A Review: The Essay as Form

Title of Work: The Essay as Form
Author: Theodor W. Adorno
Format:
Published: 1958
Started:
Finished: 2022-10-22\

Posted: Goodreads
Rating: 0/5

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While difficult, I found this to be valuable supplementary material in my continued investigations of the essay as a literary form. Generally, it includes observation, defense, and justification of the essay relative to other more traditional and formulaic forms.

This felt dense. I’m not sure if my brain is just dumb right now—I do find myself chronically dehydrated lately— or if this writing is outdated and academic enough that I would never be able to reflexively comprehend and shouldn’t expect to. I spent the late morning into early afternoon reading and rereading this in chunks between laps around the house and bouts of daydreaming that come on in defiance of my efforts to jump start my synapses. I’m sure I’ll need to reread it in full. Adorno used many English words and Latin, French, and German phrases that I either do not know or do not remember the definition of. Just for kicks (and maybe as pre-work for future rereading) I’ll leave a list of the silly words below.

écrivain homme de lettres ex nihilo Wissenschaft Weltanschauung poésie Jugendstil hypostatized desiderata vergesellschaftete praxis clara et distincta perceptio monad hic et nunc sophistry membra disjecta