I am not a full-time philosopher (surely, we all partake on a part-time basis) and my introduction to Kierkegaard came courtesy of some oblique references in Monty Python's Flying Circus! Having completed the most rudimentary inspection of his theories, I dismissed Kierkegaard as just a miserable Lutheran. This book did make me re-appraise this rash dismissal of the problematic Soren.

For me, an exposition should open up the subjects oeuvre but, I found this book a difficult read. Daphne Hampson is, clearly, a very intelligent lady and there was not a sentence that lead to me questioning the author's grip on Kirkegaard, or his work; the problem was in her ability to drag the unenlightened, such as myself, along in her wake. Perhaps this was not her objective. If the book has been written with students and fellow professors of philosophy in mind, then I have no doubt, that it would be a very satisfying read. Caveat emptor, however, if like me, you are a mere interested party, this will take some mulling over; it is a little more high faluting than it need be.

Having had my gripe, this book is worth the hard work involved in its reading: I now concede that there is more to this 'father of existentialism', than I had allowed: Soren Kierkegaard has rather more going for him than being a gloomy Lutheran! ( )