I’m reading the first part right now, about 200 pages in and this is incredible stuff. The reflections on tragedy, Eros and suffering are phenomenal. Why is Kierkegaard so good?
>>24680194It's really hard and complex to understand though
>>24680204That’s true, but his style is so elegant, it doesn’t feel like work compared to most philosophy. So it doesn’t bother me to read sections I didn’t understand again.
I have this one but still haven't read it. Is it normal to split either/or into two volumes? Did that penguin version do this?
>>24680255It sometimes chopped up, but it is intended to be read together. It was originally released as one volume with two parts. In the introduction, which is itself part of the work, because Kierkegaard is talking to us through an alter ego who claims to have discovered the parts in an old desk and is releasing them now together. He also speculates whether A (writer of part 1) and B are even separate people, they could be one person who has undergone a transformation and is commenting on himself in part 2. Very interesting stuff.
>>24680255The Hong translations are the scholarly gold standard, two volumes makes sense. Their critical apparatus is probably far more extensive than Penguin's, they're published for different audiences
