Fragments

This compilation of words by ancient Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, is known as "Fragments" because there are no actual works by Heraclitus in existence today. There are only examples from antiquity where others quoted his long-lost works. This book is, therefore, a compilation of bits and pieces of Heraclitus' unique brand of philosophy. His thought reflects strains of ideas that the West did not hear of again until investigating the Buddha of the East. Heraclitus represents a kind of missing link of philosophy in a certain way, drawing our attention to a time in history when much different fundamental ideas could have shaped our minds to come for the next millenia. As an added benefit, each quote is shown with its representation in Greek as well as its translation in English. The author also supplies the reader with some background information to clarify and understand obscurities in his text that may not be so readily obvious. I found this to be an enjoyable book...

This is a marvellous translation of Heraclitus' fragments into verse which captures the fiery quality of Heraclitus' original voice. With the Greek text opposite the translation, those with knowledge of Greek have the added pleasure of comparing the English with the original. I would have given the book five stars if only the foreword had not been written by a pop psychologist. This fellow, obviously a Jungian analyst, manages to write the most meaningless, fallacious, and ridiculous short essay I've ever read on any topic. While American psychoanalysts are obviously eager to vulgarize their own schools of thought into irrelevance, it's sad to see Heraclitus given this kind of treatment. One can only hope that this kind of thing will not be repeated, since the idea of one day finding myself reading John Bradshaw's thoughts on Parmenides or Dr. Laura's ruminations on Anaximander scares me. A lot.

Seriously, this book changed my life. Before I read it I was a lazy, stupid, cheeto-scarfing POMO .... But now I'm a retro-Classicist all day. Haxton's language is as beautiful as the ideas he relates are smart. Read this book to learn.