Reviews

The House of Wittgenstein: A Family at War by Alexander Waugh

smark1342's review against another edition

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Biography of the Wittgenstein family (and literally the house/houses) but mostly one armed pianist Paul. Some interesting tidbits about Ludwig (didn't realize how much the tractatus is formatted in the same way as tolstoys gospels which he was obsessed with. The author included some incredible drive bys of characters who only appear once (someone's one line of characterization is that they're "horse faced" or that they wrote terrible poetry no one read) which kinda slew me. Whole thing is very European. The heroism of the brothers at war and Paul's tenacity continuing to play piano don't sound like the rah rah BS I'm used to but instead just make the Wittgenstein family seem as intense and strange and unlike anyone I've ever met as they probably were 

jola_g's review against another edition

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4.0

Review to come.

anitaleest's review against another edition

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4.0

I enjoyed reading the story and kept on thinking about it after reading. However, sometimes the author gets lost in details and names, and it got a bit difficult to follow.

julesam13's review

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informative sad medium-paced

5.0

annakpi's review against another edition

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informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

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