Customer Reviews

Either/Or: A Fragment of Life (Penguin Classics)

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there is a countervailing advantage this edition offers against the princeton volumes even though its abridged... this is a lighter and smoother English translation. English is not my native language, but I believe many American readers would find the Hong translations as tough-going as I did (even if meticulous). Kierkegaard is already very wordy so this translation is a pain reducer.

for the most part, it goes without saying that pure philosophy texts make for difficult reading. To a great extent, kierkegaard is no exception. However, I would highly recommend this book for anyone struggling with questions of faith, particularly those involving the relationship between god and man. For me, the most valuable part of the book was the author's clear conflict and passion for the issues. It seemed to me that he was not trying to write as some great philosopher-king trying to bring light to the poor suffering masses, but as a sincerely conflicted human being, down in the trenches with the rest of us, just trying to understand what it all means. In short, although the style may be a little hard to wade through at times, it is a thouroughly thought-provoking and insightful book.

I mistakenly purchased this without noticing it was abridged. It seems dishonest to only mark this on the back but not the front of the text.

K./Eremita/... is certainly an amazing and entertaining philosopher, and one should either read everything of his or nothing, I was surprised that the book is not listed as ABRIDGED. The first (and most popular) book is less badly cut, and I'm sure all of the excisions improve the book, if you're serious about K., you might find this a problem. E/O is a two volume work-- good luck finding them, though.

Kierkegaard is perhaps one of the greatest thinker ever and Either/Or one of the greatest books.But as I said beware of him.Please if you do get your hands on this book and live alone,have patience and read it through completely for this book can change your life in unimaginable ways.Do not stop on Either (the aesthetic) part and read his or(ethical) part too.Penguin has done great job in including both parts in a single volume in my opinion.

In my opinion the best way is to read his journals first and then come to Either/Or because you might be deceived into believing that these are his opinion.And for those serious readers who tend to be serious Kierkegaard reader please have patience for this book might plunge you into despair.Kierkegaard had a sickness that he saw too much.

Have patience because as Kierkegaard said this book was a necessary deception and in his words later -'I here by retract this book but I never said that I was the author'.There is a third stage-the religious stage waiting in the further readings of his which will posit and solve the duality problem portrayed in Either/Or .

This was Kierkegaard's first major work. It consists of two "parts": the first written by an aesthetic fellow named A and the second by an ethical fellow named Judge Vilhelm. The two parts are meant to show us the difference between the aesthetic and ethical modes of life.

The first half, written by the aesthete A, reveals the importance of the interesting to the aesthete. The aesthete is someone who has no higher purpose, but who simply seeks enjoyment. For them the interesting is the highest good, as it is the best road to enjoyment. The worst evil is boredom, so there is an entire chapter about how to avoid boredom by practicing the art of forgetting. There are a few essays about sorrow and the erotic, in which Don Giovanni is held up as the supreme example of the "immediate erotic" (immediate meaning in this case that his enjoyment is entirely in the moment, not in any sort of reflection). A reflects on differing types of sorrow, seeking to find the interesting in them. For the aesthete everything is fair game for finding enjoyment. The section concludes with the famous (or infamous) Diary of a Seducer, in which Johannes the Seducer keeps a diary as he seduces an innocent young woman, whose love he sacrafices at the alter of the interesting.

The second half is by Judge Vilhelm, who is attempting to convert A to the ethical mode of life. Just as A's half focused on the preference of seduction and the erotic to marriage, Vilhelm seeks to justify marriage. Surprisingly, he tries to justify marriage on aesthetic grounds before moving on to discuss the virtues of marriage from the ethical view of life. While A's writing style is witty and sarcastic, Vilhelm's style can be described as nothing short of boring. His "letters" are in the form of dry, extended essays which tax the readers endurance.

Kierkegaard hides himself behind his pseudonyms, as he does in many of his books. The main point, as far as I could tell, was that from the aesthetic mode of life there appears to be a great Either/Or between aesthetic pleasure and ethical purpose and higher cause. This Either/Or is false, however, because if one is in the ethical mode of life it is not an either/or but a both/and. This is because the aesthetic mode of life is both superceded by and contained within the ethical mode of life, which is why Vilhelm defends marriage first from an aesthetic view. Kierkegaard argues (indirectly) that the aesthitic goal is only achievable in the ethical mode of life, so that the aesthetic mode is not only lower, but cannot even achieve its lower goal.

This is definitely an interesting book, though its length and inpenetrability make it very tedious at times. The first half is mildy enjoyable to read (though often frustratingly vague), but the second half is extremely tedious (though ofter a bit clearer). I would definitely recommend the Penguin edition over the Hong edition, as it has cut out a few essays from the second half, which must have been tremendously tedious if they were cut out instead of the ones left in.

Either/or is two parts in which Kierkegaard used different false names or pseudonyms. The first part discusses the aesthetic or personal experience, where imagination is the most powerful factor of aesthetic pleasure. For the aesthetic, imagination is the only way to break the boredom barrier just as Don Juan avoided repetition of the love act with the same woman in order to break the dullness of repetition. In that way, the aesthetic hunger for pleasure leads to the same void of repetition by seeking a way out of it.
Not to spoil the book for readers, but the last section of the first part of either/or "the diary of the seducer" is a very interesting diary in which the character tries to avoid the climax of a relationship with a woman he desires because of the fear of emptiness in relationships. Imagination to the seducer is the only way to maximize his aesthetic pleasure, while the success of the seduction will definitely end the adventure and the prey should be replaced by a more difficult one.

The second part, which deals with the ethical, or supposedly a higher form of existence, takes the form of letters written by different characters as a response to the first part where reason not seduction is used to defend values, relationships, and the pleasure of having a monogamous soul mate. The argument in this section promises greater fulfillment from devotion to higher morals which ultimately lead to a deeper aesthetic pleasure.

It's widely thought that the discussion of the aesthetic and the ethical is a reflection of Kierkegaard's own confusion, especially after ending his engagement with the love of his life Regine Olsen, just as the seducer of either/or did. I, personally, think that Kierkegaard's either/or is a mature analysis of human nature and acknowledgment of both ethical and aesthetic sides of each individual.
Kierkegaard shows the inconsistencies of both positions, the void in human reasoning in both cases and eventually he acknowledges that faith in God is the only way to avoid unhappiness. While Kierkegaard acknowledges religion on a personal level, he still condemns it on a society or church level.

Either/or might be a projection of Kierkegaard's own spiritual and philosophical beliefs, or a result of his own experience with loved ones, or an act of frustration against society and church. In any case, I think either/or, though a difficult read, is a very engaging interesting work that deserves your time and attention.

This review is of the Kindle version of the Hannay translation of Either/Or. It appears that the full edition (Hong translation)is about 1300 pages long whereas the Hannay is 640 pages - so about half. I'm not complaining though! Since Hannay is one of the world's leading authorities on Kierkegaard, I assume we should trust him to have made judicious selections. Assuming that, he has done Kierkegaard fans a great service. I don't think I would have tackled the full version. As it was, this abridged version was extremely taxing and took an enormous amount of time and concentration. For example, readers need to have at least - or quickly acquire! - the necessary background, such as the aesthetic theories of Aristotle and Hegel, Antigone and other Greek tragedies, the ethical theories of Kant and Descartes philosophy. Without these and others, which Kierkegaard doesn't always identify I certainly, and I'm sure others, would be unable to follow what's going on.

This is a pioneering work of phenomenology and religious existentialism. The little hidden party trick for me is in the last chapter when Kierkegaard just lets dangle in one or two sentences the model of Religiousness B which later on he will develop more fully. Thus one gets all four spheres or live-views in this work; the religious sphere introduced briefly.

I recommend starting on this edition, and then moving onto the full version if one wants. Some small cons. I would have liked to know a little more about the method of abridgment used in this edition i.e. whether in his teaching over the years he has relied on these sections. I also would have liked a somewhat more expanded explanatory notes. Part II has an entire section which appears to be a commentary on Kantian ethics without mentioning any sources so some more help would have guided the reader better. The Kindle table of contents had a few bad links but generally no problems.

This is Kierkegaard's first work, and contains already major themes which will be part of his oeuvre throughout. The choice between the aesthetic life represented in the first part and the moral life defended in the second is one such theme. So is the masking of his own identity, the division of himself into a multiplicity of names and identities behind which the true identity is a question. The story of the seduction, however ironically transmitted here is some variety of that fundamental story of Kierkegaard's life his engagement to Regina Olson which he broke because as he later said ' he lacked true faith'. And this perhaps also a cover for the ' thorn in the flesh' that limitation which is central to Kierkegaard' life of abstinence, and perhaps relates to his physical condition , or perhaps to his relation to his father. The aesthetic, the moral phases and what for Kierkegaard is beyond either/or the transcendent phase of the religious is also in this work in the question of who is the ' true Christian'. All of these themes are presented in the multipled- voice ironic humorous suggestive prose of a great imaginative writer and thinker . This is the first masterpiece of many to come, and the opening of the career of the one who would be the ' only Christian in Christendom'.
For the religious Jewish reader like myself aside from the difficulty and pleasure in trying to make something of the depth of Kierkegaard's thought there is the message of the lone creative individual more individual than other individuals in realizing himself in a kind of philosophical literature only Kafka and Neitzche and Pascal are perhaps the true equals of.

When you are a young, attractive, seventeen year-old girl, you are the perfect bait for Johannes. Johannes falls in love with Cordelia. At first, his feelings are rather 'normal' - others who fall in love would most likely feel similarly towards their beloved. However, there comes a point when Johannes is unable to control his feelings - his 'crush' becomes an obsession. He is in search of a drama, and strives to be the director of his own play. He invades Cordelia's privacy by spying on her, and befriending her aunt. Johannes even attempts to bring in a third party candidate to win Cordelia's heart - an attractive young man named Edvard. Johannes succeeds. He is a master of manipulation. When Johannes' plan begins to backfire, Edvard is getting too close to Cordelia's heart for Johannes' comfort, he does the unimaginable - he proposes marriage to her! Cordelia refers him to her aunt, who is delighted because of the admiration she has for Johannes. Perhaps she wished him for herself? Nevertheless, Edvard is crushed. Johannes has no mercy, he finds Edvard's despair as humorous as the concept of engagement itself. This is where the story reaches its climax, and plummets from that of a romantic comedy to a devastating tragedy. Johannes' plan is to have Cordelia call off the engagement. However, he will not do this right away. Oh no! He must get her to her erotic peak, he must posses her soul, her self, before he will crush her. The seduction is referred to as several different things throughout the story. My personal favorite: "The web into which she is spun." Johannes and Cordelia begin a letter correspondence that is filled with symbolism and foreshadow. Cordelia signs her letter "Your Cordelia," and Johannes begins his with "My Cordelia." It is clear that he wants to posses her, and perhaps she is too innocent to know otherwise. I suppose that it would be fair to say that she basically hands herself over to him in writing. At the height of their romance, Johannes consciously destroys her. He retuns the letters that she has composed to him unopened. She may be young, a beginner in love, but she is not unwise. She realizes that she has lost herself to him; he has won the battle. Kierkegaard wrote his book "Either/Or" using his real name, Soren Kierkegaard. However, the section entitled "The Seducer's Diary," was written as by a pseudonymous author: Johannes. Perhaps this was a form of indirect communication for Kierkegaard. It makes perfect sense, for "The Seducer's Diary" is based on Kierkegaard's own romance with Miss Regina Olsen. However, this is where the concept of irony steps into the story. In real life, it was not Regina who broke off the engagement, but rather Kierkegaard himself! Perhaps writing the piece pseudonymously was a way for Kierkegaard to control a situation he ultimately never had control over - it was his way of directing his own play. Why did he need to do this? Simple: Indeed Johannes won his battle, but in a sense he has also lost it. Kierkegaard went to his grave still lovesick. He later admitted, "If I had faith, I would have remained with Regina." Kierkegaard had a tendency to contradict himself. He was a spiritual individual who preached faith, yet his comment above suggests otherwise. He also states several times in the story that he is in love, but his love is completely selfish. However, he later retracts this thought. To avoid boredom, the aesthetic Kierkegaard prescribes the "Rotation Method," which allows one to create their own world of pleasure. You fall in love not with the woman, but rather with the IDEA of the woman. Therefore, you don't risk loss. Kierkegaard explored 'fear' throughout a number of his works, and even went as far as to offer advice on how to overcome it. Therefore, it is ironic that he was a coward in terms of love. Nevertheless, the pseudonym, the irony, and contradiction enhance the story. For whatever impact my intellectual arrogance might have, "The Seducer's Diary" is a masterpiece. It is an eloquently written love story that doesn't involve love. "The Seducer's Diary" is a guide to any young girl who is on the brink of womanhood, or any person who is in search of their own self. It teaches us that one can't help losing their soul in love, but can help losing themselves. This was apparent in Kierkegaard's lifetime, and is still relevant today. Reading Kierkegaard is a pleasure. The reader becomes spun into the "web" of Kierkegaard's life, and afterward discovers something curious about their own existence.