael O'Donnell