At the Existentialist Café
Sarah Bakewell
[Other Press]
Paris is a place so central to Western culture and imagination that the city, and the artists who lived and loved there, are easily eulogised or rendered as trite cliché. It is refreshing, therefore, to read an account of the major players of 20th century continental philosophy that trades not on cults of personality, but rather on a willingness to present the history and key ideas of existentialism in an accessible manner. At the Existentialist Café chiefly concerns the lives and work of Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and their Parisian philosopher friends on one side, and controversial German philosopher Martin Heidegger’s efforts with phenomenology on the other. Sarah Bakewell is a skilful storyteller, effortlessly placing examinations of existentialist books and lectures within their personal and historical contexts.
More seasoned students of philosophy might find the book’s scope a little narrow. This is not a criticism; Bakewell openly concerns herself with presenting existentialism in an engaging way for lay readers like this reviewer. She is arguably too biased in favour of Sartre, and not harsh enough on his self-contradictions and totalitarian apologetics. Nonetheless, a different kind of book might have merely fetishised Left Bank café culture, or focused on the juicier details of Beauvoir and Sartre’s relationship. Bakewell packs a lot into a book that is readable and enjoyable throughout.
Words – Stephen Cox
