Hannah Arendt: For Love of the World

This book has become something of a classic. It unearths a mass of detail about Arendt's life - the pages on her upbringing and experiences before her flight from Europe are particularly memorable. However, the main focus is kept firmly on the way Arendt's thought developed during her life. The author (who knew Arendt in her later years)is well versed in philosophy and political thought and so her account is a useful companion to studies of Arendt's many contributions to modern thought:'totalitarianism', 'the banality of evil', the loss of public space in the contemporary west and much more. The book is not the kind of simple minded attempt to reduce the thought to biography that we see all to often. While it is no hagiography (Arendt comes in for some serious criticism on occasion), it ends with a sense of celebration for a life well lived, one of passionate thinking motivated by 'love of the world'.

A wonderful introduction to the philosophy of Hannah Arendt - highly recommended to those wishing to pursue a voyage around Arendt's books but would like their hand held along the way.Two gripes I'm afraid: firstly, almost every sentence and every paragraph appears to start with "Hannah Arendt....(did this)..." or "Hannah Arendt (wrote this)...." - this tic drove me to such distraction that the book became that much heavier (some creative editing may have, therefore, also reduced the number of pages?); secondly, and as much as really liked Young-Bruehl's style and the clarity of her prose, I wasnt sure whether I was the right audience for the book. Should I have been an undergraduate studying philosophy or at the very least an amateur philosopher? That many of his contemporaries found Heidegger confusing is alarming in itself (what is the point then?), but for us poor lay people, what chance is there? Suffice, and sorry to say, I skipped so many of these pages and am still none the wiser. Call me a philistine if you wish! Still, and all, a marvelous read and through it I really really miss Hannah Arendt's presence.