The Spinoza Problem: A Novel [Format Kindle]

I have read, if not all of Dr. Yalom's works of fiction, certainly most of them. This opus is certainly one of his best, which is admittedly saying a great deal when you consider that he has also written "When Nietzsche Wept" and "Lying on the Couch" - both of which are masterpieces. This work has an extra dimension not found in his earlier works (except perhaps to some extent in "The Schopenhauer Cure)", in that he alternates chapters from two separate stories that take place almost 300 years apart. The first story focuses on the excommunication of Baruch Spinoza from the Jewish community of Holland in the 17th Century, and its impact on the life and thought of this Father of Enlightenment. The second story revolves around the life and distorted thought of the uber Nazi, Alfred Rosenberg. Yalom is brilliant in how he connects these stories. Spinoza had a modest library in his home away from the Jewish world of Amsterdam in Rijnsburg, Holland. Rosenberg ordered the dismemberment of this library. Why? According to a Nazi soldier who was to carry these books off to oblivion, the books were of "great importance for the exploration of the Spinoza problem". But why should Rosenberg have had a "problem" with a long dead Jew when he was confronted with many live ones in Germany whose very presence contaminated the purity of the German race - a pre-occupation of Rosenberg. Here Yalom, through some of Alfred's teachers and later through a Freudian analyst who worked with Rosenberg, uncovered complexities in the psychological make-up of the Nazi that truly makes Spinoza, this long dead Dutch Jew, a veritable "problem" for the young Nazi. You learn that to Alfred, Goethe is the epitome of Arian superiority. But how does he reconcile the fact that this German so admired the work of that 17th Century Dutch Jew. You will not only enjoy this book as a fine novel, but you will at the same time learn a great deal about the brilliance of Spinoza's thoughts, which Dr. Yalom generous spoon feeds to his readers. And what is on the spoon is delicious.

Novels about the life and philosophy of Spinoza (1632 -- 1677) are as difficult as they are rare. In 1837, the German novelist Berthold Auerbach (1812 -- 1884) wrote an unfortunately little-remembered novel, revised in 1854, about Spinoza which focused upon what the author portrayed as the philosopher's ambiguous relationship to Judaism. Much more recently, the renowned American psychotherapist and novelist Irvin Yalom has written a novel with Spinoza as its major figure: "The Spinoza Problem" (2012). Yalom's earlier philosophical novels discuss Schopenhauer and Nietszche in the context of psychotherapy, and this book as well closely combines Yalom's passion for philosophy with his life work as a therapist.

Yalom's novel skillfully juxtaposes two stories: a history of Spinoza and a history of the Nazi writer Alfred Rosenberg (1883 -- 1946), who was hanged for war crimes at Nurenberg. Rosenberg wrote a book called "The Myth of the Twentieth Century" and edited a major Nazi newspaper, among his other activities for the regime. When the Nazis occupied the Netherlands, Rosenberg pillaged the Spinoza House, including its collection of 151 books, which were replicas (not the original copies) of works the philosopher had in his library. The robbery of the Spinoza library is the only known connection between Rosenberg and Spinoza. Yalom makes it the basis of his dual historical story.

The book is a work of fiction and imagination. It is important to separate fact from artistic license, and Yalom endeavors to do so in a note at the end of the novel. The more interesting sections of the book involve the great philosoper. Yalom describes his early life, his training in Judaism, the circumstances leading to his excommunication from the Amsterdam Jewish community, and his subsequent life and writings with great insight, drama, and plausibility. Spinoza's thought is discussed both in the sections of the book set in the Netherlands and in the sections set in Nazi Germany. The exposition is simply presented for lay readers, with the explosive nature of his thinking retained. Yalom draws much of the discussion verbatim from Spinoza's two great books, the "Theological Political Treatise" and the "Ethics"; for the most part, the lengthy philosophical discussions are integrated well with the flow of the novel.

Yalom also offers a philosophical critique of Spinoza which, he recognizes is something of an anachronism. He draws on a study by the American philosopher Rebecca Goldstein, Betraying Spinoza: The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity (Jewish Encounters) to critique Spinoza's rationalism at the expense of the emotional life. More suprisingly, Yalom introduces a character who critiques Spinoza from the standpoint of a much latter-day secular Reconstructionist Judaism and who is particularly harsh on Spinoza's clearly 17th century attitude towards women.

Yalom mostly imagines novelistically Rosenberg's relationship to Spinoza. He shows the young Rosenberg about to be expelled from his preparatory school for making anti-semitic comments in a class election. He is required to read Goethe's autobiography and write out the many laudatory references Goethe makes about Spinoza. Later in the book Rosenberg undergoes therapy with an old family friend (a fictitious character in his entirety) who probes into his depression, isolation, attitude towards Hitler, and increasingly strident anti-semitism. Spinoza becomes a figure to be used in understanding oneself and one's emotions, which Rosenberg is singularly unable to do. In addition, Spinoza with his critique of revealed religion becomes a figure with some resemblances to Rosenberg's own dislike of religion, both Judaism and Christianity. The therapist tries without success to use Spinoza to ease his subject's hatred of Jews. Hence the "Spinoza Problem" becomes the title of the book and of Rosenberg's activities in the Nazi Regime.

Yalom has written a novel of ideas which works effectively as a novel. It is an excellent critical introduction to a great philosopher and to the sometimes difficult claims of the mind and the heart.

Robin Friedman

The reference to Berthold Auerbach is taken from a recent study examining how Jewish sources treat Spinoza by Daniel Schwartz, "The First Modern Jew: Spinoza and the History of an Image." The First Modern Jew: Spinoza and the History of an Image

As a psychologist this book had great personal meaning to me. The value of self-reflection in living one's life is greatly emphasized. There are two contrasting characters in the book, Spinoza, the philosopher who chooses a life of almost complete self-reflection and in contrast, Alfred Rosenberg, the Nazi who vehemently rejects any aspect of self-reflection or self-analysis. Alfred sabotages his own life by giving it over completely to the regimen and horror of the Hitler cult. In sharp contrast, Spinoza is isolated, living a life of deep self-reflection but he gives up living a full life because he is isolated in order to further his process of self-reflection. He is content however with this path and chooses it in a very active way. He makes a tremendous contribution to humanity through his philosophical thinking and writing.

I especially enjoyed the dialogues between Spinoza and Franco, his friend, about life's meaning, God, death, community, and religion. Yalom gives us a chance to ponder again existential questions and the choices which life offers.