Very fresh. I think loneliness is the mother-word about W. and K. W. had philosophy to destroy the absurd authority of the Big Words (Truth, Meaning, Knowledge, Tradition, etc), K. had literature to destroy the reader's peace (again: a lot of Big Words). W. destroyed all he could destroy (as a matter of fact, I always find certain tone of brilliant arbitrariness in his writings), he defined the limits of lenguage. But.. but... he fell into poetry, to 'complete' his 'field of possible expression'. That was respetable. Somehow, both, W. and K. destroyed themselves to create what we call a Work (a kind of Unknown Smile).
This was so purely fun—genuinely in awe of how you mobilized all these biographical details to create such a charming portrait! I've been reading people quoting Wittgenstein for years, but this the first description I've come across of the man himself that feels so lively and friendly to the reader.
Thanks so much for the kind words, Celine! Wittgenstein is one of those figures who once you get interested in him seems to start popping up everywhere. If you haven't seen that BBC doc yet, I highly recommend. I've only read a little of the Norman Malcolm biography of him and am looking forward to reading the rest, so far it's just great.
A fine essay, for which thanks. Seeing what you appreciate in W., you really must read Peter Handke’s *The Weight of the World*. Another great journal.
And a maddening book you might enjoy, if you don’t know it already, is David Markson’s novel *Wittenstein’s Mistress*.
Not trying to be presumptuous. Just that I see you have some of my own sense of what serious writing does.
Thank you, and for the reccomendations. The Markson book I have read, but before I ever read Wittgenstein. The Handke book I had not heard of, will have to take a look.
I'd recommend Ray Monk's biography "The Duty of Genius" and, for a fictionalised view of Ludwig, the novel "The World as I Found it" by Bruce Duffy
Very fresh. I think loneliness is the mother-word about W. and K. W. had philosophy to destroy the absurd authority of the Big Words (Truth, Meaning, Knowledge, Tradition, etc), K. had literature to destroy the reader's peace (again: a lot of Big Words). W. destroyed all he could destroy (as a matter of fact, I always find certain tone of brilliant arbitrariness in his writings), he defined the limits of lenguage. But.. but... he fell into poetry, to 'complete' his 'field of possible expression'. That was respetable. Somehow, both, W. and K. destroyed themselves to create what we call a Work (a kind of Unknown Smile).
Yes, I think that’s right. Loneliness - they’re patron saints of it.
This was so purely fun—genuinely in awe of how you mobilized all these biographical details to create such a charming portrait! I've been reading people quoting Wittgenstein for years, but this the first description I've come across of the man himself that feels so lively and friendly to the reader.
Thanks so much for the kind words, Celine! Wittgenstein is one of those figures who once you get interested in him seems to start popping up everywhere. If you haven't seen that BBC doc yet, I highly recommend. I've only read a little of the Norman Malcolm biography of him and am looking forward to reading the rest, so far it's just great.
A fine essay, for which thanks. Seeing what you appreciate in W., you really must read Peter Handke’s *The Weight of the World*. Another great journal.
And a maddening book you might enjoy, if you don’t know it already, is David Markson’s novel *Wittenstein’s Mistress*.
Not trying to be presumptuous. Just that I see you have some of my own sense of what serious writing does.
Thank you, and for the reccomendations. The Markson book I have read, but before I ever read Wittgenstein. The Handke book I had not heard of, will have to take a look.