History as a System, and Other Essays Toward a Philosophy of History

Ortega has picked me up from the vast void of reality and has put me in place. Hidden between the lines you will find the fact that precedes all facts, that from which everything flows (even science) to be discovered by accident. i cannot imagine any more powerful integration of knowledge than this book. he gave me what i was looking for and more, and now what else?

I first read the essay "History as a System" (only one of the essays included in this book) in conjunction with David Copperfield's autobiographical project and Rousseau's "Confessions." This facinating essay explores the creation of a historical consciousness and suggests that "whether he be original or a plagerist, man is the novelist of himself." Ortega suggests that we are continually "writing" ourselves, becoming dissatisfied with that version, and then "revising" ourselves into something new. It's a vision of constant change.Ortega is one of this century's most important philosophers and is not read nearly enough. Anyone interested in late 19th or 20th century literature and philosophy should not miss this book.