Waterstones Every Time I Find the Meaning of Life, They Change It
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Price: £10.99
Brand: Waterstones
Description: ' Every time I find the meaning of life, they change it." The words of Reinhold Niebuhr provide the title and set the tone for what is a wryly humorous look at some of the great philosophical pronouncements on the most important question we can face. Daniel Klein's philosophical journey began fifty years ago with just this conundrum; he began an undergraduate degree in philosophy at Harvard University to glean some clue as to what the answer could be. Now in his seventies, Klein looks back at the wise words of the great philosophers and considers how his own life has measured up. Told with the same brilliantly dry sense of humour that made Travels with Epicurus a Sunday Times bestseller, Every Time I Find the Meaning of Life, They Change It is a pithy, dry, and eminently readable commentary on one of the most profound subjects there is.
Category: Books
Merchant: Waterstones
Product ID: 9781780749327
Delivery cost: 2.99
ISBN: 9781780749327
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Author: Lark
Rating: 5
Review: This is such a personable and entertaining read, I had this on pre-order from the time that I read Travels With Epicurus by the same author which was a personal and philosophical reflection upon travels around Greece in later life which I really, really enjoyed and would recommend to anyone as well. In both accounts there is a depth of personal account, the author mentions family members, friends and life experience, for the author philosophy really is a live experience and its really clear that this is why the author thinks the ideas matter, why they deserve to be thought about and discussed or brought to anyone else's attention at all in the first place. In this book I was very sorry to read in the acknowledgements that the author's dog, Snookers, who is featured more than a few times throughout the book, I felt one of the best examples being in a later chapter about "being in the moment", "living the present moment" etc., had passed away. This book, the author writes, is occasioned not by travels and reflections on the same but the discovery of a notebook of quotations, "pithies", that is "pithy quotes" and each chapter begins with the quotation and has the reflective notes from then and now as its main body of content. It is a personal account of one person's life philosophy as a result, a mix of (I would suggest qualified) hedonism, existentialism and skepticism, as before, which if you know the author you will know what to expect, if you are interested in philosophical topics, the question of what makes for the best or good life, then I believe you will be pleased with this book too. The pace and style of writing were great, some chapters are longer than others, depending on the subject matter, it takes a little longer to deal with some material than others but at no point did I think the narrative became pedantic or dull or repetitious, some of the chapters are related to one another, if only with mention of an earlier author's experience or perspective. Personally, I loved the quote/chapter from the dedicated and serious monist/materialist who died and experienced a spiritual epiphany, although that the same thinker, AJ Ayer, had challenged Mike Tyson to a gentlemanly discussion of good conduct was just as good a story. Which may make it appear like this book is "philosophy lite", not my intention at all and certainly not what I would consider the book to be either (the author in the acknowledgements describes it going through a serious of readings and corrections when he shared it with philosopher friends), it isnt academic reading perhaps but I think academics, like anyone else, could benefit from reading it. Recommended.
Author: Kindle Customer
Rating: 4
Review: Axactly what I wanted - many thanks
