The Cornel West Reader by Cornel West
|
List Price: Our Price: $9.62 You Save: $14.37 (60%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $4.36 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of The Cornel West Reader
Book Review: African-American, Pragmatist, Multiculturalist and Christian
Summary: 5 Stars
Why is Cornel West interesting to philosophically-minded as well as non-philosophical readers at a time when many distinguished theorists are not?
I think because he is sincere. One senses a genuine struggle in the man to put himself down on paper, to write of his uncertainties and inner divisions as an African-American intellectual, a product of elite institutions (like Harvard, or Princeton, where he now teaches), who has risen from middle class roots and understands the struggles of ordinary people for survival and dignity.
Professor West appreciates and embodies the multiplicity and variability of his age: He draws on -- because he UNDERSTANDS -- third world intellectual movements and thinkers, such as liberation theology and the writings of Gustavo Gutierrez as well as the work of the Brazilian-born Harvard Law Professor Roberto Unger, who is his collaborator; he makes use of his African-American intellectual legacy derived from figures like W.E. B. Du Bois and (for me) Baldwin, as well as great spiritual leaders like Dr. King; he is fully conversant with the high tradition of American "pragmatist" philosophical work in the writings of James, Peirce, Dewey -- and I hope that, someday, he will also write about GEORGE SANTAYANA.
He explores his own autobiographical and existential challenges as a way of establishing his shared humanity with the reader. This is one human being reaching out to others. Checkov and Christianity, William James and Malcolm, Kolakowski and many others drift through these pages -- including, in my judgment, some unexplored influences: Spinoza and maybe also Kierkegaard.
This is a fine collection by an important American philosopher. Get it.
Book Review: monument to a towering American intellectual
Summary: 5 Stars
Those interested in the leading black intellectual in America should pick up either "Race Matters," or for a few extra clams, this tome, which collects West's musings on all kinds of topics from politics to religion to the arts. If you're not used to West's style, his verbosity and habitual name-dropping may irritate you. But if you can endure some of his excesses, this book will give you the definitive look at a rare breed of thinker -- one that I only describe as a "jazz intellectual," or an intellectual with "soul." And for you "colorblind" advocates, NO, that's not necessarily a "black" thing, but sure, "black" can have something to do with it.I especially enjoyed West's riffs on Christianity. While I ultimately don't share his views ("Chekhovian Christian" is how he describes it), I must say that West gives me as much insight on how to live as a Christian in this world as any "true-believer" out there.
Finally, a note re the negative reviews: Humans are self-contradicting folk, and West is the quintessential example: a Christian that espouses Marx, Chekhov, and Beckett; an intellectual that digs soul music; let's be straight -- a black in "the academy." But those that don't see the contradictions in their own existences need to smell some coffee, or move out of Kansas. So, unlike the unhappy campers below, I don't see West's philosophy as meaningless and frustrating, but authentic and empowering. In short, West "keeps it real." That's the only kind of "intellectual" that matters to me; the rest can stay on the bookshelf, gathering dust.
Book Review: Excellent Read
Summary: 5 Stars
Cornel West is an awesome and prolific writer. Unlike most professors in this day and age, he has decided to step down from the ivory tower of academia and reach out to the public. So much of what he has to say is relevant to today, here and now, and to everyday people. Beyond being a writer and a professor, he is Christian.
Here is a quote I love: "Furthermore, if liberation theologies have taught us anything, it is that Christian thinkers must be organically linked with prophetic churches and progressive movements. An uncommitted and detached liberation theologian is a contradiction in terms. Without some form of ecclesiastical and political praxis, critical consciousness becomes as sounding brass and theological reflection a tinkling cymbal" (Pg 398, Cornel West Reader).
Not only does he state this, but he believes in and acts upon it. "Sounding brass" and "Tinkling cymbals" are allusions to the Holy Bible, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
Thus, what could Cornel West's political praxis be but love? And his love is self-evident, in both his words and actions.
Book Review: A difficult read, but well worth the work!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a wonderful, and much needed body of work. West is one of our Centuries greatest minds. Through his essays, and a few short stories, he weaves images of Black American Culture, classical philosophy, scientific theory, world history, and concepts of world religions into a tapestry of deep thought and serious innovation. He's a philospher with the "funk" of James Brown, and the fluidity of water. He compares Chekovic to Coltrane. If you want a change from the "he/she" novels of a "Jerome Dickey", try this soulful delight.
Book Review: essential reading...
Summary: 5 Stars
This collection is absolutely crucial reading for anyone concerned with issues or race, the state, contemporary philosophy, or just what it means to live compassionately in an age of so much sentimental brutality. His account of the genealogy of racism alone is worthy of one's time (granted you can get a thorough account of this in the first chapter of his excellent book 'Prophesy Deliverance'). There is a reason this charismatic thinker was in the third installment of the The Matrix as well as on Colbert...read this book and discover why.