What is Called Thinking?: A Novel

by Phil Semler

The novel’s narrator S., a 70-year-old man, living on his own, suffers a nervous breakdown and checks himself into Berghof (mountain house) for a three-week stint, a private therapeutic clinic perched on East Peak, a mountain just outside the city of San Francisco, run by the Viennese psychiatrist Thomas Burnhard, a disciple of the philosopher Wittgenstein. S., a successful conceptual artist, though a pseudointellectual, has not produced any art for thirty years, except for a daily “Crimson Circle” (as a kind of homage to Italian proto renaissance artist Giotto who once drew a perfect red circle by hand to secure a commission with the pope) has hit the deep end. After admitting his mental illness is due to a lifetime of too much thinking, which only led to more confusion and unhappiness and problems—what Wittgenstein called troubles from the bewitchment of language— he lives in Berghof to rehabilitate himself, mainly under the guidance of possible charlatan Burnhard. Like many of us, S is extremely lonely during Covid, hopes to heal himself and establish contact with his estranged 30-year-old daughter and return to the world after curing his condition following the drastic philosophical language therapy. What is Called Thinking? is a delightful and engaging story that should appeal to any readers of Mann’s Magic Mountain and who may have wondered how language influences their thinking or, indeed is the limits of their thinking.

217 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 11, 2021

About the author

Phil Semler is the author of 13 novels (most recently Scattered Parts), and 2 travel books. He lives in San Francisco with his wife.

Reviews

[David Cain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read many of Phil's novels and enjoy them all. What is called Thinking? is as much about interesting ideas as it is plots and characters, a delightful mix of story and philosophy and thoughts about human nature. What first led me to read Phil, which can be found in this novel, are his fascinating inquiries and expositions into the meaning of art. Having said that, I'm off to buy another book from his extensive collection of novels and look forward to his next. Enjoy. (The San Francisco books and the baseball book are especially recommended, definitely among his best!)