Looking Back [Paperback]

Lou Andreas-Salome (Author), Breon Mitchell (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This is the first English-language publication of the memoirs of Andreas-Salome (1861-1937), a German-Russian novelist and student of psychoanalysis whose work has not been widely published in English. Writing in her seventies in a loosely structured narrative, the author reviews her life as a series of intense "experiences" that often take the form of analytical, self-torturing questions on the complex nature of existence, faith, and love. Her appealing personality emerges through her poetry, recollections of girlhood and family life, and romantic-intellectual relationships with men such as Nietzsche, Rainer, Freud, and others in European intellectual circles. Carefully edited with extensive textual notes and critical commentary, this book also contains a useful bibliography of her work and selections of her poetry in English translation (with original German texts). A good introduction to her work. Recommended for collections in European literature.
- Lesley Jorbin, Cleveland State Univ.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Marlowe & Co (July 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569248486
• ISBN-13: 978-1569248485
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,904,289 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intellectual Flirtation, October 26, 2000

By 

Rebecca Mothwerwell Swanson (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Looking Back (Paperback)

It is interesting to view philosophy through a woman's perspective. Indeed there lived an intellectual woman, praised for her psychological contributions to society, who still managed to devote a significant amount to writing about her personal experiences of friendship and reflection. She had a passionate love affair with poet Rainer Maria Rilke, and significant friendships with Nietzsche and Freud. Nietzsche once said that she is "by far the smartest person I ever knew." Indeed, such a woman once existed - her named was Lou Salome. Indeed the story is about Lou's life, yet intern the reader is introduced to Ree, Nietzsche, Rilke, and Freud. Reading "Looking Back" is quite a different experience than reading Nietzsche, or a nook of Rilke poems. It reminds us that these masters were human beings; they had feelings! Lou was present throughout a period of depression in both Nietzsche and Rilke. She wrote when they were mentally paralyzed. What strategies must a woman use to flirt with the some of the greatest minds of her time? Overall, how does she manage to have a successful career as well as be the subject of her lovers' poetry? Lou Salome's "Looking Back" answers some of these questions, and breaks the barrier between the words 'philosopher' and 'friend'.