#whatireadovershabbat Leszek Kołakowski's Is God Happy? Selected Essays (Basic Books, 2013)
No, God probably is not happy, Kołakowski argues, but then the question arises: are we? That step—from the metaphysical, the absolute to the pragmatic and particular—occurs in all these essays. A Polish refugee from Communist oppression, Kołakowski knew that ideas have consequences, consequences not restricted to the salons of the chattering class, but in fact visited on flesh and blood. In this collection he brings erudition, humor, and an analytic rigor to questions about Marxism, relativism, idolatry, and grace, while always keeping in mind the human dimension.
Central European thought appears to be having a moment. References to Milan Kundera and Czesław Miłosz, two key writers of the anti-Communist struggle whom I have read on past Shabbatot, abound in magazines of ideas and the mainstream media. Kołakowski, a match for either of these writers in intellectual fearlessness, is overdue some recognition (beyond that given his monumental history of Marxist thought). At any rate, for a healthy dose of realist optimism, pick up Is God Happy? You won’t be disappointed.
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