Donald Palmer

Sartre is surely the most significant philosopher of the twentieth century but, he can seem impenetrable to the uninitiated. This book, at a mere 150 pages, takes the absolute beginner and opens up the complex world of the man and his writing.

It is fine to read the phrase, 'Existence precedes essence', but without some background into Sartre's thinking, it has no significance. Within these pages, you will find an understanding of Existentialism, a brief run through all Sartre's major works show more and the influences and historical events of the time.

I am now ready to tackle, 'Being and Nothingness', with a real prospect of appreciating the work; even if I don't necessarily agree with it. show less

Philosophy - made lighter, made mainly comprehensible - though there remain a few figures in philosophical narrative, even made lighter, who achieve only the status of a decaf skinny latte: why bother? But Palmer overcomes the incomprehensibility of most Western philosophers (well maybe not Heidegger) and makes the journey worthwhile. In 75% of cases he even whets the appetite for more - all with humour and delightful drawings. That and a zany font. This is a wonderful book, and while some show more philosophy undergrads might turn up their noses at its deceptive simplicity, they should not do so: it makes philosophy an enjoyable discourse. show less

Since I did not yet understand them as moments in human thought, this book was a nice little romp through the historical thought of structuralism and poststructuralism. I especially liked the sections on Saussure and the one on Foucault. The least comprehensible section was on Lacan, but to be fair, Lacan was also the one I was least prepared to understand when I started reading the book. The art is inconsistent and poorly done yet somehow also charming.

[Sartre for Beginners] - Donald Palmer

I am reading [The Years of Theory: Postwar French Thought to the Present - Fredric Jameson] as well as [We have only this life to live]: Selected essays by Jean-Paul Sartre.

Jameson's book starts with the work of Jean-Paul Sartre and it can be fairly heavy going, getting to grips with the philosophy of Jean-Paul, but lying around the house was [Sartre for Beginners] by Donald Palmer which is part of A Beginners Documentary Comic Book series. Comic book it show more may be with its many illustrations, but it does not shy away from explaining the essential building blocks to enable readers to understand Sartre's take on existentialism. It also links his ideas to previous philosophical works, providing just enough information for the reader to get an idea of how Sartre was challenging previous concepts. The book even provides a short introductory biography of Jean-Paul, which sets the tone with some humorous asides that kept me chuckling throughout the book. After reading Jameson's chapters on Sartre I found that Sartre for Beginners reinforced the basic tenants of Sartre's thoughts very effectively. Perhaps there are too many comic sketches and some of the humour gets a bit repetitive, but they usefully break up the text into bite size chunks. 4 stars.

I don't expect to finish Jameson's book any time soon and I'll probably never get to the end of Sartre's essays, but it was a beautiful warm sunny day yesterday and I was out walking, toiling up a steep narrow country road, thinking existential thoughts. An ambulance suddenly appeared over the brow of the hill and I just had time to get out of the way. show less