Reviews for Essays in Understanding, 1930-1954: Formation, Exile, and Totalitarianism

The average rating for Essays in Understanding, 1930-1954: Formation, Exile, and Totalitarianism based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-12-21 00:00:00 Donald Miller it took me an awfully long time to finish these essays. i set the book aside to read other books, including another Hannah Arendt. Finally today i sorted through the remainder of the most important ones i wanted to read. Some of them were, as i have written before in my reviews, above my paygrade. I was not a political science/theorist major but i do try to understand the philosophical foundation of her writing. I was particularly interested in the essays with regard to the H0locaust and aftermath, also Kafka, and Religion and Politics. I wonder what she would think to see our world today considering some of her "predictions" about Europe following the war and the rise of Stalinism.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-02-05 00:00:00 Virginia Bergeron It is close to impossible to review a book like this. There is a huge amount of essays in various topics and written for various contexts. Yet, this is a book well worth reading if one wants to acquaint oneself with Arendt's thinking. The chronological order adds a further interesting aspect to the book, namely to see a sort of development in her thinking. The short format also makes you come closer to Arendt in a quicker way. Some essays might be slightly bound to its time and place, but it is absolutely fascinating to read her interpretations of totalitarianism and of the death camps. Her insights and her courage to write what she does so close to the actual events are inspiring to say the least.