21–480
In this collection of aphorisms the author delivers himself of his reflections on life and literature. The work is translated from the Russian by S. S. Koteliansky and has a foreword by D. H. Lawrence, who sees in Shestov the final liberating struggle of the Russian psyche to shake itself free from the bondage of an alien European civilization.
“There is much that is brilliant in the book, much that is even profound. Moreover, if Hamlin Garland is right in reproaching this part of the United States with being ‘hopelessly sane,’ its influence here might be salutary. But we wonder whether a native of Iowa could be cajoled into reading beyond the first two pages. Nevertheless it is well now and then to face a defiant arraignment of the entire fabric of our civilization.” C. M. S.
+ Grinnell R 16:309 D ’20 350w
Reviewed by Stark Young
Nation 111:693 D 15 ’20 450w
“His style is clear, uncollegiate and literary.” B: de Casseres
+ N Y Times p19 O 3 ’20 1000w
“In any proper sense of the word there is not an atom of originality in the book, which is merely a decoction from Dostoyevsky and Nietzsche. To exalt Shestov as original, or as in any sense a philosopher, is mischievous nonsense. He is interesting as an illustration of the Slavonic nihilism which is capturing the fancy of so many of our half-educated modern youths.”