Monday, February 20, 2023

Book Review: Notes from Underground By Fyodor Dostoyevsky

 First published in 1964, this novel is considered as one of Dostoyevsky’s most famous novels. Notes from Underground narrates the story of an unmade narrator who had gone underground as a protest against social utopia. This self-opposing account examines the moral and intellectual fluctuations of the narrator and man’s inherent illogical nature. Some of the dialogues in the novel are as follows: ·     .- ‘I swear, gentlemen,...

Monday, February 13, 2023

Book Review: An Appeal to the Toiling, Oppressed and Exhausted Peoples of Europe By Leon Trotsky

 Speeches of Leon Trotsky are compiled in this book.  Some the themes which are covered include critique of capitalism, the need for revolution, his opposition to Stalin, and the political developments of his time. Trotsky wants the working class to recover itself and fight for peace. Criticizing the propertied classes, he says that for them the monarchy is the most reliable ally in their struggle against the revolutionary offensive of...

Sunday, February 5, 2023

Book Review: Civil Society by Michael Edwards

 In this book the idea of civil society is presented by Michael Edwards. Edwards provides the theoretical and practical importance of civil society. He presents it as a basis for action. Civil society means different things to different people, plays different roles at different times and constitutes both problem and solution. Much deeper action is required in politics, economics and social life if civil society is to be effective vehicle for...

Friday, February 3, 2023

Book Review: Friedrich Nietzsche: A Biography by Curtis Cate

 Friedrich Nietzsche was the son of a Lutheran clergyman with a modest bourgeois background. He disliked Middle-class conformity and favored ‘aristocratic radicalism’. His aphorisms and statements are quite puzzling. They can be better understood within the context of his agitated life. In this biography Cate provides the reader with an interesting account of Nietzsche’s life. It makes it easier for the reader to understand his viewpoints. This...