Customer Reviews

Introducing Sartre

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

 

 

If you are looking for a good, quick introduction to Sartre's Philosophy, I would not start with _Introducing Sartre_ from Totem Books, but with _Sartre For Beginners_ from Writers and Readers Publishing.

_Introducing Sartre_ focuses more on Biographical information, and brief Literary analysis of Sartre's novels and plays, than on his Philosophical works and their meaning. The illustrations are frequently just "fluffy" caricaturization instead of helping us understand characterization. Why would I want to struggle with trying to determine which figure is supposed to be Aron, Nizan or Sartre?

The book lacks a Glossary (which is further indication of its Biographical/Literary approach rather than Philosophical), and there is no Bibliography (all references must be gleaned from within the text.)

While as a whole, the book was a somewhat interesting read, the weakness of its philosophical examination allowed me to only rate it 3-Stars.

_Introducing Sartre_ is an interesting concept: use the format of a graphic novel to expound on the ideas of one of the 20th century's greatest minds. Unfortunately, the concept falls flat in execution.

I won't go into detail about the relative merits (or not) of the artwork. The book, however, left much to be desired. It is essentially a biography of Jean - Jacques Sartre, with only cursory attention paid to existentialism as a philosophy. Admittedly the two are related, but I had really hoped for a closer and deeper examiniation of his ideas - instead I got medicore biography.

If a summary of Sartre's life is of interest, this would be a great place to begin. If, however, you are looking for information about his ideas, go elsewhere.

Just as a previous reviewer stated, this book focuses too much on the biographical Sartre, and not enough on the philosophical Sartre. The pictures don't really add much to the text either. If you are looking for an intro to Sartre's life, this book is adequate, but if you want to learn about his philosophy, then you should look elswhere.

I just finished reading this and was amazed at how much I enjoyed reading about this man's intellectual challenges. While I didn't agree with everything he put forth, I did appreciate his attempt to say what he felt regardless of what others might say in response. While at times [many to be honest] he comes off as a whining, melodramatic, lonely, malcontent there is still something about his body of work that coerced me into attempting to understand the origin of my thoughts and actions over the years. Well worth the few bucks it takes to make it your own!