I have an excuse for reading an English-to-Finnish translation despite the fact they tend to cause aggravation. I picked Breakfast With Socrates: The Philosophy For Everyday Life by Robert Rowland Smith as I was visiting my boyfriend. It was in the pile of books he'd loaned from the library... That is the story, and I'm sticking to it.
As someone obsessed with words and language, I really, really hate translations which do not work, or where the original sentence or idiom or expression simply isn't translateable at all. Breakfast With Socrates – or rather, Aamiaisella Sokrateen kanssa – was filled with these. This isn't really an argument against the author or the book, but it did affect my reading experience. If I'm overly critical, I blame the above.
I rather felt like Polgara the Sorceress while reading Breakfast With Socrates: at times I wanted to tell Rowland Smith to get on with it and stick to the matter at hand. I was particularly annoyed with the Christian-isms in the beginning of the book. Even if the nature of Christian God can be a subject of philosophic debate, and if the fall of Adam and Eve should be discussed in a philosophic context, I felt this book was not the place for them. Perhaps if Rowland Smith had included a chapter for “Going To Church,” my atheist sensibility would have been less irritated.
Of course, it is possible I'm just being silly, and he was merely using popular language to illustrate difficult concepts.
That said, I read Breakfast With Socrates in one sitting (it's a thin book, and I'm a fast reader). Robert Rowland Smith is, according to the title sleeve, an accomplished academic, and the book does indicate he is both knowledgeable and able to transfer knowledge to a reader. The book is subtitled The Philosophy for Everyday Life, and he has divided it in chapters starting from waking up and ending in sex (which, you could argue, isn't a bad accomplishment for a day). His topics range from how going to a gym is against Marxian values, and how to arrange a party like Machiavelli. Smith writes well and even manages funny at places (the kind of dry funny you would expect from a hardcore academic).
Article comments
1 - jim grice
I was curious about the title of the article and found your review helpful in a general way of evaluating books as well as your specific reviewed book. You have written an excellent article.
2 - Laura T
Hi Jim and thanks! I'm only beginning to write evaluations for others as well, so I'm pleased you enjoyed the article.