A beautiful, extremely pleasurable and invigorating read. The best I've read in a long time. It brought back the 'heady' exhilarating times when I first encountered existentialism as an 18 year old freshmen in college in 1970. It was my first encounter with existentialism. But initially not through the philosophical works themselves but through a course in 20th century literature: Sartre, Hesse, Camus, Malraux, de Beauvoir. It was eye-opening for an 18 year old who grew up in what was still a "1950's" suburban life. I was then so fortunate to take small seminars (6 - 8 students) on "Nietzsche", "Being and Time", and "The Later Heidegger" with professors such as Joseph P. Fell ("Emotion in the Theory of Sartre" and "Heidegger and Sartre") and Ernest Keen ("Three Faces of Being: Toward An Existential Clinical Psychology" and " A Primer in Phenomenological Psychology" and "Ultimacy and Triviality In Psychotherapy") . I will always be grateful for what they taught me to see and question.
I didn't know of Sarah Blakewell until this book. I don't where she might have been "hiding" but she is a tremendously gifted writer and extremely well-read scholar. I have never seen such complex concepts translated into such accessible explanations. More than that, she is able to poetically convey the mood of the times and the ambience of the existential café - its life, its commitment and its energy. As she herself said, after 30 years of being enthralled with the "ideas", it was the lives that mattered and were most interesting. No, I wasn't there, but she makes you feel as if you had been. Nothing in my ongoing reading of existentialism and phenomenology has touched me as this has. There is so much I lost to the "herd" mentality over the years as a hospital; social worker in constant conflict with ridiculous government regulations, insurance companies' greediness and a mentality regarding technology (specifically computerized records) that dictate that physicians and nurses spend more time at their computers than with patients (Heidegger was right:: the essence of technology is not technology at all but how we relate to the world, the Earth and each other).
In conclusion, I hope this has not been too rambling a review. But Bakewell's book has invigorated me to reassess what I do every day, how I do it and why I do it. It is by far the best read, and most motivating read, I've had in years. I recommend it most highly, especially to those like me, who lived through the tumultuous '60's and were inspired by a philosophy of freedom and engagement. May this book bring us back to those heady days of freedom and future that we thought we were destined to have - but unfortunately thought could be achieved without the sacrifice and commitment necessary. And maybe, to some, whose lives are governed by their "life" on the technology of FaceBook, Twitter etc, may they come to understand that technology is not the essence of life, of Being, or anything else. There is no "authenticity" in Facebook....it is a technological "bad faith"
I didn't know who Sarah Blakewell was until this but she is marvelously informed and extremely well-read.
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Reviews with images
Marvelous philosophy and biography!
This is a wonderful book book for two main reasons.1. It is a biography of not only the philosophers but a supporting cast of very interesting folks. The author's style is engaging and witty. I have read many dry books on philosophy and philosophers. This is not one of those.2. It is a great overview of these interesting thinkers' ideas and the mileu in which they lived.I strongly dislike the way in which they live their lives. As a Christian, I see that their outlook on death was bleak and gave no hope - neither to themselves or for anyone else.I do like that they really put their feet to their philosophy, so to speak. They did things, and sometimes very good things. They realized that they lived in history and approached their philosophy that way.I have already several books by the phenomenologists on the to read list! The great thing this book did for me was to pique my interest in these great thinkers. While I don't agree with a lot of things they thought, they are consistency in many cases is something anyone can respect. Ask the picture shows, I made many notes and plan to refer back to them from time to time.I hope to read other books by the author, and hopefully she will write another one very soon!If Ms. Bakewell reads this review, I really want to thank you for engaging my mind for the past couple of weeks! Your book was a good page turner and opened my thoughts to see some things differently!
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