http://bactra.org/notebooks Cosma's Notebooks en http://bactra.org/notebooks/1994/10/03#arendt What the Hell is she saying, half the time? Most of <cite>On Revolution</cite> and <cite>The Origins of Totalitarianism</cite> are extremely lucid, and the latter is quite gripping; but every so often she arrives at some startling proposition and I cannot for the life of me see how she got there, or even, sometimes, what on earth it's supposed to mean. I find her ideas about "elementary republics" and the nature of authority particularly unclear. <ul>Recommended: <li><cite>Eichmann in Jerusalem.</cite> <li><cite>The Origins of Totalitarianism.</cite> Get one-volume second edition "with added prefaces," if possible. <li>Ernest <a href="gellner.html">Gellner</a>, "From K&ouml;nigsberg to Manhattan, or, Hannah, Rahel, Martin and Elfride, or, Thy Neighbor's <em>Gemeinschaft</em>" in <cite>Culture, Identity and Politics</cite> </ul> <ul>To read: <li>HA <ul> <li><cite>Crises of the Republic</cite> <li><cite>The Human Condition</cite> <li><cite>Life of the Mind</cite> </ul> <li>Richard Wolin, <cite>Heidegger's Children: Hannah Arendt, Karl L&ouml;with, Hans Jonas, and Herbert Marcuse</cite> [<a href="http://www.pupress.princeton.edu/titles/7136.html">Blurb</a>] </ul>