A great book for Christian self-examination, dedicated by the author and recommended by this reviewer to “that solitary individual” who desires to commit himself to One Thing and guard himself against double-mindedness, mixed and hidden motives. hypocrisy and mediocrity. Like Socrates, his role model, Kierkegaard excels, not so much in establishing the true religious or philosophical belief, as in distinguishing falsehood from truth, thereby prompting the reader to reflect and […]
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“The Sickness Unto Death” by Søren Kierkegaard
What is Despair? “Just as a physician might say there isn’t a single human being who enjoys perfect health, so someone with a proper knowledge of man might say there is not a single human being who does not despair at least a little, in whose innermost being there does not dwell an uneasiness, an unquiet, a discordance, an anxiety in the face of an unknown something, or a something […]
Read more“The Man Who Laughs” by Victor Hugo
[Also published under the title: By Order of the King] “I returned and saw under the sun that— The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all.” Synopsis This book reminded me of the movie “On the Waterfront“, especially the famous […]
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“Fear and Trembling” by Søren Kierkegaard
Over the Abyss This book reminded me of a close call I had many years ago. It was on a sunny Saturday. I was cruising on the highway, enjoying the scenery, music playing in the background, and a gentle breeze in my face. All of a sudden, a spider started crawling across the steering wheel. I tried to gently wipe it off, but lost control of the wheel. My car […]
Read more“Notre-Dame de Paris” by Victor Hugo
Historian, Philosopher and Poet If I can quote one passage from Hugo’s books that best reflects the author, the focus of his passions, the style and architecture of his novels, it would be the following: “There he was, serious, motionless, absorbed — all eye, all ear, all thought. All Paris was at his feet, with the thousand spires of its buildings, and its circular horizon of gentle hills, with its […]
Read more“Candide” by Voltaire
How to Produce a Good Tragedy “To be new without being odd, often sublime and always natural, to know the human heart and to make it speak; to be a great poet without allowing any person in the piece to appear to be a poet; to know language perfectly–to speak it with purity, with continuous harmony and without rhythm ever taking anything from sense.”
Read more“On the Nature of Things” by Lucretius
Cicero, because of his personal aversion to the Epicurean philosophy, didn’t quite do it justice in his book The Nature of the Gods, which introduced the Greek philosophical schools to the Romans. He all but made the Epicurean the laughing-stock of all the other philosophers. However, he also prepared and edited the transcript of this book by Lucretius, arguably the best exposition of Epicureanism, as a counterpoint. Lucretius made a […]
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