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I've read two mystic stories by Balzac: „Seraphita“ and „Louis Lambert“. They were quite interesting – especially the second one. In “Louis Lambert” Balzac is referring a little bit to Emanuel Swedenborg – this “strange” guy of the 18th century. Swedenborg has occupied with angels, demons and...

I would recommend "Being and Nothingness" by Sartre or "Walden" by Thoreau. These are two books that made me thinking about the world and let me have a different view. Greetings

"Walden" is one of my absolute favorites. In reference to this I would recommend "Nature" by Emerson. Greetings

I'm not very fond of de Sade, but I've read an excellent essay by Simone de Beauvoir: "Should de Sade be burned?" There she talks about his intention to provoke and his concentration on the evil side of every human being and other very interesting aspects. Greetings

I read a very, very interesting essay by Simone de Beauvoir (in english maybe titled "A Moral of Duality"). There she quotes Dostoyevsky: “If there exists no god everything will be allowed.” Human beings can do what they want and don’t have to take responsibility, don’t have to be afraid of...

I have occupied a little bit with Kierkegaard – I read some of his books. Anyway I’m interested in existential philosophy (personally I prefer Sartre:) ). I would like to add, that Kierkegaard’s connection to religion sometimes is defined as some kind of evasion (by Sartre and Camus)...

I would say: If Dostoyevsky had lived another life, he would have written other books. And because of this, I think it makes sense to talk about psychological aspects on literature – it need not necessarily be fiction at all. Such discussions can help to understand the author better and also to...

I would like to thank you for these two very, very interesting posts. In reference to this I have to think of another book (not by Dostoyevsky:) ) – it’s “Stiller” by Max Frisch. It also deals with the subject of self-knowledge, the possibility to change yourself and the influence of other...

I’ve finished The House of the Dead. Maybe it’s the book itself and not my mood that makes the difference. It’s really great and probably it describes the worst time of Dostoyevsky’s life, but it doesn’t seem so depressing to me like the Notes from underground. I’m not sure about the reason...

I’m in the middle of The House of the Dead and this excellent spirit of the underground can’t be overlooked. But I’m afraid that at the moment my mood is too happy to appreciate Dostoyevsky in the right way. On the cover of one of my books it says, that you have to read D. when you are feeling...

Tolstoi: War and Peace Proust: La Recherche du temps perdu (if this counts as "one" book) Sartre: L'etre et le néant Greetings

Thank you for this poem – it’s so great.:) The word “pain” let me think of another one: “Pain – has an Element of Blank – It cannot recollect When it begun – or if there were A time when it was not – It has no Future – but itself – Its Infinite contain Its Past – enlightened to...

I agree that the society gives the definition of what is called normality, and therefore also what we have to see as “deranged”. So these all are “artificial” constructions, and so they can change some time. In a world where only one person leaves the house regularly Emily Dickinson would live...

It can’t be said better!:) I think the central point is the possibility of communication. There may be a terrifying high number of such people, who are so extremely sensitive, but they are just unable to express it in words – and consequently they couldn’t get some help nor even help their...

What a nice sentence!:) Is „deranged“ sometimes really so bad? In my opinion it could be very useful to read such things. First: because we get the chance to see a complete different view of the world. And with all these different perspectives, even though some of them seem deranged, it might...

Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of time for reading at the moment. So I’ve just read a few pages of The House of the Dead – but I have to say Wow! It’s so typical Dostoyevsky that I’m looking forward to read more. Greetings

I’ve read your poem. I had to look up some words in the dictionary, and I’m not sure that I have completely understood – at least I have the feeling, that I’ve done it.:) There is quite a fundamental problem with poems in a foreign language – an exact translation is impossible if the sense...

"Good Morning - Midnight - I'm coming Home - Day - got tired of Me - How could I - of Him? Sunshine was a sweet place - I liked to stay - But Morn - did'nt want me - now So - Goodnight - Day!" I'm interested what you are thinking about Emily Dickinson. Does she depress you, does she...

I’m not so familiar with Fourier, but so far as I know he wanted to create a society where everybody is equally free and happy. But not every human being is the same and so happiness is not the same for everyone. Someone is happy when he/she gets flowers on Valentine’s Day, the other one is...

You have quoted some of my favorite parts of the Notes. And there is an interesting aspect in translation. I refer to your first quote: “I was ashamed.” In my Notes this passage runs like this: “I thought that I was one and they were all – and I started brooding.” (I hope “to brood” is the...