The Alchemist
Author - Paulo Coelho
Published - 1988
Genre: Adventure
Major Theme: Discover your personal legend
Synopsis: Inspired by a series of visions the shepherd Santiago decides to strike out for the Egyptian Pyramids in order to find his own personal legend. He partakes in a series of adventures where certain lessons are learned and important morals are drawn. Santiago eventually meets, and then falls in love with, a girl named Fatima. Shortly thereafter he meets an Alchemist in the desert who finally reveals to Santiago his true personal legend.
Philosophical Associations:
Plato - The Apology
Relevance - The Apology is arguably one of Plato's greatest masterpieces. The work depicts a series of speeches by the philosopher Socrates as he stands trail for his life before the Athenian Assembly. In The Apology Socrates defiantly informs his judges and accusers that "the unexamined life is not worth living" (38a). This famous quote helps to define the general theme of Plato's philosophical work. What is our purpose? What does it mean to be good? How can I be happy? Plato explores these questions in his numerous dialogues, employing the exploits of his teacher Socrates as an inquisitive and humorous guide. However, if you are familiar with Socrates, you might reasonably ask if Santiago would have ever been able to have found his personal legend had he talked to Socrates.
Animal Farm
Author - George Orwell
Published - 1945
Genre: Parody, Political Satire
Major Theme: Animals begin a revolution and take control of a farm
Synopsis: Fed up with the tyrannical and incompetent rule of their master Mr. Jones, the animals of his farm start a revolution. After successfully overthrowing Mr. Jones the animals begin to establish a society of their own making. After a short time a hierarchy develops where the sly pigs appoint themselves as the leaders of their new society, delegating work and coercing the other animals to their will. Slowly this manipulation develops into an oppressively violent tyranny and the animals subjected to this regime begin to wonder if Mr. Jones was so bad after all.
Philosophical Associations:
G.W.F Hegel - Phenomenology of Spirit
Karl Marx - The Communist Manifesto
Albert Camus - The Rebel
Relevance: These three philosophers offer various perspectives on the politics parodied in Orwell's satire of the Russian Revolution. Marx is notorious for his call to the working class poor to rise up and overthrow their rich and powerful oppressors. While Hegel argues that there is a symmetry between master and servant that is difficult to forsake, as those who overthrow their masters in turn become the master themselves, making servants of others. Finally, Camus has an insightful view of rebellion, arguing that it can take many possible forms and therefore can have various consequences leading to different conclusions. For Camus, the status and application of particular values will determine the legitimacy of a revolution and will ultimately influence an outcome resulting from absolute tyranny to absolute freedom.
A Song of Fire and Ice
Author - George R. R. Martin
Published - 1996
Genre: Fantasy
Major Theme: Winter is coming
Synopsis: This extremely popular series of books has yet to be completed. For those who are not acquainted, the story is about seven kingdoms in a content known as Westeros. Political canniness, guile, cunning, and ruthlessness are just some of the qualities shared by the characters throughout these books (well, at least those that tend to survive anyways). Alliances and betrayals, manipulations and coercion, war and assassination, in the world that Martin has created it seems that the only two certain things are savagery and politics.
Philosophical Associations:
Machiavelli - The Prince
Relevance: Machiavelli's work provides the modern framework for realpolitik. In this treatise he famously argues for the the political virtues of fear and cruelty compared to those of love and compassion. One of his most significant depictions in this work is the life of Cesare Borgia. Borgia used his ambition, influence, and intelligence, to connive and murder his way into politically advantageous positions. His lust for power combined with his political savvy makes for an apt comparison to many of Martin's characters.
Brothers Karamazov, The
Author - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Published - 1880
Genre: Philosophical Novel
Major Theme: The story of four brothers and patricide
Synopsis: Dostoyevsky's greatest ever novel and perhaps one of the best philosophical novels ever written. The story involves the life of four brothers with very distinct personalities. Individually their personalities reflect devote Christianity, emotionally unstable ego-centrism, rational atheism, and nihilism. The brothers are brought together by the murder of their father, a vociferous and nasty landowner. As the story unfolds the distinct characteristics of each brother and their particular understanding of life and meaning is revealed. Their striking contrasts of personalities formulates Dostoyevsky's intriguing challenge to our common understanding of love, value, and kinship.
Philosophical Associations:
Martin Buber - I and Thou
Emmanuel Levinas - Totality and Infinity
Friedrich Nietzsche - The Gay Science
Relevance: Both Buber and Levinas provide an excellent example of modern and post-modern religious philosophy, respectively. Buber focuses on the power of language and its ability to characterise how we view the world and the others we encounter in it. He argues that distinctions in language characterize our relationships with God, those we support, and those we oppress. Levinas carries this analysis even further, arguing that a mystical God-like ineffable quality is embodied in all people that we encounter, that is, in all 'others'. Contrary to all of this, Nietzsche provides profound insight in to the philosophies of atheism and nihilism. Famously declaring that "God is dead", Nietzsche's views on religion are less then flattering. This champion of atheism has a few concerning things to say about nihilism as well. Taken together, these philosophers make a useful companion to many of the ideas discussed and debated by the brothers in Dostoyevsky's novel.
Candide
Author - Voltaire
Published - 1759
Genre: Satire
Major Theme: Everything is for the best or cultivate your garden
Synopsis: Candide suffers one calamity after another but holds steadfastly to his belief that 'everything is for the best'. His humorous exploits take one unusual turn after another as it would seem that he is perhaps the most unfortunate person on the planet. This short novel is Voltaire's twisted response to the almost eternal optimism found in most of his Eighteenth-Century enlightenment contemporaries.
Philosophical Associations:
Gottried Leibniz - Théodicée
Relevance: In this large volume of work published by Leibniz he argues that the world we currently inhabit is the best of all possible worlds humanity could hope to live in. He comes to this position through a series of arguments which roughly claim: If God is entirely good, and God created the world, then world itself must therefore be the best of all possible worlds God could have created. Otherwise, how else could God be entirely good if he did not create the best possible world for humanity to exist in? Voltaire's wit and cynicism has more then a bit to say about all of this.
Catch-22
Author - Joseph Heller
Published - 1961
Genre: Absurdism, Satire, Dark Humor
Theme: Yousarian pushes sanity to the brink
Synopsis: In my opinion this is one the funniest novels of the Twentieth-Century. It is the story of a World War Two bomber pilot named "Yousarian" who finds himself in many absurd situations, normally called "catch-22s". A catch-22 is summarized nicely in this quote: “Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle” (Heller 55).* If you appreciate the crazy world we live in and like to laugh, you need to read this book!
Philosophical Associations:
Albert Camus - The Myth of Sisyphus
Relevance: In this philosophical work Camus explores the boundaries of absurdity, which he believes is an inherent part of human existence. For Camus, the Ancient Greek Sisyphus embodies the human condition. Sisyphus labours in his task to push a bolder up a hill, once he reaches the top of the hill the bolder rolls back down to the bottom, then Sisyphus must renew his efforts to push it back to the top again, a cycle that continues for eternity. Camus does excellent work in linking the futility of Sisyphus's life and struggles to our personal projects and life experiences. Luckily, for Camus, while there is much about the world that is absurd, perspective provides a silver lining as to how we may view the futility of our labour.
*Heller, Joseph. Catch 22. Simon and Schuster, New York. 1996.
Crime and Punishment
Author - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Published - 1866
Genre: Philosophical Novel
Major Theme: The morality of murder
Synopsis: Crime and Punishment is the story of a young man named Rodion Raskolnikov. Raskolnikov lives as an impoverished student in a tiny apartment where he struggles to survive and make ends meet. Embittered, he devises a plan to kill and rob a nasty and unpleasant elderly pawn broker and money lender named Alyona Ivanovna. He justifies the murder by claiming there are two kinds of people in the world: ordinary people, who are subjugated and ruled by the law, and extraordinary people, who have the right to transgress the law as they see fit, as such obstacles should not restrain them from exercising their special talents. Believing he has the status and rights of the latter, Raskolnikov decides that, for him, murder is an acceptable course of action. Throughout the novel the morality of Raskolnikov's actions begin to weigh heavily on his conscious as his actions begin to catch up with him.
Philosophical Associations:
Friedrich Nietzsche - Beyond Good and Evil
Immanuel Kant - Critique of Practical Reason
Relevance: Few philosophers are at such opposites ends of the spectrum as Nietzsche and Kant when it comes to moral philosophy. For Kant, context is irrelevant when it comes to moral action. That is, moral actions are very much black and white. If murder is wrong, then it is always wrong, regardless of the situation one might find oneself in. The same goes for stealing and lying, etc. This kind of absolutist moral framework is called deontology and Kant famously formulates this ethical position in what he calls the categorical imperative, which, roughly requires, respect for the autonomy of others and treating others as an end and not as a means. In contrast to this Nietzsche champions the moral supremacy of the ubermensch or overman. Nietzsche believes, like Raskolnikov, that certain people are destined for greatness and that the societal rules meant to order and restrain the average person would be overturned and destroyed by these powerful and creative forces. An example of such a person would be Napoleon Bonaparte. Both Kant's and Nietzsche's moral philosophy provides the perfect platform for the ethical value of Raskolnikov's actions.
Crying of Lot 49, The
Author - Thomas Pynchon
Published - 1966
Genre: Post-Modern mystery
Major Theme: Who are the Trystero?
Synopsis: Oedipa Mass finds herself the co-executor of her former lover's estate. While searching through his belongings she finds intriguing evidence of a mysterious underground postal service called the "Trystero". As she attempts to unravel this mystery a fabulous conspiracy emerges that questions her understanding of the world and even her sanity. This fantastically engaging novel is arguably the best example of a Post-Modern mystery novel, so don't expect any explicit conclusions!
Philosophical Associations:
Jacques Derrida - Writing and Difference
Relevance: If one wants to get acquainted with the complex and often confusing world of what is often called "Post-Modernism", there is perhaps no better example then the work of Derrida. Derrida challenges common conventions and asks his readers to deconstruct their typical understanding. His work questions the possibility of truth and claims that we must read between the lines in order to enlighten our understanding. Derrida's obscure ideas collude well with Pyncho's work, as convention, reason, and absurdity are put to the ultimate test.
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