Whether stimulated by the book or the apricot cocktails, we had a great time discussing Sarah Bakewell's book on Existentialism. Reviews and scores here although if you can't bear to look away I can tell you it scored 77, we found it a readable and enjoyable overview of a movement most of us probably would have struggled to define. I was amused by this video that attempts to give a clear overview of Sartre's philosophical ideas. Even the knowledgable tones of Stephen Fry and some eyebrow raising action with a canon in the trousers can't really save this from seeming awfully complicated. Chapeaux off, then, to Sarah Bakewell for her clear, lucid history not just of Sartre, but a whole movement.
In an interview for the wonderful 'Five Books' website Bakewell writes: 'Most of us live in what Heidegger calls the “forgetfulness of being,” we forget to ask any questions about the existence we find ourselves thrown into. But to think is to be always wondering.' In a time of political turmoil here in the UK Sartre's idea that we don't just have to accept life as we experience it, that we can choose to act to change our circumstances seems a timely one.