A Literary Review

by Søren Kierkegaard, Alastair Hannay (Translation)

While ostensibly commenting on the work of a contemporary novelist, Kierkegaard used this review as a critique of his society and age. The influence of this short piece has been far-reaching. The apocalyptic final sections are the source for central notions in Heidegger's Being and Time. Later readers have seized on the essay as a prophetic analysis of our own time. Its concepts have been drawn into current debates on identity, addiction, and social conformity.

Genres: Philosophy, Denmark, Nonfiction

109 pages, Paperback

First published October 25, 2001

About the author

Søren Aabye Kierkegaard was a prolific 19th century Danish philosopher and theologian. Kierkegaard strongly criticised both the Hegelianism of his time and what he saw as the empty formalities of the Church of Denmark. Much of his work deals with religious themes such as faith in God, the institution of the Christian Church, Christian ethics and theology, and the emotions and feelings of individuals when faced with life choices. His early work was written under various pseudonyms who present their own distinctive viewpoints in a complex dialogue.

Kierkegaard left the task of discovering the meaning of his works to the reader, because "the task must be made difficult, for only the difficult inspires the noble-hearted". Scholars have interpreted Kierkegaard variously as an existentialist, neo-orthodoxist, postmodernist, humanist, and individualist.

Crossing the boundaries of philosophy, theology, psychology, and literature, he is an influential figure in contemporary thought.

Reviews

[Justin Evans · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm baffled by the goodreads' community's high ratings for this book. It has nice passages, but as a whole it's a freaking mess: summary of a boring novel; over-interpretation of said novel; awful post-Hegel babble about contradictions; random romantic assertion about passion/love and so on.

I thought, for the first half, that Kierkegaard was doing his usual irony, and actually mocking the novel under discussion. It appears not. I thought he was mocking the 'passion' of the romantic era; not so.

All that said, it's Kierkegaard, so there's great sentences and even paragraphs and some pretty good ideas, too (his discussion of reflection vs action turns out to be much more nuanced than it initially seems). And you can't help but think whether our own age is more like the revolutionary/ passionate, or the reflecting/prudent age. Neither, really. But it's worth thinking about, at least.

[Pete · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Fucking sick.

[Augustus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let's be honest, the book is rated 4.08 by some people because of "The Present Age" only

I'm one of those, contemporary society sucks. Kierkegaard's predictions are eerie man

Btw, I rated the book 3 stars. The abridged version of "The present age" can also be found in "The Essential Kierkegaard" by the Hongs

[Elias Vlachos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fanns aspekter av boken som var intressanta, andra halvan var betydligt mer underhållande och givande än den första.

[Joseph Monroe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe Kierkegaard's best work in terms of effectively critiquing modern society.

[Mona Kareem]

Such a boring book. You shouldn't read this if you're not interested in 'Christian Existentialism' or the such!