Minima Moralia: Amazon.ca: Theodor Adorno: Books

Product Description

A reflection on everyday existence in the 'sphere of consumption of late capitalism', this work is Adorno's literary and philosophical masterpiece.

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5 Reviews

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4.0 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Not so "difficult" as one might be told, Mar 29 2000

By

Edward G. Nilges "Author, 'Build Your Own .Ne... (Hong Kong, China) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Minima Moralia (Paperback)

The paradox of Adorno is that he is known as a "difficult, complex, and hard to read" writer...but the typists at the Princeton Radio Research Project, at which Adorno spent a few unhappy years, found his work quite readable.

The administrators at the project found him difficult as a writer and perhaps personally because they were so embedded in the very system Adorno had identified ("the administered world") that they could not think outside its categories.

Although Minima Moralia does presume some knowledge of Continental philosophy and German literature, it is quite readable, entertaining, and at the close rather moving: its "finale" reminds me of the ending of Alban Berg's Violin Concerto.

Now, the "Logical Positivist" philosopher Rudolf Carnap has called philosophers like Heidegger and Adorno "musicians without talent." This shows a mistaken view of music (inherited from Plato) as at best entertaining sounds without meaning, and it fails to account for entertainment, which is taken as a primitive.

There is a musical quality in Minima Moralia but even as the informed concert-goer finds layers of meaning in good works, Minima Moralia rewards the patient reader.

Teddy would shudder at my saying this, but Minima Moralia is a good buy because it repays re-reading.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An underrated and under-discussed masterpiece, Jun 17 1999

By

Robert Lawrence (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Minima Moralia (Paperback)

Although the Frankfurt School enjoyed some popularity in the US during the 1960s, its greatest writer never gained a following. Read this book and you may understand why: Adorno's thought is dense, allusive, and difficult to assimilate. It assumes quite some background in European, and especially German, intellectual history.

The right reader, however, will find Minima Moralia a tightly written, polished masterpiece. It is essentially a series of aphorisms in the style of Nietzsche. Adorno blends sharp observations about daily life in the 20th century with choice gleanings from philosophy, literature and history. The result is a unique work of cultural criticism that defies characterization or summary.

Almost every sentence of Minima Moralia contains a devastating insight into modern culture. Must reading for anyone who cares about Hegel, Marx, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Freud, and all related strands of thought.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars i am speechless..., May 26 2000

By

An Mhuruch (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Minima Moralia (Paperback)

...when it comes to praising this book. as a european refugee in this country, i feel that adorno's lucidity is almost uncanny. many times i read and reread one page, enjoying and deeply respecting his wisdom and intellectual courage, shocked by his insight. it is not an easy reading and it is mostly painful...but very, very rewarding. i love books more than anything, and i spend all my money and time on them, but until now i have not read anything comparable. the only other book i know of that offers such challenge and such solace is le mythe de sisyphe by camus. by the way, i hope the english translation is good, but i recommend to read it in german.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A callenging, flawed thinker reflects a flawed world.
Like Noam Chomsky, Theodor Adorno is one of those thinkers whose exposures of what society keeps hidden are so antithetical to received opinion, that they are either ignored or... Read more

Published on July 12 2003 by Phil Avetxori

1.0 out of 5 stars Stay away from Adorno
Since nobody found the previous review helpfull, I'll change it. In fact, I'll use this space to point you in the direction of more helpful criticism. Read more

Published on Mar 11 2003