'Sartor Resartus' ("The Tailor Retailored") is ostensibly an introduction to a strange history of clothing by the German Professor of Things in Gen...
read full description
reviews
Dec 16, 2009
adam
rated it: 
"Considering our present advanced state of culture, and how the Torch of Science has now been brandished and borne about, with more or less effect, for five thousand years and upwards... so that not the smallest cranny or doghole in Nature or Art can remain unilluminated, -- it might strike the reflective mind with some surprise that hitherto little or nothing of a fundamental character, whether in the way of Philosophy or History, has been written on the subject of Clothes."
More...
More...
5 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Dec 20, 2011
"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society." — Mark Twain
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 03, 2009
Tyler
rated it: 
i have a sneaking suspicion that i shall forever be currently-reading this book.
Update - suspicion confirmed. After the 4th attempt I think I've given up hope - it starts off well with some amazing language but nothing happens - and this is from someone who loves moby dick in which nothing happens for most of the book and someone who read gravity's rainbow in barely anything happens and it doesn't happen in incomprehensible ways - but then again, the only reason I read that was becau More...
Update - suspicion confirmed. After the 4th attempt I think I've given up hope - it starts off well with some amazing language but nothing happens - and this is from someone who loves moby dick in which nothing happens for most of the book and someone who read gravity's rainbow in barely anything happens and it doesn't happen in incomprehensible ways - but then again, the only reason I read that was becau More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Apr 10, 2009
Adrian
rated it:
Sartor Resartus is one of the without-which-nothings of How to Make Love to Adrian Colesberry. Carlyle's editor character, who makes running commentary on a fictional German author's "Philosophy of Clothes" reminds me very much of Kinbote in Pale Fire, making me wonder how much Nabakov derived from this. I can only imagine he'd read it but I've never seen it listed as one of his antecedents. It's certainly one of mine.
The way that he used a layering of narrators to make wry crit More...
The way that he used a layering of narrators to make wry crit More...
Apr 24, 2010
Yngvild
rated it: 
Thomas Carlyle’s one published fiction is this ragbag of satire, sarcasm and social commentary packaged as a spoof biography of the fictional German philosopher, Diogenes Teufelsdröckh. Sartor Resartus is clearly intended as social satire in the style of Jonathan Swift, using high-flown philosophical language to describe everyday items, in this case clothes. Happily, Carlyle keeps forgetting about the clothes, a clunky metaphor that produces such awful puns as “Clotha Virumque cano”.
More...
More...
Sep 18, 2009
S.D.
rated it:
Or, redressing German Idealism. At the center of this strange “novel” is our ability to understand truth. Fiction cavorts as fact through the pen of an unnamed Editor and one Diogenes Teufelsdröckh, then becomes non-fiction as Carlyle’s own transcendental philosophy takes form. By balancing form and theme, it interprets Hegel by way of Blake’s “The Marriage of Heaven & Hell” to reveal truth as an imminent, rather than absolute, certainty that is reached by confronting known contradictions and
More...
Aug 25, 2011
Keely
rated it:
Alright, so he's an old bastard. I know. He was generally wrong-headed and entirely conceited. He's also hilarious and witty. I would that all those who disagree with me could do so in such a pleasing fashion.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jul 24, 2011
I dipped in and out of most texts while at university, so putting them all on this shelf would be futile. I did try to read this one later on, however, after wearing the gown and getting bopped on the head by a stranger. This falls into the Scottish camp, a camp I am unsure about. As a Scot I have no interest in Scotland and consequently Walter Scott and the other Scots. I think the best Scots are Americans and Canadians. They truly care about this nation and take an active interest in our herit
More...
0 comments
like
(4 people liked it)
Apr 30, 2010
Marcus
rated it:
Sartor Resartus, which means "The Tailor Re-tailored" is ostensibly a book on "The Philosophy of Clothing" by a German author, Herr Diogenes Teufelsdrockh. We're told that this is the English translation from the original German. But, this is much more than a translation. The translator feels that in order to make the book more accessible to his English audience, he should include copious commentary and background. In the end, not only do we get the the translation of the ori
More...
Jan 03, 2010
Shasta8sisyphus
rated it:
"The Tailor Retailored." This book is a gem. It is full of falsely attributed quotes, fabricated histories, inverted authorities, and patchworks of ideas all woven together to complete "Teufelsdrockh's "philosophy of clothes." This guy did it before Cathy Acker. Before Jorge Luis Borges. "Nay, farther art not thou too perhaps by this time made aware that all Symbols are properly Clothes; that all Forms whereby Spirit manifests itself to Sense, whether outwardly or
More...
Jan 07, 2010
Anthony
rated it:
comic, mennippean 19th century novel that takes the form of an exegesis and biography of fictional philosopher Diogenes Teufelsdroeckh and his controversial discourse on clothes. DT's religious ramblings (The Everlasting Yea, etc.) remind me of the writing on Dr. Bronner's soap bottles, and the philosophizing on clothes-worship goes beyond dandyism and into total zaniness (legal rights for scarecrows, a gown that reigns on for years after its king has passed).
Sep 26, 2010
Kristina
rated it: 
Well, I would never read this book unless I was forced to for class, which is the case here. Or unless I had an affinity for Victorian commodity culture. However much I do not like it, the book is a fascinating study of genre, biography, autobiography, consumption of the self, clothing, words, writing and editing, and many other tropes. My problem with it is that it presents too many dualities and does not follow a narrative form.
I think this is definitely a book that must be discus More...
I think this is definitely a book that must be discus More...
Jun 04, 2011
Ke
rated it:
Probably for a reader better acquainted with the style and works of the time, Sartor was a genius piece of work.
In my opinion, however, Carlyle, though knowledgeable, wasn't very organized, sure of what he wanted to say and just included every fact and the kitchen sink.
In my opinion, however, Carlyle, though knowledgeable, wasn't very organized, sure of what he wanted to say and just included every fact and the kitchen sink.
Jul 25, 2011
Artephius
rated it:
If you want the short version, read "Natural Supernaturalism," and the following chapter, "Circumspective," both from the third book. 19th century metafiction. Genius.
Aug 08, 2010
lyell
rated it:
i thot this book would be a cool book about like, cool clothes, but it's like, about some metaphysical crap or something??? iono.
Mar 31, 2010
Eric
rated it:
Looked into this the other day, and wow. Carlyle is easy to loathe. But I'd forgotten how good this is.
Jan 04, 2009
Tanya
rated it:
A brilliant allegory about the bible! One of my favorite books of all time.
Jun 19, 2008
Mahrya
rated it:
A fictional biographer wrastles with hoary Teufelsdrockh's philosophy of clothes--a crazy ideology that uses clothing to explain all sorts of things about society, relationships, religion and the world. This book meanders delightfully, covering details of the clothes philosophy, Teufelsdrockh's life and the biographer's writing process. The prose is some of the most beautiful and engaging stuff I've read in awhile.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Oct 12, 2008
Joanna
rated it:
Truly weird stuff!! I would only recommend this if you're interested in untangling an ungodly mix of Scottish Calvinism and German philosophy - not really my bag at all. It is strewn with some fabulous quotes, which is probably its only redeeming feature.
Aug 17, 2008
Lisa
rated it:
Djuna Barnes certainly read this. Buried in the last chapter, I recently found a phrase she used for a chapter title in Nightwood. "Watchman, what of the Night".
I read Sartor Resartus repeatedly, with joy.
I read Sartor Resartus repeatedly, with joy.
May 29, 2007
Emily
rated it:
Dense as anything. On the other hand, Carlyle in best humorous form. Narrated by an English editor trying to make sense of a German philosopher's "Philosophy of Clothes."
Not for the faint of heart.
Not for the faint of heart.
Sep 25, 2007
Kristen
rated it:
Yes, I really read it. No, I didn't skim. And I mention it here only because, for a Victorian dude, Carlyle is pretty postmodern. If you're into that kind of humor, then it's a pretty fun read.
Dec 16, 2009
Marie
rated it:
And here I'd thought I'd come up with many of my spiritual and political philosophies on my own. Not so. Carlyle beat me by almost 200 years. Witty and ironic, and very clever.
Apr 16, 2008
Sort of overly-reflective insanity reminiscent of alan watts. An important book in its time, overshadowed by Fight club.
Feb 06, 2012
Feb 06, 2012
