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Goethe's view of evil and the search for a new image of man in our time
337 pages, Hardcover
First published October 28, 1982
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June 20, 2007
In this batch of reviews, I'm drawing attention to four books which are not only excellent in their own right, but have in common, aside from their academic excellence, the fact that their is something very poignant associated with them.
The first one, for no particular reason, is GOETHE'S VIEW OF EVIL.
I took another crack at Goethe's’ FAUST last year, and decided to read at the same time Cottrell's book, which had been in my library for years. I have picked it up a couple of times since buying it, but was always put off by what seemed to be a naïve—or at the very least—excessively compressed, first chapter with its tour d’horizon of Westen literature.
This time, because I was reading FAUST and needed help, I persevered, and what I have found is a very illuminating and subtle interpretation of Goethe and FAUST. In fact, the book is absolutely brilliant. As my interest quickened, I re-read the biographical information on the fly leaf and found a bit of a puzzle. Cottrell grew up in the Midwest, went to Ohio State, U Wisconsin (Madison) and then got his PhD back at Ohio. He was a Fullbright scholar and a young professor at University of Michigan Ann Arbor. This book was published in 1982, and after reading it I was surprised that I hadn’t heard anything further of Cottrell. He was a full professor by 1982, so he couldn’t have been muzzled by the malignant forces of theory that drove so many untenured PhDs out of US universities during that era.
After investigation, I found that the University of Michigan established the Alan P. Cottrell Memorial Prize following his sudden death in 1984, at the age of 49. He was evidently a much loved teacher as well as an excellent scholar.
The first one, for no particular reason, is GOETHE'S VIEW OF EVIL.
I took another crack at Goethe's’ FAUST last year, and decided to read at the same time Cottrell's book, which had been in my library for years. I have picked it up a couple of times since buying it, but was always put off by what seemed to be a naïve—or at the very least—excessively compressed, first chapter with its tour d’horizon of Westen literature.
This time, because I was reading FAUST and needed help, I persevered, and what I have found is a very illuminating and subtle interpretation of Goethe and FAUST. In fact, the book is absolutely brilliant. As my interest quickened, I re-read the biographical information on the fly leaf and found a bit of a puzzle. Cottrell grew up in the Midwest, went to Ohio State, U Wisconsin (Madison) and then got his PhD back at Ohio. He was a Fullbright scholar and a young professor at University of Michigan Ann Arbor. This book was published in 1982, and after reading it I was surprised that I hadn’t heard anything further of Cottrell. He was a full professor by 1982, so he couldn’t have been muzzled by the malignant forces of theory that drove so many untenured PhDs out of US universities during that era.
After investigation, I found that the University of Michigan established the Alan P. Cottrell Memorial Prize following his sudden death in 1984, at the age of 49. He was evidently a much loved teacher as well as an excellent scholar.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review