Søren Kierkegaard

“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

“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

“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