The Thinking Woman

by Julienne van Loon

One of the age-old questions of philosophy is what does it mean to live a good life? In this extraordinary book, scholar and writer, Julienne van Loon, applies a range of philosophical ideas to her own experience. Van Loon engages with the work of six leading contemporary thinkers and writers — Rosi Braidotti, Nancy Holmstrom, Siri Hustvedt, Laura Kipnis, Julia Kristeva and Marina Warner — through interrogating and enlivening their ideas on love, play, fear, work, wonder and friendship. Her journey is intellectual and deeply personal, political and intimate at once. It introduces readers to six extraordinary women whose own deeply thoughtful work has much to offer all of us. They may transform our own views of what it means to live a good life.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Philosophy, Essays, Memoir

272 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2019

About the author

Julienne van Loon has written three novels: Road Story (2005), which won the Australian/Vogel’s Award, Beneath the Bloodwood Tree (2008) and Harmless (2013). Her novella ‘Instructions for a Steep Decline’ won the Griffith Review Novella Project VII and is published in Griffith Review 66. Her debut non-fiction The Thinking Woman (2019) has been hailed as “a revelation” (Australian Book Review), “surprising and resonant” (Sydney Morning Herald) and “an invitation to a thoughtful life” (Feminist Writers’ Festival). She lives in Melbourne, where she is an Associate Professor with the Writing and Publishing program at RMIT.

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a millennial, reading this book felt like being privy to conversations between older, wiser and learned generations of women about the different vital facets of life. I really appreciated how the author weaved in candid and sometimes shocking reflections about her own life because it served to illuminate, on a human level, the philosophical discussion at hand.

Van Loon distils down the five (and more!) thinkers' insights quite deftly and poses questions about them in such a way that it has actually propelled me to think of them often in my everyday life. The chapter on Wonder was maybe my favourite, as was the chapter on friendship (though I'll admit Rosi Braidotti's philosophising lost me a little).

All of the chapters are fascinating in their own right; I only wish were longer to allow for even more depth to be explored. I feel this particularly would have benefited the parallel made between Rosie Batty and Kristeva's abjection theory, which I didn't really understand, though I found the discussion of Batty, Helen Caldicott and women's activism heartening (whilst also so harrowing).

This book is marvellously expansive in its scope, helpfully critical of received ideas and energising in the possibilities being a 'thinking woman' can have for our lives. This book gave me a lot to think about and I thank Van Loon for writing it.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished: 22.11.2019
Genre: memoir
Rating: B
#AUSReadingMonth 2019
Conclusion:

Julienne Van Loon engages with the work of
six leading contemporary thinkers and writers
Rosi Braidotti (ch 6, Friendship),
Nancy Holmstrom, Siri Hustvedt,
Laura Kipnis (ch 1, Love),
Julia Kristeva and Marina Warner.

Chapters 1 and 6 stand out for me...most captivating.
Other readers may find ch 3-5 also fascinating.

It is buoyant, intelligent and very satisfying book
as it delivers a solid dose of thought about
love, work, wonder, fear, friendship and play.

Ms Van Loon reveals we are in this together
...but we are not one in the same.

Rosi Braidotti's inspiration was Spinoza.
I found this the most interesting part of the book.

Trust in our shared intimacy with and knowledge of
the world in our lived experience of it.
Ms Van loon does share her intimate experiences....
#Bravo

[Karen Hollenbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea what to expect from this book. I didn’t know the author, but the title and cover called out to me in the bookshop. It sat on my ‘to read’ shelf for some time. Once I did pick it up and begin reading, it was hard to put down. This was because of the way each chapter explores topics I find extremely interesting. Love, Work, Play, Fear, etc.

In many ways I’m thankful to have read The Thinking Woman, mainly for the ideas it offers and the feeling, when reading it, that you’re listening to the most interesting ‘thoughts out aloud” as Julienne weaves her research, conversations, observations and own deeply personal and highly relevant reflections. Highly recommended for those who enjoy a thought provoking read.

[Ngarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful
Heartfelt
Intelligent

[Hazel Theophania · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helped contribute to a lovely epiphany. Covers multiple wonderful and interesting perspectives.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a terrific and engaging review of this book in ABR so bought it. I loved the first chapter on love, and admired the ensuing chapters in play, work, wonder, fear , friendship for the way van Loon weaves philosophers work with her interviews with them with the way the work resonates with her life and learning. I know most of the philosophy she reads, so ultimately it was her personal uses/storying of them that kept me reading. A fabulous idea for a book that applies academic work to life.

[Zora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars for the superb chapters on work and friendship.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of us believe philosophy is the preserve of old, white men, many of which lived a number of centuries ago, and all of whom influence so much of our thinking today. Julienne van Loon has produced a book to totally shatter that myth, demonstrating how important female philosophers are and how fundamental their ideas are to many people's lives, especially women themselves.

This book is a beautiful combination of memoir and personal stories, deep philosophy and fascinating ideas. The fact that the author herself is so much a part of the story is what really appealed to me most about the book. In particular, her first chapter on love affected me so profoundly I immediately ordered Laura Kipnis's book (and read it in the course of an afternoon), but the final chapter on friendship was so beautifully moving for so many reasons. I also studied Julia Kristeva's ideas of the abject during my first MA in Art History, so I was well versed in the concepts but to be reintroduced to them in the context of fear was wonderful. It has reminded me that it is too long since I have explored Kristeva's philosophy and I would very much like to go back to it.

This really is a book for the thinking woman - it is both easy and complex, very readable, and incredibly challenging all at the same time. Julienne is someone I would love to sit down with over a bottle of wine as I adore deep thinking women. Fortunately, there are plenty of them out there.

[Anne Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thematically organized collection of essays around the themes of Love, Play, Work, Fear, Wonder and Friendship, this is a remarkable testament to Julienne van Loon’s ability to translate philosophical thought into the daily lives of women in a climate where as Anne Summers says in her foreword “women are so accustomed to having unfriendly or even abusive adjectives and epithets hurled at us” that to be validated as “a thinking woman” is a rare privilege.

Van Loon raises some provocative ideas about how we can better understand ourselves as women in relation to both our immediate circumstances and the wider ones of the world in which we live. And in that world, it’s disturbing to read her observation that in a bookshop she visited, a display devoted to philosophical works featured almost with without exception male authors. … Still!

If anyone can contribute to equalizing that situation, van Loon and the examples of thinking women she features in her book (Siri Hustvedt, Laura Kipnis, Nancy Holmstrom, Marina Warner, Rosi Braidotti and Julia Kristeva) are well equipped to do so.

[Paul Fleckney · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging and insightful collection of essays and reflections on themes applicable to everyone who thinks, not just women. For me, the standout was Chapter 3 (Work); van Loon provides a worthy introduction to the work of Nancy Holmstrom and offers a nuanced analysis of Marx's theory of alienation applied to our present day (post)modernity. 'To what extent is meaningful, successful and non-alienated labour possible in the post-industrial context?' she asks on page 101. Precisely.

I enjoyed very much van Loon's digressions into pericosms in chapter 2. Her thoughts around love, relationships and adultery (Chapter 1) challenged and confronted me. I struggled to get to grips with the final chapter (Friendship) in which I felt the author's warm and humble voice that had carried me up to that point suddenly gave way to a more academic and jargony ring.

In all, a solid collection, and I commend the author for bringing to the fore the work of six female philosophers of which I was for the most part ignorant before picking up this volume.

[Chelsea Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting take on five different truths in humanity from a female perspective. It’s really refreshing to read a philosophy book and discuss academic ideas that have been created or elaborated on by women. Often philosophy and other academic fields are very exclusive, and common truths are decided upon without consulting women. This book battles this beautifully with different references to scholars, interviewees and the author’s own personal life.
However it is worth noting that the women she interviews may be diverse in personal story and their chosen fields of study, but they tend to be Eurocentric, of a middle to upper class and have a cis identity. It is rather limited in that aspect so I wouldn’t say this is inherently a book for all womxn.

However the ideas discussed are incredibly worthwhile and makes philosophy a more comforting field to read into and provide fresh perspectives.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, it got me thinking deeply about things I haven’t turned my mind to for a long time. Van Loon wrote about some pretty ‘high’ concepts in a really accessible way.

It was also a very personal journey for Van Loon. I think this willingness of Van Loon to engage personally with her writing by applying it to her own life invites in the reader that very same reflective exercise. It is an invitation that is well worth accepting.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought-provoking and honest. Several times I had to put the book down and have some time to think and process what I read and how I felt about it.
Julienne is generous in sharing herself amidst the theories and philosophies of some exceptionally intelligent and wondering women.
I loved this book. I cried in several parts, ran to my notebook and jotted down thoughts and even circled entries in the book for future reference. Such an inspiring read.

[Rhys Collier · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about philosophy and activism, which is both easily approachable and personal. However, the author has opted for ease of understanding and personality over diving into the nittier details of the philosophical theories discussed. For some, this may annoy; but ultimately reading the book has given me a list of interesting philosophical works that I am looking forward to exploring in the future.

[Genevieve Dingle · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of those rare books that make you stop and reflect, and write passages down. The author weaves feminist philosophy, conversations with female thinkers, and personal memoir together under themes of Love, Play, Work, and Friendship. I will re-read this one and many of the works that are referenced in it. Highly recommended.

[A.M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this, and then I realised that I had not taken any notes - I usually do that with non fiction titles - so I sat down and read it again so that I could write down all the things I want to remember.

That’s how much I liked this title.

And now I have a hundred other things to track down and read as well.

5 stars

So far this year, my library saved me A$3004.89

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compelling and thoughtful book, which should be read by all, not just those interested in philosophy or feminism... Van Loom writes honestly about her life, in a way that encourages you to adopt a similar lens to examine your own. Fantastic.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of essays explores the great themes of life from a philosophical perspective and did, indeed, give me much to think about. Van Loon also provides a useful bibliography so that I can take that thinking further with the help of other great thinkers such as she.

[Rosemary · Rating 5 out of 5]

So enjoyed this book that uses interviews with women philosophers on themes such as love, play, work, fear, wonder and friendship. She inserts some of her own life as an academic, mother and friend to good effect. Great read!

[Kirsty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightfully insightful and interesting in the most important of ways. I enjoyed (and learnt something from) every page.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series of contemplations triggered by meeting intelligent and thoughtful women, some of whom may be considered academic philosophers.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely a must-read.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written book and very honest.

[Lia Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A drip fed memoir cross meditation on philosophy. The approach made it enjoyable to read and accessible. My interest waned on certain topics, but I eagerly consumed this book in other parts.