Ruth Anna Putnam (editor), The Cambridge Companion to William James *** 1/2

William James is my favorite philosopher. There is almost no view he holds that I agree with. ... Why do I love him? ... Simply put, the attraction of James the philosopher is that he is the best example I know of a person doing philosophy; there is no hiding the person behind the work, no way of discussing the work without the person, no way to make believe that there is a way to do philosophy that is not personal. ... He wanted and worked at a picture of the whole thing. - Owen Flanagan

Most of the time, The Cambridge Companion to a philosopher offers articles that clarify the work of a great philosopher whose own prose is daunting (Kant, Hegel, Nietzche). William James is different because James' own writing is so inviting and seemingly clear. This companion shows how James' modern professional peers view his less rigorous approach.

The one word that best summarizes James' philosophy is pluralistic. He wants to account for the richness of human experience and emphasizes the many different ways we make sense of the world. In all of his philosophy, he focuses on the effects of ideas rather than on their origins.

If reality is not that economical and systematic universe that our logic likes to represent, if it is not sustained within an intellectual framework, truth of an intellectual order is a human invention the function of which is to utilize reality rather than introduce us to it. ... Reality does not form an ensemble, if it is multiple and mobile, composed of criss-crossing currents...  - Henri Bergson

James' unflagging devotion to the ideals of plurality and tolerance is as relevant and inspiring as it was a century ago.  - Ruth Anna Putnam

For many philosophers, it can be best to start with the secondary literature before attempting the original works. Not so for James. His own writing is the best introduction.

 

Paul Kingsnorth, The Wake *****

"A post-apocalyptic novel set one thousand years in the past," The Wake takes place in England at the time of the Norman Invasion (1066). The narrator Buccmaster is a landowner from the fens who loses his sons, his wife, and his home, and seeks to wreak havoc on the invading French. He straps on his grandfather's sword and takes to the forest with a motley crew of followers.

Buccmaster is a fascinating, fierce, and increasingly unpleasant character. He is sensitive to slights from the start and never lets anyone forget that he's a important landowner. He believes that the old gods of England have chosen him as their vessel to free England from the French and from Christianity. His very particular views about what's right bring him into conflict with his men.

The most notable and noticeable aspect of The Wake is that it's written in a pseudo-Old English. It sounds like a gimmick, but it works. It enhances the authenticity of the period drama, and keeps the reader's attention focused on the lovely natural setting. 

Paul Tough, Whatever It Takes ****

Whatever It Takes is an account of "Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America." Canada is the founder of the Harlem Children's Zone, which is a linked collection of social services aimed at lifting the children of Harlem out of poverty by transforming the neighborhood. The group runs two schools (kindergarten and middle school), parenting classes, afterschool programs, and more.

I read a very positive review of this book when it was published in 2008, and kept an eye out for it ever since. I finally came across a copy at Powell's Books.

The author does an excellent job of balancing high-level discussions of pedagogy with specific incidents to illustrate the challenges. The second chapter nicely summarizes the history of anti-poverty programs and the changing assumptions that underlie them. The scenes in the classrooms feel real and not cleaned up in the interest of making a point.

The book is honest about Canada's mixed results and the difficulty of accessing success. I felt a little uncomfortable about how the parenting classes promoted American middle-class practices as the "right" ones, but the author ultimately addresses this discomfort. Overall, the book is thought-provoking and doesn't claim to have all of the answers to the issues it raises.

Iain Reid, I'm Thinking of Ending Things ****

I'm Thinking of Ending Things is a deliciously creepy book. Reid's prose is flat but he sure knows how to set an uncomfortable scene. 

An unnamed woman is driving through the countryside with her boyfriend, going to meet his parents. She is thinking of ending things, and her thought processes are off-kilter enough that you have to wonder what things she is thinking of ending. Should she tell Jake about the Caller who keeps leaving her cryptic phone messages that Caller ID says are from her own phone? I worried about poor Jake and what might happen to him.

Once they get to Jake's parents house, though, you have to start worrying for the girlfriend. Jake shows her dead lambs in the barn, the parents act strangely, as does Jake, and she finds primitive paintings in the dank basement. The story started out a little creepy, but kept upping the ante.

Inevitably, though, the resolution is not as satisfying as the journey.