Customer Reviews

Genuine Reality: A Life of William James

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The truly great men in early American history, in my humble opinion, are as follows:

Thomas Jefferson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)
William James

Because of their intense individualism, idealistic views, and unique personalities, their writings, thoughts and ideas continue to affect western civilzation into the 21st century. Let me just say at the start - I'm not proposing a forum for argument, debating the worth and influence of one historical figure against another - these are men who have shaped my life in lasting ways - particularly the psychologist, philosopher and teacher, William James.

If you are interested in the works and life of this noble individual, ~Genuine Reality~ is a good place to begin. Linda Simon is an adept biographer and this book reflects her skill, understanding and love for the subject. It was refreshing to read a biography without the once fashionable 'psychoanalytical method' of interpreting history: inserting the Oedipus complex or hints of homoeroticism into the work. This method gets tedious and more reveals the biographer's mind than the subject. It is obvious that Simon wanted to approach James from a pragmatic perspective and she succeeded in showing James' life, warts and all, more specifically, however, his inspiring personality, compulsive curiosity and genuine love of life.

Similar to most people of genius, James' life was indeed a contradiction, at times almost enigmatic. He realized early on, that to rivet one's thought or perspective to a single dogma, to close one's mind to the infinite possibilities of existence, was to commit intellectual and spiritual suicide. Thus his thoughts are mercurial, bouncing from one possible view to another, always searching, investigating with an incessant vigour of a child. Following the works of Heraclitus, Henri Bergson, and aspects of Fredric Nietzche, James' 'Pluralism' is a philosophy of affirmation, transformation and becoming. Rallying against the Platonic and Aristotelian belief that fixity has more worth than change, he proposed that life or existence is not fixed at all but involved in an on-going state of flux: the operating word is change. And his life certainly reflects this perspective, as Simon writes:

"He was a scientist with a disposition of a philosopher and a philosopher with the perspective of an artist. He was convinced of his own essential complexity: certain that his public personality contradicted a hidden, more authentic self. He championed the new, he hungered for astonishment."

At the core of James' view of life is to maintain a continual openness to our existence: attempt to create a kind of vital joy to life's infinite possibilities. In other terms, do not sit back and merely observe, but get your hands dirty, engage, and life will give back to you many fold.

~Genuine Reality~ is an important contribution to American history. Linda Simon is a genuine biographer with transparent humility, more concerned with presenting her subject as it is, rather than trying to show off her knowledge, wit and writing skills. All too often, biographer's egos get in the way: they become so involved in revealing their intellectual capacity, the subject of the biography falls by the wayside. Not so with this text.

This book is an intimate portrayal of a great man's life: his interesting and unusual family, his work and relationships, and his sometimes-underrated contribution to philosophy. Out of all of James' writings, there is a line that showed me, in essence, the true character of the man:

"Just for today I will exercise my soul in three ways: I will do somebody a good turn and Not be found out. I will do two things I Don't want to do."

This biography is recommended without reservation.

I pride myself on being a William James buff and this biography by Linda Simon has proven to be the best, most accurate portrayal ever written. If you don't believe my review, take a look at the excellent review of the book by the New York Times. I hightly recommend this book to all those who have enjoyed Linda Simon's previous biographies, and to all those who agree William James is a man worth remembering.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. However, there are a few reasons why I didn't give it five stars:

1) The writing is decent, but not nearly so good that I actually enjoyed the writing itself as distinct from the content.

2) Simon seems very sure of herself when discussing the motivations of Henry James Sr., especially. I got the sense that Henry Sr., at least, could have been treated with a bit more nuance and charity. For comparison, I've only read Louis Menand's "The Metaphysical Club", so I can't speak with any authority, but it just seemed that Simon didn't like Henry Sr., whereas she did like William, so Henry Sr. didn't get the benefit of any doubt, whereas William did. (Henry Sr. figures largely in the beginning of the book)

3) I wish Simon had done a bit more to actually present James' philosophical views. I got a good picture of James as a person, but only a very vague one of him as a thinker. Genuine Reality is a biography, of course, and not a philosophical or psychological text, but given James' identity as a philosopher/psychologist, even a very large amount of philosophical explication would have been warranted.

I'm about halfway through this wonderful book and am enjoying it. I have a question for the author--she states that James met his wife in a house at 77 Chestnut Street on Boston's Beacon Hill. However, the photographs identify this house as 13 Chestnut Street. The numbers on Beacon Hill have been changed over the years, but I wonder if this is a discrepancy of error?? I would be very interested if anyone out there knows.

He was born before the Civil War, but Linda Simon's accurate yet occasionally grinding biography `Genuine Reality` depicts William James (1842-1910) as a decidedly contemporary thinker. A pioneering psychologist and unorthodox philosopher, he rejected rigid systems in favor of a flexible, relativist approach that stressed the fluid nature of identity and physical reality. His students at Harvard found this a gas, as did James himself. (He was always showing off to somebody his whole life, apparently greatly concerned that he be popular with this peers, whoever they happened to be.) One of the book's many virtues is Simon's sensitive analysis of how his ideas rescued him from years of spiritual confusion and the smothering embrace of a neurotic family. One of the books vices is her unnecessary GRE-like drills of vocabulary. Interestingly enough, these start appearing in the middle of the book, as if her editor said "cool it, so your readers won't drop the book due to your unnecessary pretentiousness." Anyway, this is still a very well researched bio. of W.J., giving particular attention to his family life.

I finished this book last week and frankly I couldn't wait to put it down -- the author has no feel for the man or his ideas -- it is biography at the most superficial level.