Hardcover, 440 pages
Published July 21, 2012 by Chatto & Windus, imusti.
Paris, near the turn of 1933. Three young friends meet over apricot cocktails at the Bec-de-Gaz bar on the rue Montparnasse. They are Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and their friend Raymond Aron, who opens their eyes to a radical new way of thinking. Pointing to his drink, he says, 'You can make philosophy out of this cocktail!'
From this moment of inspiration, Sartre will create his own extraordinary philosophy of real, experienced life–of love and desire, of freedom and being, of cafés and waiters, of friendships and revolutionary fervour. It is a philosophy that will enthral Paris and sweep through the world, leaving its mark on post-war liberation movements, from the student uprisings of 1968 to civil rights pioneers.
At the Existentialist Café tells the story of modern existentialism as one of passionate encounters between people, minds and ideas. From the ‘king and queen of existentialism'–Sartre and de Beauvoir–to …
Paris, near the turn of 1933. Three young friends meet over apricot cocktails at the Bec-de-Gaz bar on the rue Montparnasse. They are Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and their friend Raymond Aron, who opens their eyes to a radical new way of thinking. Pointing to his drink, he says, 'You can make philosophy out of this cocktail!'
From this moment of inspiration, Sartre will create his own extraordinary philosophy of real, experienced life–of love and desire, of freedom and being, of cafés and waiters, of friendships and revolutionary fervour. It is a philosophy that will enthral Paris and sweep through the world, leaving its mark on post-war liberation movements, from the student uprisings of 1968 to civil rights pioneers.
At the Existentialist Café tells the story of modern existentialism as one of passionate encounters between people, minds and ideas. From the ‘king and queen of existentialism'–Sartre and de Beauvoir–to their wider circle of friends and adversaries including Albert Camus, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Iris Murdoch, this book is an enjoyable and original journey through a captivating intellectual movement. Weaving biography and thought, Sarah Bakewell takes us to the heart of a philosophy about life that also changed lives, and that tackled the biggest questions of all: what we are and how we are to live.
A very charming and interesting and educational overview of the French existentialist; good easy reading. (The authors depicted are mostly male, so that may not quite fit with the vibe though)
Wonderful biographies of a generation of philosophers, an introduction to existentialism and the societal backgrounds and traumas of WWII and the Cold War that influenced its turns and strains. De Beauvoir and Merleau-Ponty come across as most interesting, centers on Sartre and Heidegger though less appealing to follow up on those.
Ms. Blackwell understands that, like soylent green, philosophy is made from people. Husserl, with a mathematics background, tried to do philosophy by abstracting it from the real world. With amy mathematics background, this made sense to me while I never understood Heidegger, who tried to start from how people actually lived. These are people from my parents' generation so I could bring that part of my life into the understanding. As actual humans, they were full of the complicated contradictions that mathematics avoids, which, as a reluctant human, attracted me to it.
In a way this book reminds me of the better popular science works. it is charming, lucidly and intelligently written, and is a great introduction to why philosophy is exciting. The author concentrates on people, as well as on their ideas, which, considering the topic is existentialism, makes a lot of sense. In general, it was a really enjoyable read.
A great primer on existentialism and so many interesting small biographies you'll read with this book! If you want to hear more about the time in the french resistance read www.goodreads.com/book/show/17262116-brave-genius which adds the point of view of Jacques Monod!
