Reviews for The Soul Of A Cat And Other Stories

The average rating for The Soul Of A Cat And Other Stories based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-01-27 00:00:00 Victor Klujsza If I have a single or dominant religious view, existentialism would be it. I've been reading these philosophers for some time and have to say that this is the best compilation I've seen so far, especially for beginners.. It's short and easy to follow. It goes by topic with stories- plays, shorts, and even an autobiographical clip from Beauvoire- that're heavy in existential themes- individuality and freedom in an absurd, nihilistic world. Existence is a struggle worth fighting. Our choices define us. It's got a multitude of social theory and religion, both for and against, mixed in. It's a great introduction to the philosophy and/or classic literature. I might add that it's as good as scripture to me since it helped me understand my favorite school of thought better leaving me both renewed and liberated through the concise explanations after each entry. It's a great way for beginners to understand the existential struggle and how "existence precedes essence."

Review # 2 was written on 2014-04-23 00:00:00 David White One of Pater's more well-known works, Imaginary Portraits (1887) combines the styles of the two books which preceded it. It's like the character studies of The Renaissance (1873), in which each person is taken to be a representative of a particular artistic ideal or temperament, combined with the historically-informed fiction of Marius the Epicurean (1885). As such, the territory feels familiar to any lovers of Pater. Indeed, most of Pater's essays stretch the facts of historical characters to some extent (in order to expound on the ideas which their images conjured up for him); Imaginary Portraits only takes that imaginative dimension, which is always present in Pater's work, and unfetters it from the need to be factual. 'A Prince of Court Painters' is an interesting consideration of the art and life of Watteau, and of young artists whose preoccupations shadow the humdrum of their day-to-day lives. It's the most consciously fake of all the Portraits, as it takes the form of a diary of a family friend of the Watteau family. 'Denys L'Auxerrois' is a haunting consideration of the lingering pagan spirit in French art, and comparable to 'Apollo in Picardy' in that regard (published in Miscellaneous Studies). 'Sebastian Van Storck' ponders Spinoza's philosophy, and probably contains the most dramatic moments of the book (Sebastian subverts his lifelong nihilism by saving a child from drowning). 'Duke Carl of Rosenmold' celebrates the flowering of the German Aufklärung. Duke Carl's life seems to suggest that individual temperament is crucial in the appreciation of art; that great art becomes great when impressed onto sensitive minds which thirst for beauty and knowledge. In such minds, Pater seems to say, even the most unreal or tawdry of things can inspire and thrill: 'It was but himself truly, after all, that he had found, so fresh and real, among those artificial roses.' (p. 130). A marvellous book which I shall be returning to!