The Moment and Late Writings: Kierkegaard's Writings, Vol. 23 [Hardcover]

Sřren Kierkegaard (Author), Howard V. Hong (Translator), Edna H. Hong (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 20, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0691032262 | ISBN-13: 978-0691032269

Kierkegaard, a poet of ideals and practitioner of the indirect method, also had a direct and polemical side. He revealed this in several writings throughout his career, culminating in The Moment, his attack against the established ecclesiastical order.

Kierkegaard was moved to criticize the church by his differences with Bishop Mynster, Primate of the Church of Denmark. Although Mynster saw in Kierkegaard a complement to himself and his outlook, Kierkegaard challenged Mynster to acknowledge the emptying and estheticizing of Christianity that had occurred in modern Christendom. For three years Kierkegaard was silent, waiting. When Mynster died, he was memorialized as "an authentic truth-witness" in the "holy chain of truth-witnesses that stretches through the ages from the days of the apostles." This struck Kierkegaard as blasphemous and inspired him to write a series of articles in Fædrelandet, which he followed with ten numbers of the pamphlet The Moment. This volume includes the articles from Fædrelandet, all numbers of The Moment, and several other late pieces of Kierkegaard's writing.

Editorial Reviews

Review

These new translations are excellent. -- Choice



The definitive edition of the Writings. The first volume . . . indicates the scholarly value of the entire series: an introduction setting the work in the context of Kierkegaard's development; a remarkably clear translation; and concluding sections of intelligent notes. -- Library Journal

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Danish

Product Details

• Hardcover: 712 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (April 20, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691032262
• ISBN-13: 978-0691032269
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,801,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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4.0 out of 5 stars ...but only if you're so inclined., July 20, 2005

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trembling-press.blogspot.com "librarian-in-a-... (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Moment and Late Writings: Kierkegaard's Writings, Vol. 23 (Hardcover)

Sadly, this volume of Hong's translation of Kierkegaard's work is yet another quickly-out-of-print delicacy. Few are likely to shell out the $80 (or more!) to own this book, so hopefully you can find it at your local library (or request it via interlibrary loan).

Also, like the other Hong translations, there is so much context to dive into. Kierkegaard's polemical attacks on the Danish State Church provoked a literary riot of controversy and rage. Responses from Danish clergy (namely Bishop Martensen) and various supporters or detractors of Kierkegaard are included in appendices, as well as a lengthy selection of journal entries from Kierkegaard.

This is Kierkegaard writing perhaps in his most concise style. The articles get repetitive ("...a truth-witness, one of the authetic truth witnesses, one of the holy chain.") when read altogether, but when one takes into account the dates and the rate at which Kierkegaard was writing and publishing them, and then if one compares the responses, it can be imagined that there was quite a stir going on in the press. And this, of course, was exactly Kierkegaard's intention. He was writing forcefully, persuasively, and personally, finding this attack on the "corrupted" nature of Official Christiandom to be the culmination of his literary calling.

This is Kierkegaard as a 40-something curmudgeon, summing up his legacy, and never writing with more passion than here, months before his death.

This volume of the Kierkegaard's Writings Series is certain to fall into the "Kierkegaard Studies" category, pretty much exclusively, being that those academics who make use of his philosophical work may find little utility here. However, if you're intending to read the whole book casually, set aside plenty of time. With all of the notes and supplemental material, there's lots of page flipping, and it's a little hard to navigate.