- Books
1984 - George Orwell
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George Orwell's 1984 is a dystopian novel whose plot takes place in Oceania, a country dominated by a totalitarian government that keeps its citizens under constant surveillance and insists on spying on their thoughts to maintain order.
Camus, Albert - The Stranger
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The foreigner – Albert Camus: Summary, analysis and opinion.
"The Stranger" by Albert Camus is a novel that has managed to transcend time and become a classic of literature. In this work, the French author introduces us to Meursault, a man who is apparently indifferent and detached from everything that happens around him. Through his story, Camus reflects on themes such as existence, freedom and death, generating a philosophical debate that has captivated readers of all ages. In this Filosofando article, we will present you with a detailed summary of "El extranjero", as well as an in-depth analysis of the topics it addresses. In addition, we will offer you our personal opinion on this masterpiece of universal literature. Are you ready to dive into the world of Camus and find out why "The Stranger" is still relevant today? Join us on this literary adventure!
Cien Años de Soledad (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
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Sinopsis de CIEN AÑOS DE SOLEDAD (EDICIÓN ILUSTRADA)
En ocasión del 50 aniversario de la publicación de Cien años de soledad, llega una edición con ilustraciones inéditas de la artista chilena Luisa Rivera y con una tipografía creada por el hijo del autor, Gonzalo García Barcha.
Una edición conmemorativa de una novela clave en la historia de la literatura, una obra que todos deberíamos tener en nuestras estanterías.
«Muchos años después, frente al pelotón de fusilamiento, el coronel Aureliano Buendía había de recordar aquella tarde remota en que su padre lo llevó a conocer el hielo.»
Con esta cita comienza una de las novelas más importantes del siglo XX y una de las aventuras literarias más fascinantes de todos los tiempos. Millones de ejemplares de Cien años de soledad leídos en todas las lenguas y el premio Nobel de Literatura coronando una obra que se había abierto paso «boca a boca» -como gustaba decir el escritor- son la más palpable demostración de que la aventura fabulosa de la familia Buendía-Iguarán, con sus milagros, fantasías, obsesiones, tragedias, incestos, adulterios, rebeldías, descubrimientos y condenas, representaba al mismo tiempo el mito y la historia, la tragedia y el amor del mundo entero.
EL PRINCIPITO - ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY
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El Principito - Antoine De Saint Exupery
EDITORIAL TIKKA
The Prancing Baron - Italo Calvino
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The Rampant Baron is a book by the Italian author Italo Calvino, published in 1957, one of the most recognized literary works of this author and also of Italian letters of the twentieth century. In the book Calvino expressed his awareness of living in a world that denies the simplest individuality of people, reduced to a set of culturally determined behaviors, since in this case the main character, Baron Cosimo, lives in solitude in the trees from a very young age.
Political philosophy of media power (José Pablo Feinmann)
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Political Philosophy of Media Power (José Pablo Feinmann) "Is it necessary to say what political philosophy is? - the author asks in the introduction to the book published by Planeta -. From Plato to Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Hegel and Marx, political philosophy has been done. There where philosophy is rigorously attached to politics and unravels its internal mechanisms, there where it proposes exits, solutions, utopias." Feinmann points out: "When Nietzsche rages against the structures of the State that suffocate the free flight of birds of prey, of the blond beast, of the man who is an arrow launched towards the superman, he does political philosophy." "When Marx - he continues - says that the relations of production express policies of submission that must be overthrown by violence. When he denounces surplus value - not as a mere and pure element of the structures of production, but as the plunder that the capitalist subject exercises over the proletarian subject - he is doing philosophy and political economy." With a bold starting point, "Bill Gates did more than Descartes by centralizing the subject," the author proposes a totalizing analysis of the media power as a constituent or colonizing power of the consciences of the recipients of capitalist globalization. And in that sense, he works with the idea of the "subject-other": "A subject that is very close to or directly is the Hegelian absolute subject expressing itself in the 21st century through the American war empire and its ramifications throughout the length and breadth of this world. It is more friendly, in appearance, than the Orwellian `Big Brother`. But more dangerous." Feinmann does not hesitate when he states: "Monopolizing information is the utopia of all media power. And this has already been done. The capitalist communications revolution (the only true revolution of modernity since 1789, the only one that succeeded in achieving its objectives) has managed to monopolize information."
Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)
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Great Expectations is a famous example of the Bildungsroman – a German term meaning literally ‘education novel’, which describes novels about a character’s passage from childhood to young adulthood.
Great Expectations is a novel about growing up, and Dickens deftly weaves a number of elements together with Pip’s own troubled journey towards adulthood, such as Joe Gargery’s childlike innocence (which is both touching but also all too limiting) and Estella’s own grooming or conditioning at the hands of Miss Havisham, who is determined to turn her young ward into a younger version of Miss Havisham herself, so she can wreak vengeance on all men through her. Even the stopped clocks at Satis House reflect the arrested development of many of the novel’s characters.
Of course, placed in contrast with people like Joe Gargery (a good character who embodies this arrested development) and Miss Havisham (a more sinister version of it) are characters who are determined to change both themselves and others.
Magwitch – who has even changed his name to ‘Provis’ after having been literally transported to the other side of the world, made his fortune, and then set about trying to change Pip’s fortunes in return – is the most illustrative example. But Pip, too, is determined to change himself into a ‘gentleman’ so he can (he hopes) impress Estella and win her hand.
Of course, in doing so he forgets who he was: the change has come over too quickly and he becomes ashamed of his roots, and of the stability and constancy – and kindness – Joe represents. The answer is not to relapse to his former ways but to change again into someone who both remembers his roots and reflects his new standing as a gentleman.
Even the title of Dickens’s novel points up the dangers of either rigidly remaining as one is (the Miss Havisham approach) or changing too greatly so that you become unrecognisable.
The title Great Expectations encapsulates not only Pip’s financial prospects and social mobility thanks to his mysterious benefactor, but also a whole range of ‘great’ or grand expectations he has for himself: wooing and wedding Estella most of all. Everything he’d been pinning his hopes on – his ‘great expectations’, if you will, that Miss Havisham has been supporting him so he will become a gentleman and marry Estella – turns out to be untrue.
The fairy-tale aspects of Great Expectations are also worth analysing. Dickens was steeped in the magical and enchanted worlds of the Arabian Nights (one of his favourite reads as a child), while the Gothic, macabre, and fantastical had a fascination for him from a young age.
Like so many fairy tales, Great Expectations is first and foremost a rags-to-riches story about the hero’s journey from poor orphan to rich and successful professional man: a sort of modern-day Dick Whittington who transforms himself from a penniless orphan into a gentleman thanks to his helper – in his case, his resourceful cat (we have analysed the Dick Whittington story here).
Vladimir Propp’s work on the ‘morphology of the folk tale’ is a useful way into analysing Great Expectations. The hero is Pip, of course, and the princess is Estella, while the helper and donor is Magwitch.
However, who the villain is remains a trickier question. Compeyson? Miss Havisham? Although Propp’s work on traditional folk tales provides a good starting point for thinking about how Dickens constructed a fairy-tale plot, deeper analysis reveals how he created a more complex novel out of these raw materials.
It perhaps makes more sense to think about how Dickens drew upon the trappings of fairy tales – with Satis House standing in for the enchanted castle of many folk stories – and used them as a backdrop for his exploration of class, money, love, revenge, and rehabilitation.
War and Peace
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War and Peace (Russian: Война и мир, Война и миръ, Voiná i mir), also known as War and Peace, is a novel by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910), who began writing during a time of convalescence after breaking his arm when he fell from a horse on a hunting party in 1864. It was first published as magazine fascicles (1865-1869). War and Peace is considered to be the author's masterpiece along with his later work, Anna Karenina (1873-1877).
It is considered one of Tolstoy's greatest literary achievements and remains an internationally acclaimed classic of world literature.
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
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To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1960 novel by American author Harper Lee. It was an instant success when it was published, winning the Pulitzer Prize and becoming a classic of American literature. The novel was inspired by the author's observations of her family and neighbors, as well as an incident that occurred near her hometown in 1936, when she was ten years old.
The Burnout Society (Byung-Chul Han)
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A Revolutionary Diagnosis of Our Time
In a world where success is measured by productivity and performance, Byung-Chul Han confronts us with a disturbing question: Why are we so tired? This brilliant philosophical essay reveals how we have moved from a disciplinary society to an achievement society, where each individual becomes their own exploiter.
"The postmodern animal laborans is not subjugated by any master. It exploits itself voluntarily."
Han masterfully dismantles the myth of contemporary freedom, showing how self-exploitation is more efficient than external exploitation because it is accompanied by a feeling of freedom.
Why is this book essential?
Because it explains with philosophical clarity the malaise of our age: depression, burnout, anxiety, and attention deficit are not simply individual pathologies, but symptoms of a profound social transformation.
Key Themes of the Book
From Duty to Ability
Analysis of the transition from disciplinary society to achievement society and its psychosocial consequences.
Neuronal Violence
Exploration of how the pressure to perform generates new forms of invisible and self-inflicted violence.
Exhaustion as Symptom
Interpretation of collective burnout as a sign of an unsustainable economic and social system.
Critique of Hyperactivity
Reflection on how multitasking and excess positivity destroy contemplative capacity.
Who This Book Is For
Exhausted professionals seeking to understand why, despite having more nominal freedom than ever, they feel trapped on an endless treadmill.
Students and academics interested in contemporary philosophy, critical sociology, and cultural studies.
Curious readers who want to understand the deep roots of phenomena such as burnout, mass depression, and the crisis of meaning in achievement societies.
Mental health professionals seeking theoretical frameworks to understand contemporary psychological distress from a social and philosophical perspective.
The Author: Byung-Chul Han
South Korean-German philosopher, professor of Philosophy and Cultural Studies at the Berlin University of the Arts. Han has become one of the most influential thinkers of our time, with a unique ability to diagnose the contemporary era. His works, translated into more than 20 languages, are essential references for understanding late capitalism, the digital age, and the social transformations of the 21st century.
Discover Why We Are Tired
A brief, profound, and revealing essay that will change the way you understand the contemporary world.
Get It Now
