Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Kierkegaard Lives!, June 19, 2005
This review is from: Soren Kierkegaard: A Biography (Hardcover)
With its 800 pages of text, Garff's life of Kierkegaard will no doubt inspire fear and trembling (sorry, couldn't resist) in even the most diehard fan of SK. Fear not, however, as Garff has written the best Kierkegaard biography that one can find in English (though it would be nice if Walter Lowrie's and Josiah Thompson's excellent full-length biographies were also in print). It's an impressive piece of scholarship, and it is a rewarding experience to read it. Unfortunately for those of us on this side of the pond, perhaps only a Dane could have written such a book. Perhaps only someone who has walked the streets that SK did and who knows his Mother Tongue could put us in Kierkegaard's little world so well. We not only come to know SK inside and out after reading this large tome, we also get a feel for the sights, smells, and color of nineteenth century Copenhagen. If you have never read Kierkegaard, you will probably not want to read this book. Yet, those that have never read him, or even those who have, will profit from Garff making SK's milieu come alive. We not only get a lot about Kierkegaard, we also are treated to details about cholera epidemics, wars, and the Danish crown--all of which SK couldn't be bothered much with, but I liked reading about anyway.
Kierkegaard, first and foremost, was a writer, and Garff never lets us lose sight of how impressive his subject's achievements were (the amount he produced in the 1840s boggles the mind). All of SK's major works are discussed as well as his lesser known writings. The major events of SK's life are also dealt with in detail--his dour father and difficult brother, the relationship with Regine, and the disastrous sparring he did with "The Corsair." At some points, Garff must speculate on his subject's private world. For example, what was SK's sex life like? Did he visit prostitutes? Were there STDs in the Kierkegaard household? Yet, Garff never descends into sensationalism, nor does he induce eye-rolling. The fact that he dwells little on SK's life in the bedroom suggests that very little ever happened there (if anything). Although I was not convinced that SK was an epileptic, which Garff suggests at one point, I commend the author for exploring the possibility.
The book makes for enjoyable reading, yet, it is not without some flaws. At times it contains too much detail. A certain amount of context is good--even essential--in understanding SK, but some material could have been trimmed. For example, I thought the author gave a bit too much space to Nielsen's "A Life in the Underworld." He could have summarized this non-SK book more succinctly. I also think Garff focuses much more on SK the writer and man while giving less weight to the importance that his thought had in shaping later philosophy/theology. At times, Garff works too much on the assumption that we all know how significant SK was in affecting Christian thought. It is probably unfair to ask Garff to boil down SK's contributions to religion/philosophy in one simple sound bite (such as "subjectivity is truth" or that a believer must be a "knight of faith"). But perhaps he could have included an introduction or epilogue in which he explores how SK's ideas have gained popularity since his death and are almost universally taught in religion/philosophy departments today. The fact that a farm boy at a state university in Alabama is required to read SK in philosophy 101 begs some explanation.
In short, the book is stronger in its descriptiveness and comprehensiveness than its analysis of the theological and philosophical ideas with which Kierkegaard occupied himself. To show greatness without simply stating it is a task that many biographers of great artists have problems with. At times, though, I felt that Garff was not giving SK's major works (such as monstrous Works of Love and Concluding Unscientific Postscript) the space they deserved. Even so, he is writing a biography, not a literary analysis. SK often considered himself a poet, and it is the poet/writer/existentialist, not the theologian, that comes across most strongly here.
Any caveats I have are outweighed by this book's strengths. It is beautifully written, engaging, and thoughtful. SK's life may not have been as eventful as, say, Hemingway's. He certainly was not a man of action. Yet, SK's life seems ill-suited to short biography (such as Walter Lowrie's brief work on him). Garff, and his excellent translator Bruce Kirmmse, have done great work. "Soren Kierkegaard: A Biography" is a splendid piece of writing that is worthy of one of history's greatest authors. It is also a major scholarly achievement. Garff has done his homework, and what we have here is a labor of love. It will be hard for anyone writing a life of SK to top this one. We owe a great debt to Joakim Garff.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Somewhat ironically, a fun book to read, October 15, 2005
This review is from: Soren Kierkegaard: A Biography (Hardcover)
It may seem astonishing to many that a nearly-900 page biography of Soren Kierkegaard would ever be described as riveting, or as a page-turner, but that is exactly what this book by Joakim Garff, translated by Bruce Kirmmse from the original Danish, turns out to be. I first noticed it at the bookstore of my seminary, and, intended only to read through a few pages at the beginning to be somewhat familiar with the text (having a friend who is very into Kierkegaard), I noticed when I next looked up that I was 60 pages into the book, and half an hour late for my next appointment.
As Garff states in his preface, biographies of Kierkegaard are few and far between. Even in his native Danish language, 'biographies of Kierkegaard that have appeared since Georg Brandes' critical portrait was published in 1877 can easily be counted on the fingers of one hand.' Part of this was Kierkegaard's own stated desire that readers read his works, not into his person, and he often published under pseudonyms. However, this is an ironic situation, Garff writes, because Kierkegaard puts so much of himself into his writing that there are definite autobiographical elements. Israel Levin, Kierkegaard's secretary for many years, also recognised the paradoxical situation in dealing with a Kierkegaard biography - 'this is a life so full of contradictions that it will be difficult to get to the bottom of his character.'
One of the things Garff should be credited for is not trying to force a particular paradigm or interpretation on Kierkegaard. We don't discover 'Kierkegaard the existentialist' or 'Kierkegaard the religious rebel' or other such personas here - rather, these elements and more are all interwoven into Garff's text to show a complex and not always comprehensible figure. Garff is neither a true-believer nor an official apologist from any set place - he instead set out 'not only to tell the great stories in Kierkegaard's life but also to scrutinse the minor details and incidental circumstances, the cracks in the granite of genius....'
Kierkegaard was a troubled and troubling figure. His life was very brief for someone with such a prodigious output - he lived only 42 years, and his productive time as an intellectual was really only half that time. Garff organises the biography chronologically, taking a year-by-year approach (after putting Kierkegaard's childhood and adolescence together into one chapter, 1813-1834), each year being devoted to its own chapter. In this fashion, Garff looks much more closely at the events and relationship in Kierkegaard's life (both personal and institutional relationships) rather than systematically looking at themes and ideas in his works.
Garff seems to assume some familiarity with Kierkegaard's works at various points - this is not a critical analysis of Kierkegaard's thinking, nor is it even necessarily descriptive of his work in many cases. However, the biography is accessible to those who do not have much experience with Kierkegaard (and I must count myself among those; I have read a few of Kierkegaard's works, and a few analyses, but would never consider myself an expert on the subject).
As translator Bruce Kirmmse states, the book is done in a rather conversational style with an informal sense about it - it is not a dry and dusty historical tome. Not being familiar with Danish, I cannot but take his word that this is true of the original text by Garff, but given the reading here, one cannot imagine that Garff or the editors would have been happy with it done in any other way had this not been faithful to the original. In keeping with this more informal style, there are endnotes rather than footnotes. There are nearly three dozen illustrations (paintings, photographs, other line-art and maps), an extensive bibliography.
I will dare to say, as ironic as it may be both to the subject of reading the biography of a philosopher as well as to the subject of this particular figure, this was a fun book to read.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Kierkegaard for Everyone, October 9, 2005
This review is from: Soren Kierkegaard: A Biography (Hardcover)
A very well written, and readable book. The author does a good job of fleshing out the context in each time period of SK's life. The reader comes to know the people who were important to SK both personally and professionally. And, SK's important writings are put within the context of his life and culture. Garff has a sense of humor, and temperance in his editorializing. You don't have to be a fan of Kierkegaard to enjoy this book.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
