Rating: 
Summary: Pathos in Being
Review: An asute description of the *works* (or the "how")of love, as opposed to a merely intellectual cogitation of the "what" of love. If you are into intellectualizing, this book will be useless to you. If, on the other hand, you seek to *be* in love, to exist in the truth of passionate inwardness, this book is an invaluable resource. Warning: Not for the insincere, the intellectual prig, the conceited idolater of this age and its cynicism and psuedo-intellectualism pawned off as "postmodernism."
Rating:
Summary: Pathos in Being
Review: An asute description of the *works* (or the "how")of love, as opposed to a merely intellectual cogitation of the "what" of love. If you are into intellectualizing, this book will be useless to you. If, on the other hand, you seek to *be* in love, to exist in the truth of passionate inwardness, this book is an invaluable resource. Warning: Not for the insincere, the intellectual prig, the conceited idolater of this age and its cynicism and psuedo-intellectualism pawned off as "postmodernism."
Rating:
Summary: Kierkegaard's Phaedrus
Review: If I have to compare this book to any other, I would compare it to Plato's Phaedrus. In Phaedrus, Socrates talks to Phaedrus of how to speak of love authentically, i.e. to speak of love in such a way that the speaking itself is an act of love. The problem is that we are never brought into connection with Socrates' speech. It is always about Phaedrus and we are eavesdroppers and therefore similtaneously included and excluded from what is said. As Plato put it, the written word is a pharmakon (drug, medicine, poison), it cannot speak authentically of love. This is the philosophical point of Works of Love. In it, Kierkegaard attempts to speak authentically of love. This is why the book is published on his own name and there are no pseudonyms. He is writing directly to the reader who is his beloved. He, however, must redefine the terms of the discourse. Since Eros is a love of beauty and he cannot see the reader's beauty, he speaks instead of Agape (in danish Kjerlighed, i.e. Christian love), or love of neighbor. In this way whoever reads the book becomes his beloved, to whom the discourse is aimed. In this way he attempts to get past Plato's empasse. I think he suceeds.
Rating: 
Summary: Soren for Myself
Review: Most people who quote Kierkegaard aren't familiar with his works in detail. From a neo-constructivist perspective, the man is the greatest pornographer of his generation. Most especially, I find all his talk about "love" sickening. What about the other fundamental emotions- irony, tragedy, and viscosity? Who buys this carp?
Rating:
Summary: Soren for Myself
Review: Most people who quote Kierkegaard aren't familiar with his works in detail. From a neo-constructivist perspective, the man is the greatest pornographer of his generation. Most especially, I find all his talk about "love" sickening. What about the other fundamental emotions- irony, tragedy, and viscosity? Who buys this carp?
Rating:
Summary: Prophetic and inspired! Kierkegaard at his best!
Review: Soren Kierkegaard at his best! Works of Love is perhaps his consummate work regarding the centrality of an "ethics of love," and provides the best introduction to the thought and passion of this writer. The book is organized around the theme of becoming a true lover. SK normally cites a particular Biblical passage regarding love (e.g., "Love hides a multitude of sins") and then profoundly explores the implications of the passage for the reader's life. Often the contrast with "erotic" and "platonic" love (i.e. the poetic) is made to demonstrate how radical the call of Christian love really is. Hauntingly powerful and soul-stopping: if you decide to read only one book by Kierkegaard, this is the one I'd recommend. The Hong's translation is excellent, and scholarly end notes are provided.
Rating:
Summary: Prophetic and inspired! Kierkegaard at his best!
Review: Soren Kierkegaard at his best! Works of Love is perhaps his consummate work regarding the centrality of an "ethics of love," and provides the best introduction to the thought and passion of this writer. The book is organized around the theme of becoming a true lover. SK normally cites a particular Biblical passage regarding love (e.g., "Love hides a multitude of sins") and then profoundly explores the implications of the passage for the reader's life. Often the contrast with "erotic" and "platonic" love (i.e. the poetic) is made to demonstrate how radical the call of Christian love really is. Hauntingly powerful and soul-stopping: if you decide to read only one book by Kierkegaard, this is the one I'd recommend. The Hong's translation is excellent, and scholarly end notes are provided.
Rating:
Summary: To conquer the anxiety
Review: The title of this book is originally named not as "The Concept of Love", but as "The Concept of Anxiety". It means that this book is written not for love to be desired, but for anxiety to be conquered. Therefore, if you fell anxious because of love, you should read this book. He will introduce you to the true love with the healing of your heart. This book is written after "The Diary of A Seducer", which resembles certain French immoral novel. This is the secret that he must write this book. It didn't bring pleasure to him actually, but the deep gap between him and his fiancee. Therefore, he falled into the critical solitute accompanied with anxiety and sorrow. To overcome this situation, the sincere relationship with people and God are necessary, he thinks. From my viewpoint, this is all of the background of this book. The reason that his thinking gets much sympathy from people is the modern theme of the absense of the human relationship.
Rating:
Summary: To conquer the anxiety
Review: The title of this book is originally named not as "The Concept of Love", but as "The Concept of Anxiety". It means that this book is written not for love to be desired, but for anxiety to be conquered. Therefore, if you fell anxious because of love, you should read this book. He will introduce you to the true love with the healing of your heart. This book is written after "The Diary of A Seducer", which resembles certain French immoral novel. This is the secret that he must write this book. It didn't bring pleasure to him actually, but the deep gap between him and his fiancee. Therefore, he falled into the critical solitute accompanied with anxiety and sorrow. To overcome this situation, the sincere relationship with people and God are necessary, he thinks. From my viewpoint, this is all of the background of this book. The reason that his thinking gets much sympathy from people is the modern theme of the absense of the human relationship.
Rating:
Summary: The Center of Kierkegaard's Philosophy
Review: This is more of a reaction to Kierkegaard's "Works of Love" than a review of the book. I cannot perfect perfection. First, he hits the genius of Christianity, and take's Paul's chapter on Charity, 1 Corinthians 13 as the backbone text. This is an impressive "love poem" which really explains why Christianity is so novel. If you don't believe me, read pre-Christian literature, such as Socrates, Homer, or The Epic of Gilgamesh. Pre-Christian society ignored human dignity and worth, and people were just functions of the state, or the whim of the king. Secondly, Kierkegaard recognizes that love is a work, and not merely a state of heart or a chattering point. This notion of work is anathema to "Pop Protestantism," which was Kierkegaard's mortal enemy. He commented that the obsession with "grace" had turned Christianity upside-down, and had caused men to try and cheat God out of his religion. This is another way of saying that faith without works is dead. Kierkegaard last insight is that God is the basis of love, which he underscores in the opening invocation. Too many people gloss by this prefacing prayer, but that is what separates love and love with power. God gives us power to love. I found this translation quite readable. Soren, in any version, is rather thick, almost as if he is intentionally trying to hide things. Part of difficulty comes from the dense 19th Century verbosity that was a token of the age. However, his greatest asset is humorous illustrations, which helps mentally fix the points forever. The only criticism I have is that Kierkegaard does not connect love to the Atonement. He does, in the introductory benediction, assert that we need to have love securely wedded to God, but he does not connect love to the Atonement and the Resurrection, the central doctrines of Christianity. This is Soren at his best, so I recommend that you begin your Danish journey here, then move on to "Either/Or," "Fear And Trembling," and "Sickness Unto Death." But the key to Kierkegaard's existentialism is love.
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