Customer Reviews

There Where You Are Not: Ludwig Wittgenstein

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I bought this book based upon the one review on this page. It IS "a joy" for Wittgenstein fans, but it is a 4 star joy at best. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I have the book, and it's a good one for those who can never get enough of Wittgenstein. I'll give you a picture of what you get for your money. The first, large section (90 pages) consists of a biographical outline of Wittgenstein's life by Michael Nedo with black and white photographs of W., his relatives and friends, the places he lived, his bed, his manuscript cabinet, his postcards, pages of his writing, even his military i.d. card - all interesting hagiographical stuff. (Here I place the 4 star rather than 5 because I wish all of the pictures had been larger.) The next section consists of romantic, sometimes impressionistic landscape photographs (5.5x6.5) of the great glen of Skjolden, Norway by Guy Moreton, a place where Wittgenstein walked and "did philosophy." The last section is a good poem by Alec Finlay called "The Wittgenstein house (Skjolden)."
It's a well constructed book about 8.5x11 with a thick cover and very heavy pages glued to the spine, but it seems sturdy enough for years of enjoyment.

If you've read Monk's biography, this is a useful addition to understanding Wittgenstien and his motivations/working style.

It is hard to imagine getting much from the book if you don't know of Wittgenstein, it is not introduction

But if you're familiar with him (use reading (or wanting to read) the Monk book as a useful indicator) -- it's a joy.