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itselvv's review against another edition
جمع "راسل" في كتابه هذا ثلاث مقالات، وفصل كامل تحدث فيه عن عدّة أشخاص من محيطه بأسلوب ماتع ولطيف. أُعجبت جدًا بفكرته الأولى ”في مدح الكسل“ بالرغم من أنني في البداية خلتها فكرة ساذجة ومجرد أحلام لا هدف منها لكنّي وجدت نفسي منجذبة لها ومقتنعة بها في نهاية المقال. إلّا أنّ تنفيذ الفكرة صعب للغاية، وبحاجة لخطط وأفكار أخرى لتُسهل الموضوع وتُيسّر حدوثه. طريقة الكتابة ماتعة وسلسة، من الكتب اللذيذة المفيدة.
dars's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
leanderwinden's review against another edition
3.0
Obviously a great essay, and some nice drawings. But a bunch of aphorisms shoehorned into the main text without any context, along with some occasionally charming but mostly cringeworthy words from Bradley Trevor Greive means this had the potential to be a lot better.
ian78's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely amazing book, my first foray into Bertrand Russell and it will not be my last. Bradley Trevor Grieve gave an amazing introduction and afterword and the further reading section is a great resource.
petertruog's review against another edition
4.0
This was my second time reading this book, and I enjoyed it as much this time around as the first. The essays flow together relatively well, especially in the first half of the book. Writing in the 1930s, Russell begins by discussing the problems with the 'cult of efficiency,' advocating instead for more idle time where we can pursue 'useless knowledge.' He also points to how the individual (rather than communal) lifestyles we are leading are encouraged by our profit and status-seeking lifestyle; this would all change if we adopted a more communal pattern of living. The key assumption here that I take issue with is the requirement that people would use their free time productively if given more of it. Some would, but some wouldn't, and I'm not sure how that would fall out. In a separate essay Russell observes that US society is growing increasingly homogeneous as people rely on similar sources of news to get information; this is a bad thing, because it leads to uniformity of mindset and the potential for discrimination. We have a similar but not exactly the same phenomenon today; while there is not one strain of thought in our society, different groups are becoming increasingly segregated from each other and ensconced in their collective mindset. Therefore I think a risk of giving people more time out of work is the exacerbation of this trend.
The other key thread in the book is related to politics; Russel advocates strongly against communism and fascism, and instead argues for a universal socialism that is brought about by peaceful means. I found these essays interesting from an intellectual and historical perspective; it was fun to compare how things have changed since he wrote the essays 85 years ago. I was surprised at how opposed I was to his views of socialism; a fundamental assumption of his views is that the state is the best economic planner and a more capable forecaster of demand (and therefore more capable of allocating labor) than private enterprise - I don't agree with this. I did like how his arguments in favor of socialism dovetail with his advocacy for working fewer hours in the day.
This book makes me want to live in a commune with shared living responsibility. I was very convinced by his dissection of the ills of independent living, and shocked at how applicable they still are 85 years later.
Russel's style is entertaining - over-generalized and snarky. I wonder if this translates to his other writing as well...His generalizations provide excellent illustrations of his ideas. The best case of this is the Midas Touch essay where he describes the lunacy of post World-War I reparations that the Allies forced Germany to pay.
The other key thread in the book is related to politics; Russel advocates strongly against communism and fascism, and instead argues for a universal socialism that is brought about by peaceful means. I found these essays interesting from an intellectual and historical perspective; it was fun to compare how things have changed since he wrote the essays 85 years ago. I was surprised at how opposed I was to his views of socialism; a fundamental assumption of his views is that the state is the best economic planner and a more capable forecaster of demand (and therefore more capable of allocating labor) than private enterprise - I don't agree with this. I did like how his arguments in favor of socialism dovetail with his advocacy for working fewer hours in the day.
This book makes me want to live in a commune with shared living responsibility. I was very convinced by his dissection of the ills of independent living, and shocked at how applicable they still are 85 years later.
Russel's style is entertaining - over-generalized and snarky. I wonder if this translates to his other writing as well...His generalizations provide excellent illustrations of his ideas. The best case of this is the Midas Touch essay where he describes the lunacy of post World-War I reparations that the Allies forced Germany to pay.
the_count's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
3.75
dmturner's review against another edition
3.0
This large-print, small-footprint gift book contains a slim Russell essay sandwiched between an industriously humorous introduction and a set of equally industriously humorous footnotes and illustrated in a peculiar quasi-Victorian manner (the illustration on p. 104 is unfortunate and characteristic). I chose it because I felt like having an easy read and it didn't disappoint on that account. Would make a nice impersonal Christmas present for that philosophy major on your list, just to convey the impression that you care about them without inviting the recipient to engage you in actual conversation about the topic.
Some judicious quotes:
From the introduction by Greive: "even in the most flattering photographs the great philosopher often resembles a bewigged ferret squinting into a hot wind." (13)
The rest of the quotes are Russell verbatim:
"a great deal of harm is being done in the modern world by belief in the virtuousness of work." (38)
"The morality of work is the morality of slaves, and the modern world has no need of slavery." (43)
"The idea that the poor should have leisure has always been shocking to the rich." (49)
"We keep a large percentage of the working population idle, because we can dispense with their labour by making the others overwork." (58)
"the necessity of keeping the poor contented, which has led the rich, for thousands of years, to preach the dignity of labor, while taking care themselves to remain undignified in this respect." (61)
"Broadly speaking, it is held that getting money is good and spending money is bad. Seeing that they are two sides of one transaction, this is absurd; one might as well maintain that keys are good, but keyholes are bad." (63)
Some judicious quotes:
From the introduction by Greive: "even in the most flattering photographs the great philosopher often resembles a bewigged ferret squinting into a hot wind." (13)
The rest of the quotes are Russell verbatim:
"a great deal of harm is being done in the modern world by belief in the virtuousness of work." (38)
"The morality of work is the morality of slaves, and the modern world has no need of slavery." (43)
"The idea that the poor should have leisure has always been shocking to the rich." (49)
"We keep a large percentage of the working population idle, because we can dispense with their labour by making the others overwork." (58)
"the necessity of keeping the poor contented, which has led the rich, for thousands of years, to preach the dignity of labor, while taking care themselves to remain undignified in this respect." (61)
"Broadly speaking, it is held that getting money is good and spending money is bad. Seeing that they are two sides of one transaction, this is absurd; one might as well maintain that keys are good, but keyholes are bad." (63)
ropey's review against another edition
Two things that don't necessarily represent what I think about this book as a whole but what I thought right after finishing it:
1. I did not expect this to be so funny 2. Bertrand Russell likes to divide his thoughts into two so much I might end up having split dreams in bullet form tonight
1. I did not expect this to be so funny 2. Bertrand Russell likes to divide his thoughts into two so much I might end up having split dreams in bullet form tonight