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vikingvisuals's reviews
57 reviews
Survival In Auschwitz: The Nazi Assault On Humanity by Primo Levi
5.0
Survival in Auschwitz is a book that, upon reading, one cannot quite put it into words once finished. Primo Levi's retelling of his time in Auschwitz is one unlike any other. Rather than focus on the terrifying things that went on in Auschwitz, he focuses on his perceptions of life in the camp as a Häftling with a strong emphasis on the notions of survival. Where does the will to survival in a concentration camp arise and how does one go about delaying their demise long enough to see their survival is ensured? The question is more simply put than it is answered, and the summation of the book can be seen as an attempt at answering some such question.
Of course, the book is also filled with haunting insights and reflections about the horrifying things that went on in the camp, but this is more of an undertone and makes the book have an almost surreal quality. You know what went on was terrible, yet the way Levi focuses on mostly just particular events of his experience with the atrocities more-so in the background allows the book to focus on something otherwise not usually spoken of. This also makes the book much more appealing to those who may want to know more about the lives of those in the camp without wanting to subject themselves to the more unbearable and terrifying realities. Often, while reading this book, I had to recollect myself and remind myself that I was reading about Auschwitz. The way Levi writes is reminiscent of reading about the happenings of a modern day prison that one can be sucked into the details without realizing exactly what type of "prison" he is talking about, and that these "prisoners" are not ones one would expect to find in any prison. Thus, the book also creates a very meaningful case in the ways that otherwise upstanding and well-to-do people become very much like any other prisoner when objected to such conditions and the fight for life.
The book despite being generally a matter-of-factual personal account of what went on does not fail to place a deeper meaning upon each anecdote. Often each chapter is introduced and concluded with such meditations, and as such one can gain something from each chapter that is more than just a personal account of one prisoners experiences. One can also, if they so choose, read any chapter individually or together in summation and still be able to glean some understanding and some profound, albeit harrowing, meaning from it. I often found myself rereading passages or skipping back to previous chapters to relate it to something I just read. Doing so was easy, as Levi manages to keep everything in distinct focus and with distinct reasoning, which is no small feat for someone talking about their personal experience at Auschwitz.
I really do not know what else to say about this book that it does not say itself. What I can say is that its perspective and its message is completely unique. The way that Levi delivers that message is profound and nothing short of amazing. I can very easily see why this has been considered one of the most important books written about the holocaust. I recommend this book to everyone; one of the few books that I can honestly say the whole world should read. Everyone would gain something from it, and not just in a sense of extra historical knowledge. What this book provides is much more ethereal than that.
Of course, the book is also filled with haunting insights and reflections about the horrifying things that went on in the camp, but this is more of an undertone and makes the book have an almost surreal quality. You know what went on was terrible, yet the way Levi focuses on mostly just particular events of his experience with the atrocities more-so in the background allows the book to focus on something otherwise not usually spoken of. This also makes the book much more appealing to those who may want to know more about the lives of those in the camp without wanting to subject themselves to the more unbearable and terrifying realities. Often, while reading this book, I had to recollect myself and remind myself that I was reading about Auschwitz. The way Levi writes is reminiscent of reading about the happenings of a modern day prison that one can be sucked into the details without realizing exactly what type of "prison" he is talking about, and that these "prisoners" are not ones one would expect to find in any prison. Thus, the book also creates a very meaningful case in the ways that otherwise upstanding and well-to-do people become very much like any other prisoner when objected to such conditions and the fight for life.
The book despite being generally a matter-of-factual personal account of what went on does not fail to place a deeper meaning upon each anecdote. Often each chapter is introduced and concluded with such meditations, and as such one can gain something from each chapter that is more than just a personal account of one prisoners experiences. One can also, if they so choose, read any chapter individually or together in summation and still be able to glean some understanding and some profound, albeit harrowing, meaning from it. I often found myself rereading passages or skipping back to previous chapters to relate it to something I just read. Doing so was easy, as Levi manages to keep everything in distinct focus and with distinct reasoning, which is no small feat for someone talking about their personal experience at Auschwitz.
I really do not know what else to say about this book that it does not say itself. What I can say is that its perspective and its message is completely unique. The way that Levi delivers that message is profound and nothing short of amazing. I can very easily see why this has been considered one of the most important books written about the holocaust. I recommend this book to everyone; one of the few books that I can honestly say the whole world should read. Everyone would gain something from it, and not just in a sense of extra historical knowledge. What this book provides is much more ethereal than that.
Philosophical Investigations by Ludwig Wittgenstein
5.0
Philosophical Investigations is for me one of the most important philosophical texts of all time, written by one of the most interesting to read philosophers. Perhaps I am biased in that I share a lot of the same ideas as Wittgenstein and have a love for the idea of language and just how extremely important (and misleading) language can be in the world that we essentially create out of it, but it definitely was an influential text even outside of my own personal bias and gave birth to some of the greatest ideas in the field of logic.
I will not discuss the content of the book too much, as it is seemingly well known by anyone who may be studying philosophy or logic (although for a good summary, look no further than section 109: "Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of our language."). What I will say is that the writing, whether or not one may agree with the ideas expressed, is absolutely mesmerizing. One can clearly see the strong understanding and care Wittgenstein had for language just in the way he used it: "Uttering a word is like striking a note on the keyboard of the imagination." Or his perfect summation of philosophy: "So in the end when one is doing philosophy one gets to the point where one would like just to emit an inarticulate sound." If for just those sentences alone, this book was worth the read, but of course it contains much more and with a much more profound and well argumented framework.
The unfortunate thing about this book and the other major work(s) of Wittgenstein is that, if you are anything like me, it may start to destroy your appreciation for a lot of philosophy, most noticeably what philosophy has become. Wittgenstein managed to disassemble countless philosophical problems simply by showing, with the understanding of logic and language, that there simply were no problems to begin with (such ideas were of course advanced further by Russell and logicians following him). In that vein one begins to see a pattern where philosophy continues to find problems where no problems are justified or provide justifications for solutions to real problems where no solutions are currently justifiable. It is not my task to talk down about philosophy here, as it is always a subject that I love and has always been a large part of who I am: however when one takes into consideration the many points that Wittgenstein, either directly or indirectly, was making one starts to learn just how shaky some of the foundations of our longest held philosophies always were. It is in this sense that I admire this book the most, for the vast amount of ground it was able to cover (and destroy) simply with ideas of language and the ways in which we use and understand our language.
Speaking of language, the translation from G.E.M. Anscombe is one of the more superbly done tasks in the realm of translation of philosophical texts. Anscombe, being an analytic philosopher herself, clearly had a wonderful understanding of both the language and its intended content. Wittgenstein is certainly not one of the easiest philosophers to read, in German or in English, and although no translation is ever perfect one would be hard pressed to hand pick any mistakes made in this one. If you are looking for the best translation available: look no further than Anscombe!
Now I have reached the limits of what I can currently say about this book, and in that sense I will heed the words of Wittgenstein from his earlier work of the Tractatus: "What can be said at all can be said clearly, and what we cannot talk about we must pass over in silence."
I will not discuss the content of the book too much, as it is seemingly well known by anyone who may be studying philosophy or logic (although for a good summary, look no further than section 109: "Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of our language."). What I will say is that the writing, whether or not one may agree with the ideas expressed, is absolutely mesmerizing. One can clearly see the strong understanding and care Wittgenstein had for language just in the way he used it: "Uttering a word is like striking a note on the keyboard of the imagination." Or his perfect summation of philosophy: "So in the end when one is doing philosophy one gets to the point where one would like just to emit an inarticulate sound." If for just those sentences alone, this book was worth the read, but of course it contains much more and with a much more profound and well argumented framework.
The unfortunate thing about this book and the other major work(s) of Wittgenstein is that, if you are anything like me, it may start to destroy your appreciation for a lot of philosophy, most noticeably what philosophy has become. Wittgenstein managed to disassemble countless philosophical problems simply by showing, with the understanding of logic and language, that there simply were no problems to begin with (such ideas were of course advanced further by Russell and logicians following him). In that vein one begins to see a pattern where philosophy continues to find problems where no problems are justified or provide justifications for solutions to real problems where no solutions are currently justifiable. It is not my task to talk down about philosophy here, as it is always a subject that I love and has always been a large part of who I am: however when one takes into consideration the many points that Wittgenstein, either directly or indirectly, was making one starts to learn just how shaky some of the foundations of our longest held philosophies always were. It is in this sense that I admire this book the most, for the vast amount of ground it was able to cover (and destroy) simply with ideas of language and the ways in which we use and understand our language.
Speaking of language, the translation from G.E.M. Anscombe is one of the more superbly done tasks in the realm of translation of philosophical texts. Anscombe, being an analytic philosopher herself, clearly had a wonderful understanding of both the language and its intended content. Wittgenstein is certainly not one of the easiest philosophers to read, in German or in English, and although no translation is ever perfect one would be hard pressed to hand pick any mistakes made in this one. If you are looking for the best translation available: look no further than Anscombe!
Now I have reached the limits of what I can currently say about this book, and in that sense I will heed the words of Wittgenstein from his earlier work of the Tractatus: "What can be said at all can be said clearly, and what we cannot talk about we must pass over in silence."
The Mystery Of Consciousness by John Rogers Searle
2.0
I give Searle credit for recognizing that there is no current explanation or understanding of how consciousness works. However, despite this lack of explanation in the physical realm he goes on to state the wonderfully outdated Cartesian ideas that have increasingly hindered rather than helped this understanding. I think that arguing along the lines of 'we will never have a third-person understanding of consciousness because consciousness is simply a first-person experience' and that neuroscience and other fields of research into consciousness' lack of explanation is an automatic sign that there is no explanatoin are both faulty arguments and one's that seem to keep humanity in a further state of ignorance rather than in a state of exploration and revelation.
Perhaps consciousness is something that cannot be explained, perhaps it is simply a first person "insight" that only each individuals can know of themselves better than anyone else, but I do not believe that at all to be the case. I kind of see the problems of consciousness in the same way that various philosophical problems from the greeks or even more modern philosophies were solved as human progress and understanding of the world expanded. Luckily for Searle and the others in his camp, we are not yet at the stage at which consciousness has a vast and proven framework with which it works so there theses are, in their eyes, currently holding ground. But I can not stand on ground myself that bases itself off the idea of ignorance (or better stated, that my own personal understanding of myself and my world is automatically more colorful than those around me, in a sort of "third-person ignorance" way) and hope that these grounds hold. I much rather prefer the further research into these ideas, especially as our understanding of the world progresses, as a potential means of truly explaining these concepts and not just leaving them as a pandora's box not needing to be open.
I should state that this is, however, not a formal book in it's own right. It is more or less just a republication of Searle's review of other books in regards to consciousness. He attempts to argue against most of the ideas expressed in the books and works of others, and although he does manage to make some good points at times, I believe he is misguided in his overarching idea of consciousness. It is the sort of things that philosophers do that irritates the rest of the world, and it is the sort of philosophy that I personally stand against.
Since it is a review of other books and thus not a formal writing, I believe it is better as a companion to other works of philosophy of consciousness, although even in that regard there are enough arguments between philosophers that you can find anywhere else online simply by searching that the ideas in this book are nothing that couldn't be acquired in shorter versions elsewhere. The area of consciousness is probably the msot hotly debated area of philosophy, so there is no shortage of arguments and counter-arguments and counter-counter-arguments from all sides.
Perhaps consciousness is something that cannot be explained, perhaps it is simply a first person "insight" that only each individuals can know of themselves better than anyone else, but I do not believe that at all to be the case. I kind of see the problems of consciousness in the same way that various philosophical problems from the greeks or even more modern philosophies were solved as human progress and understanding of the world expanded. Luckily for Searle and the others in his camp, we are not yet at the stage at which consciousness has a vast and proven framework with which it works so there theses are, in their eyes, currently holding ground. But I can not stand on ground myself that bases itself off the idea of ignorance (or better stated, that my own personal understanding of myself and my world is automatically more colorful than those around me, in a sort of "third-person ignorance" way) and hope that these grounds hold. I much rather prefer the further research into these ideas, especially as our understanding of the world progresses, as a potential means of truly explaining these concepts and not just leaving them as a pandora's box not needing to be open.
I should state that this is, however, not a formal book in it's own right. It is more or less just a republication of Searle's review of other books in regards to consciousness. He attempts to argue against most of the ideas expressed in the books and works of others, and although he does manage to make some good points at times, I believe he is misguided in his overarching idea of consciousness. It is the sort of things that philosophers do that irritates the rest of the world, and it is the sort of philosophy that I personally stand against.
Since it is a review of other books and thus not a formal writing, I believe it is better as a companion to other works of philosophy of consciousness, although even in that regard there are enough arguments between philosophers that you can find anywhere else online simply by searching that the ideas in this book are nothing that couldn't be acquired in shorter versions elsewhere. The area of consciousness is probably the msot hotly debated area of philosophy, so there is no shortage of arguments and counter-arguments and counter-counter-arguments from all sides.
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
5.0
“Truly, nothing in the world has so occupied my thoughts as this I, this riddle, the fact I am alive, that I am separated and isolated from all others, that I am Siddhartha! And about nothing in the world do I know less about than me, about Siddhartha!”
At first glance, I was not sure how much I would enjoy this book. Coming from Hesse I figured it must be good and I had always heard such wonderful things, but honestly my experiences and struggles with the "new age" trend had put me so off from anything revolving around Eastern religion and philosophy that I thought a book dealing with such ideas would just invoke in me negative memories or responses. But then I started to read the book and found myself completely captivated by it.
I was captivated not so much by all the ideas expressed in the work (although many ideas are very beautiful) but simply in the way it was all written. I found myself drawn to every passage and in love with the expressive descriptions of it all. Siddhartha's quest, a quest that he took up as his and his alone, going against the teachings and traditions of others, was one that I found extremely entertaining. Govinda, his loyal friend (and perhaps one of the most loyal friends) was a relatively infrequent, yet always memorable presence.
When I finished the book after only a few short sittings I felt completely moved by it. It was just a lovely read that left me with a tremendous feeling of euphoria in the end, something that I do not experience in literature very often. I recommend the book to everyone, it could easily be read in one sitting if you have enough time and is truly worth the effort (of which would, if you enjoy the language as much as me, is no effort at all).
At first glance, I was not sure how much I would enjoy this book. Coming from Hesse I figured it must be good and I had always heard such wonderful things, but honestly my experiences and struggles with the "new age" trend had put me so off from anything revolving around Eastern religion and philosophy that I thought a book dealing with such ideas would just invoke in me negative memories or responses. But then I started to read the book and found myself completely captivated by it.
I was captivated not so much by all the ideas expressed in the work (although many ideas are very beautiful) but simply in the way it was all written. I found myself drawn to every passage and in love with the expressive descriptions of it all. Siddhartha's quest, a quest that he took up as his and his alone, going against the teachings and traditions of others, was one that I found extremely entertaining. Govinda, his loyal friend (and perhaps one of the most loyal friends) was a relatively infrequent, yet always memorable presence.
When I finished the book after only a few short sittings I felt completely moved by it. It was just a lovely read that left me with a tremendous feeling of euphoria in the end, something that I do not experience in literature very often. I recommend the book to everyone, it could easily be read in one sitting if you have enough time and is truly worth the effort (of which would, if you enjoy the language as much as me, is no effort at all).
Anna by Jostein Gaarder
2.0
I just finished reading this book in the original Norwegian, and in that since can say nothing to the quality of this specific translation, but nonetheless I must say the book, despite being only 220 pages, seemed to drag on and on with similar concepts repeating and other concepts never truly being brought to an understandable conclusion.
The book started off interesting enough and I presumed that it would develop into a wonderful, thought provoking book on climate change that may be powerful enough to influence those who read it. Unfortunately the charm of the book was quickly lost when the story started to "develop". At first I was confused with the random sequences switching between time periods and characters, then as the book went on I realized that the formula just needed to be flushed out. Unfortunately the formula was completely unsatisfactory. A dream sequence in one time period would essentially just be re-explained and described in further detail in the next chapter through Anna to either her psychologist or her boyfriend.
The characters are uninteresting and the happenings in the book just make it feel dull. Since my Norwegian is not perfect I originally thought it was just a misunderstanding, but after rereading passages carefully (and now looking at the review of others) I realize it was no misunderstanding, simply just that confusing at times.
When it comes to the environmental parts and arguments for the importance of taking care of the earth, the book may be good for its intended younger audience. For older readers it may however be uninteresting, especially if you are familiar with climate change, the science behind it, and the arguments to change it. Nonetheless very important and some of the passages are in this regard interesting to read. Unfortunately the stories within the story are more interesting then the story itself and in that regard I would not really recommend it. I found the ending to be very lacking and only more confusing and felt like a lot of things were not concluded. Yet the open ends were not interesting enough for me to care about what their possible meanings could have been.
The book started off interesting enough and I presumed that it would develop into a wonderful, thought provoking book on climate change that may be powerful enough to influence those who read it. Unfortunately the charm of the book was quickly lost when the story started to "develop". At first I was confused with the random sequences switching between time periods and characters, then as the book went on I realized that the formula just needed to be flushed out. Unfortunately the formula was completely unsatisfactory. A dream sequence in one time period would essentially just be re-explained and described in further detail in the next chapter through Anna to either her psychologist or her boyfriend.
The characters are uninteresting and the happenings in the book just make it feel dull. Since my Norwegian is not perfect I originally thought it was just a misunderstanding, but after rereading passages carefully (and now looking at the review of others) I realize it was no misunderstanding, simply just that confusing at times.
When it comes to the environmental parts and arguments for the importance of taking care of the earth, the book may be good for its intended younger audience. For older readers it may however be uninteresting, especially if you are familiar with climate change, the science behind it, and the arguments to change it. Nonetheless very important and some of the passages are in this regard interesting to read. Unfortunately the stories within the story are more interesting then the story itself and in that regard I would not really recommend it. I found the ending to be very lacking and only more confusing and felt like a lot of things were not concluded. Yet the open ends were not interesting enough for me to care about what their possible meanings could have been.