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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The ___ for Beginners series is a milestone!!, March 20, 1999
This review is from: Marx for Beginners (Paperback)
I first ran into this series of books in the early '80s and loved them. For years, I recommended these books to my friends as a jumping off place on any number of subjects, but have been completely unable to find them. Many thanks to Amazon.com for carrying them now. I only hope that they become featured and easy for users to find. Addressing the one negative review that I saw online, I have to shake my head. Yes, if you want to know anything in depth on a subject, you must certainly go to the source. These books would never pretend to be a master's course in any of the subjects that they present (Freud, Marx, Lacan, Quantum Physics, You Name It). What they do, and do extremely well, is make the learning curve a lot less steep. They give a shape to the overall thought that they are describing. And they make it fun. Hard to imagine that anyone who wants to learn something (or who wants other people to learn something) could do anything other than cheer this excellent series.
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24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The man who left his marks, May 12, 2005
Since the collapse of the USSR, many people have thrown Marx into the recycle bin. Actually, even in the heyday of the USSR (be there such?) very little truth was known about Marx, the version that filtered down to us Westerners clouded in Cold War paranois. Marx was first and foremost a philosopher. Indeed, he was the single philospher who had the biggest real-world influence on society after his death. Criticising previous philosophers that limited themselves to interperating History, Marx claimed that the real philosopher's priority was to "change history". Sure, he got a lot wrong. Every philosopher's philosophy has two aspects though - a diagnosis of society and the human condition, and a recommended remedy. We all know that Marx's remedy went horribly wrong. Or, at least, the remedies of the Lenins, Maos and Stalins that followed. But stop and look at his diagnosis. Whilst countless philosophers have buried themselves in metaphysical conundrums, Marx was the first that predicted the power of money relations in the modern world. One need only look at the global situation today, divided sharply between the "haves" and "have-nots" to realise that Marx's view bordered on prophetic. And for as long as "the rich get rich, and the poor get poor", the division is only going to deepen. Maybe communism wasn't the remedy, but neither, does it seem, is capitalism. I have always loved the Beginners series, and MARX FOR BEGINNERS is one of the best. Critics of this "sound bite" format, are correct - you cannot distill the man's philosophies into a 100 page comic book. But for busy people without the time and inclination to wade through the real McCoy, this quirky cartoon documentary is very enlightening and can only leave the reader better off.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Marx: a dirty word, but fun to say!, June 9, 2001
This review is from: Marx for Beginners (Paperback)
Eduardo Del Rio's "Marx for Beginners" is an indispensable guide to the writings of Karl Marx. It's informative, easy to read and a lot of fun. Don't let the title or the cartoons inside fool you, this is a serious book that succeeds in introducing the reader to the works of Karl Marx. If your familiar with "Charles," as Rius (the author's pen name) affectionately calls him, then this book will serve as a reference and refresher; if you know nothing of Marx and want to learn more, then "Marx for Beginners" is the place to start. The book gives you a concise biography of Marx, a run down of his influences, his philosophy and doctrines. There's also some nice background on Marx's time period and a brief intro to ancient philosophy, as it applies to Marx. Included is a little dictionary of Marxist terms that serves as a great reference. Marxism isn't an easy subject to tackle and it's certainly not something you can digest in a few days, but this book puts Marx's work into a clear framework and has helped me understand it more clearly. I enjoyed this book immensely and I'm still reading it. If you're in a state of moratorium with your political, social, economic, and/or spiritual beliefs, please read this book...it's bound to have some kind of influence on you! Believe me, this book has moved me to learn more about Marx and his work.
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