A Short Life of Kierkegaard

by Walter Lowrie

Book Overview

A small, insignificant-looking intellectual with absurdly long legs, S ren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) was a veritable Hans Christian Andersen caricature of a man. A strange combination of witty... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0691019576
• Release Date: February 1965
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Length: 284 Pages
• Weight: 0.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.7" x 5.0"

Customer Reviews

a near-autobiographical life of S.K.

Walter Lowrie, probably unknowingly, described the whole of this "Short Life" well in a sentence: "Fortunately, in this chapter I can tell much of the story in S.K.'s own words, supplying merely the connective tissue which may be necessary to hold his scattered utterances together." This account of Kierkegaard's life is presently largely in the man's own words, with the author serving almost as an editor. S. K.'s journals and excerpts don't always make for the most fluent reading, and so Lowrie's comments and clarifications do well to bind the whole life together and shine light on much of the more ambiguous meaning. The chronology of his life in the book is a bit confusing at times and, because he lets Kierkegaard do a lot of the talking, Lowrie forfeits the chance to present as compelling a narrative as some biographies do, but S.K.'s life is so dramatic and interesting in and of itself that the reading is nevertheless arresting. The "Short Life" is a little dated at this point, but is written by one of the Kierkegaard scholars of the day, and I think it should provide any student or casual reader with a fine introduction to the man's thought and the events that shaped and colored that thought so powerfully.

the dramatic life of an absorbing Dane

Lowrie gives his version of Kierkegaard's life - the only version I really know. That said, his telling of the Kierkegaard story is supplemented by many quotations from Kierkegaard's journals and his books, many of which contained veiled autobiography.Lowrie's assessment of Kierkegaard's motivations and his sense for the dramatic and important moments of this man's life is indisputable. By my understanding, Lowrie was primary in bringing Kierkegaard into the English language and the wider culture. Bravo, an excellent job which remains a worthwhile and engaging read.