Lost in Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life by Zena HitzMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Context & Why I read this book
I read this without any real "reason", I just stumbled upon it, the subtitle includes the term "intellectual life" and — shame on me — this book has nice cover art.
What is the book about as a whole?
This book attempts to argue for the _intrinsic_ value of "intellectual life", partly based on the author's personal experiences, partly based on philosophy and literature.
The book's structure
The book has a rather uncommon structure; a prologue, introduction, and epilogue take up about 25-30% of the content and then 3 uninformative-titled chapters:
1. A Refuge from the World
2. Learning Lost and Found
3. The Uses of Uselessness
An index and notes/references/sources are given.
One lesson
The book references Aristotle's position that "virtues are learned by imitation". This was a new idea for me and it is what I try to take with me from this book for my own life; considering that our actions constantly radiate and affect our social circles and considering especially that I want to have kids in the future.
Reading Recommendation / Who should read this?
To be honest, there was a lot I didn't get. At times it was the language itself, at times the logic, and at times a missing background in philosophy. While this could indicate an opportunity to gain understanding, I rather feel that this book does not know what it wants to be. Oddly, the part I liked best was the personal story in the prologue; so maybe this should have been a biography instead... So I won't re-read this and I don't recommend you to read this yourself. If by chance you pick this up in a book store, read the prologue and the reference section. A 5 out of 10 (⭑⭑⭑) on my personal rating scale.
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