Rating: 
Summary: Changed my Life!
Review: A year ago I quit my job, sold all of my possessions and moved into a year long sabbatical. Prior to doing this I purchased Palmer's "Looking at Philosophy" and didn't realize then, that it was the sacred talisman I had been looking for. It allowed me to put form, function and purpose to my worldview. Ironically, it was Palmer's "Kierkegaard for Beginners" that I picked up last week not knowing it was by the same author and it has become the thesis to my sabbatical. It allowed me to find my identity that I had lost years ago, by presenting in detail the life and philosophy of a man who paralled my own to absolute detail. Palmer's writing and illustrations made this possible, and I hope one day to thank him personally.
Rating:
Summary: Density Dispersed to Common Ground
Review: I always found Kierkegaards work archaic in language and dense in thought. However, this book helped me work through that in laying the underpinning's of Kierkegaards philosophy in a soft tangible style that is easy for anyone to grasp and enjoy. Perhaps this book will not propel everyone to investigate further into his works, however it will leave the reader satisfied that one has some base knowledge at hand. Donald Palmer gives a nice presentation of Kierkegaard's work and life from birth to death, which adds to the understanding of Kierkegaards philosophy. Definately reccomended to the beginning student of existentialism and Kierkegaard.
Rating:
Summary: Profound Book with Funny Illustrations
Review: I don't consider this a comic because the content is too profound to be called a comic. If you understand the content of this book well, the illustrations make you laugh heartily. I find them entertaining.
I would have never understood what Kierkegaard's work is all about if I didn't start with this book because Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) is said to have used more ink than anyone on Earth, having written more than what an average person can read in one lifetime. I would have understood nothing if I had to read several of his major books and try to figure out what they are all about. The author did a great job in summarizing his philosophy.
Though Christianity pervades his work, I do not think his philosophy is about Christianity. Instead I would say that he established a universal philosophy by using concepts of Christianity. In other words, his philosophy can be applied to any area of life in any culture.
One can spend money on a book and let that book sit somewhere, but this type of book becomes valuable when digested with effort. It becomes something money cannot buy.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Beginners Book!
Review: One day I was inspired to read Either/Or by this great philosopher. Suddenly painful memories rose to the surface as I remembered the struggle with this author's thoughts in my undergraduate and graduate classes in philosophy. Kierkegaard is not fun reading on any level. So what do you do when you want to revisit or re-read a major philosophical work but don't want to go through the pain? "Kierkegaard For Beginners" was my answer. Using a cartoon format laced with humor this book takes the most complex philosopher and makes his life and works accessible to the general reader. One must remember that this is not an introductory text book on Kierkegaard's philosophy nor does it go into a deep analysis of his work. It covers the broad spectrum of his works without "dummying down" the thinker's ideas. Of course this isn't a substitute for reading the original works but it certainly puts you in touch with the major ideas of Kierkegaard that will motivate you to learn more about him. I highly recommend this book for high school students ( Do they take philosophy in high school any more?) and those in undergraduate classes of philosophy on the introductory level. It is a great supplementary work in making a great man's ideas accessible to students. And besides, it is fun and makes Kierkegaard a pleasure to study.
Rating:
Summary: PALPABLE KIERKEGAARD
Review: One day I was inspired to read Either/Or by this great philosopher. Suddenly painful memories rose to the surface as I remembered the struggle with this author's thoughts in my undergraduate and graduate classes in philosophy. Kierkegaard is not fun reading on any level. So what do you do when you want to revisit or re-read a major philosophical work but don't want to go through the pain? "Kierkegaard For Beginners" was my answer. Using a cartoon format laced with humor this book takes the most complex philosopher and makes his life and works accessible to the general reader. One must remember that this is not an introductory text book on Kierkegaard's philosophy nor does it go into a deep analysis of his work. It covers the broad spectrum of his works without "dummying down" the thinker's ideas. Of course this isn't a substitute for reading the original works but it certainly puts you in touch with the major ideas of Kierkegaard that will motivate you to learn more about him. I highly recommend this book for high school students ( Do they take philosophy in high school any more?) and those in undergraduate classes of philosophy on the introductory level. It is a great supplementary work in making a great man's ideas accessible to students. And besides, it is fun and makes Kierkegaard a pleasure to study.
Rating:
Summary: Engaging meeting with a fascinating character
Review: Palmer does a better job than is imaginable with his medium. Contrary to Anonymous Boston reader's comments, this is not a comic book - although it does have illustrations. But those illustrations add everything to the book. They are Palmer's mode of expressing wit and lightening and personalizing what is basically a philosophical book. I understand that Palmer takes this approach in many of his works; I plan to find more of them. I bought other books in the "For Beginners series" thinking they would all be this good, but Palmer's are the best book of this sort I have in my collection. This book helped stimulate me into an abiding interest in Kierkegaard's thoughts and life. As I've read more (of course, SK's writings, Lowrie's biography, and compilations like the "parables") I've found myself returning to Palmer over and over again. This book gives a compelling rendition of Kierkegaard and remains one of my favorite introductory philosophy books. A treasure - and a travesty that it is out of print. Publishers! You do us a grand disservice!
Rating:
Summary: Engaging meeting with a fascinating character
Review: Palmer does a better job than is imaginable with his medium. Contrary to Anonymous Boston reader's comments, this is not a comic book - although it does have illustrations. But those illustrations add everything to the book. They are Palmer's mode of expressing wit and lightening and personalizing what is basically a philosophical book. I understand that Palmer takes this approach in many of his works; I plan to find more of them. I bought other books in the "For Beginners series" thinking they would all be this good, but Palmer's are the best book of this sort I have in my collection. This book helped stimulate me into an abiding interest in Kierkegaard's thoughts and life. As I've read more (of course, SK's writings, Lowrie's biography, and compilations like the "parables") I've found myself returning to Palmer over and over again. This book gives a compelling rendition of Kierkegaard and remains one of my favorite introductory philosophy books. A treasure - and a travesty that it is out of print. Publishers! You do us a grand disservice!
Rating:
Summary: Essential
Review: This book is a very accessible. It gives a great introduction to Kirkegaard's insight. It shook things loose in me.
Rating:
Summary: Essential
Review: This book is funny. If you know anything about Kiekegaard you probably don't associate him with humor. But this book uses humor to illustrate complex thought in memorable ways. I love it! One of the best books in the Writers and Readers Beginners Documentary Comic Book series.
Rating: 
Summary: Kierkegaard for Beginners
Review: This book was my introduction to this series, and overall it has whetted my appetite for more. I was skeptical about the "comic book" format (the publisher refers to this series as comic books, although I agree with another reviewer that the format is really text with illustrations), but my curiosity about how Kierkegaard's dense philosophy could be meanfully summarized so briefly got the better of me. I think the book is largely successful. Kierkegaard is difficult to understand, partly because his thought system is complex, but also because he often chose to write in what Palmer calls a "parable" format, for example espousing his views on the "aesthetic" stage by writing pseudonymous pieces in the aesthetic voice. Palmer clearly explains this device while simultaneously explaining the major tenets illuminated by the device, no mean feat of summarizing in so brief a space. He pretty well does the same with most of Kierkegaard's major ideas, which is exactly what you would hope for from a book like this. My quarrel with the book is with the illustrations and some insufficient treatment of some key ideas. The illustrations are many, they are not funny or helpful, they are distracting, patronizing and annoying. And they take up space that would have been better spent explaining more fully some points that are not made sufficiently clear. I would include most notably in the latter category a more lucid explanation of Kierkegaard's views of the subjective and objective realms and just exactly why (instead of merely that) Kierkegaard maintains that life is only fully lived when its tenuousness, or emptiness, is realized. This idea is an important link with eastern philosophies and was first introduced into Western thought by Kierkegaard. It would have been helpful to have gone a bit deeper into this core idea, and room could perhaps have been made by eliminating a fatuous "illustration" or two. I would not have been as cranky about the illustrations if they had been of the same quality as the text or as amusing as those in the "For Dummies" series. Those criticisms said, the book does manage to deftly explain, in very accessible summary fashion, the principal ideas of this rather inaccessible but important thinker. Even the ideas that are not as thoroughly treated as one would have liked (even in so concise a summary) are at least mentioned, and the reader is referred to the work, and even page number, where Kierkegaard sets them forth. My interest in this series is to read summaries of the work of thinkers I am curious about but whose principal works I may never quite get to. I decided to test the series by starting with this book, because I actually have read most of Kierkegaard. I'm more impressed than I thought I would be, and I will try some more in the series.
| 
