Books by Søren Kierkegaard
Fear and Trembling: Dialectical Lyric
by Søren Kierkegaard and translated by Alexander Jech
Fear and Trembling by Søren Kierkegaard and translated by Alexander Jech is a very useful edition of this classic text. It includes extensive annotations at the back including elucidation of key terms together with relevant quotations from other works by Kierkegaard.
Written Images
Søren Kierkegaard (ed. by Niels Jørgen Cappelørn, Joakim Garff, Johnny Kondrup)
“It’s a beautiful book with wonderful photographs, and it gives an insight both into the living Kierkegaard and into the body of writings that we encounter today if we go to a bookshop or a library and see Kierkegaard’s works on the shelves. This book tells the story of how they came to be written and published.” Read more...
The best books on Søren Kierkegaard
Clare Carlisle, Philosopher
Stages on Life’s Way
Søren Kierkegaard (trans. by Edna V. Hong and Howard H. Hong)
“In this book, Kierkegaard seems to be compulsively returning to the experience of his broken relationship with Regine Olsen and trying to re-tell and work through the story. Kierkegaard writes about the broken engagement, and even reproduces word-for-word the note he sent to Regine when he returned her ring. So, it’s very autobiographical. The prose is also beautiful: it’s the work of an experienced writer. It has been neglected, partly because of its difficulty, but it’s worth making an effort with it.” Read more...
The best books on Søren Kierkegaard
Clare Carlisle, Philosopher
“It’s one of the clearest statements of Kierkegaard’s mature philosophical position. In it, he defines human beings as spiritual beings. He says that human beings are not self-sufficient; we’re not autonomous, but rather all dependent on God.” Read more...
The best books on Søren Kierkegaard
Clare Carlisle, Philosopher
The Lily of the Field and the Bird of the Air
Søren Kierkegaard (trans. by Bruce H. Kirmmse)
“In Kierkegaard’s hands, the lily and the bird are a kind of foil to the human experience, which is far from carefree—it’s actually an experience full of anxiety and self-consciousness and that sense of being seen and judged by others. He saw being human as kind of like a task that everyone has to learn, and he’s really exploring this question of how to be human in these discourses in a very beautiful, poetic way. I would recommend this book as an entry point into Kierkegaard’s thinking.” Read more...
The best books on Søren Kierkegaard
Clare Carlisle, Philosopher
Interviews where books by Søren Kierkegaard were recommended
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1
The Lily of the Field and the Bird of the Air
Søren Kierkegaard (trans. by Bruce H. Kirmmse) -
2
The Sickness unto Death
by Søren Kierkegaard -
3
Stages on Life’s Way
Søren Kierkegaard (trans. by Edna V. Hong and Howard H. Hong) -
4
Kierkegaard, Pietism and Holiness
by Christopher Barnett -
5
Written Images
Søren Kierkegaard (ed. by Niels Jørgen Cappelørn, Joakim Garff, Johnny Kondrup)
The best books on Søren Kierkegaard, recommended by Clare Carlisle
The best books on Søren Kierkegaard, recommended by Clare Carlisle
“It’s not surprising that he died at forty-two, because he burned himself out restlessly, relentlessly pursuing this question of how to be a human being.” Søren Kierkegaard’s latest biographer Clare Carlisle recommends five books for understanding the Danish philosopher’s life and work—and shows how his work often bears witness to the complex, fraught experience of being alive.
