Having visited Ireland regularly during the 1930s, Ludwig Wittgenstein resigned his Cambridge philosophy professorship in 1947 and moved there, living in a fishing village on the Atlantic coast and hotels in Dublin and the Wicklow Mountains. This book represents the first sustained account to place Wittgenstein's time in Ireland in its historical context. Wall plays a good deal of attention to the representation of the Irish landscape in which the Austrian philosopher found himself able to work; a large part of his writings were produced in the bleak landscapes of Ireland and Norway.
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Review
"[An] enchanting and perceptive record. . . . Wall provides an unforgettable understanding of ''Irish Wittgenstein.'' It is a discreet jewel."--"The Observer""" --George Steiner "The Observer "
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
This book is as much an account of the writer's search for Wittgenstein and the personal oddessy it involved, as a factual narrative of what the philosopher was doing in Ireland in the 1940's and why he was there. It is not hugely illuminating on the man's philosphy, previous history or what happened after Ireland but there is a charm to this whimisical, poetical and often inaccurate book. The writer is a photographer and poet as well as author and indeed the photographs of the west of Ireland and the little fishing village where Wittgenstein settled for nine months are the strongest aspect of his book. Wall wrote a poem following his interview with a fisherman and boat builder, now in his nineties, who was one of those who tolerated the philosopher until they fell out over a dog barking at night. The book ends with a speculation that this ancient mariner - whose name Wall cannot remember and didn't chase up although he was pivotal to the book and about whom he had written a poem - must now be dead or locked up in an institution but, as anyone who reads the Irish newspapers closely can testify, the same sage is still relating journalists with tales of the foreigner who wanted his dog shot and is very much alive and in full possession of his faculties. This tells us much about Wall's attitude to research. However the combination of Wall's undoubtedly beautiful, limpid black and white photographs and the account of his own, often poverty-striken, meanderings around the west, Wicklow and Dublin hotels in search of traces of Wittgenstein do constitute an engaging, beautiful, often pathetic, but compelling read. Delightful for either a devoted Wittgenstein reader or for one deeply familar with the people and places but one must question the relevance of this book for those who fall into neither category.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2.0 out of 5 stars
2 reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Factual but Ineffectual
19 Oct 2001
By Douglis Beck
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
While the author presents many of the facts of Wittgenstein's visits to Ireland (many of them culled from Monk's bio), he makes little effort to DO anything with them. Wittgenstein's fascination with both Norway and Ireland as places of solitude for him to accomplish "real work" is a significant influence on his philosophy. It is a shame that a book of such promise fails to deliver. (But, as with the other review, still necessary for the completist).
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
NOT SURE EXACTLY WHO THIS IS FOR
19 Feb 2001
By William Meisel
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
but the idea appealed to me so I bought it. The author (not a philosopher) went to Ireland and essentially followed Wittgenstein's (50 year old)footsteps while there. He took a lot of pictures to help you see the views that Wittgenstein saw but most of his biographical information comes from Monks DUTY OF GENIUS and Rhees RECOLLECTIONS OF WITTGENSTEIN. He comes across a few people who remember the strange English philosopher but no stories that make this worth its price. An insane Wittgenstein completist like myself probably couldn't resist buying this, but perhaps you should.
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