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feelin_toasty's review against another edition
3.0
I don't know how to feel, how does Sartre talk so eloquently about antisemitism and it's mechanisms and why they are harmful and then proceed to perpetuate it every time he talks about a Jew? It's like he didn't read the first half of his own essay? This book is the equivalent of academic whiplash. To be fair the preface warns you what Sartre is about to do (one of those stars is for the preface which is brilliant) but it's still awfully and deliciously ironic that Sartre himself becomes (unintentionally through his own ignorance) an anti-Semite.This essay is just one example of why sensitivity readers are important.
felixmpichardo's review against another edition
3.0
First and last part are great. Middle is long and... well it was written a long time ago...
lukeandplatoreads11's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting blurbs and good counter arguments to those subsumed to the hatred of antisemitism. Definitely felt like it could have been much shorter of a book, however, it was worth the read. I enjoyed his holistic view of the individual and their attributes, and also noticed that his approach seems to be misappropriated by some individuals.
cat_cafe's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
So many poignant observations that still remain very true today, I would never ever expect a white man in the 1940s to be able to discuss the racial other this lucidly. The only reason I didn't give this a 5 is that I feel like it in the end reduced racism too much down to its psychological dimension. It's true that Sartre describes the subjective experiences of the antisemitism extremely well, and I understand that he wants to remove all of the excuses for choosing to be racist, but I still think it lacks perspective on the material structures of raising antisemites.
theverbalthing's review against another edition
4.0
Sartre brings up a lot of really great points about the nature of the Anti-Semite and how his passion, his identity, is very much dependent on the existence of the thing he hates most: the Jew. I would have rated this book 5/5 stars for the fact that it is well-written and incredibly strong in most places, easier to understand and articulate than some of Sartre's other work. However, he makes some claims that seem to have no evidence backing them up, like the restriction of Anti-Semitism to the bourgeoisie. Therefore, this book gets a 4.
ceris's review against another edition
2.0
Almost everything in this book is wrong. Contemporary racism writers riff off of a lot of these ideas in order to disprove them, so it is interesting to see them at the source. What I really can’t get behind, though, is this non-Jewish white man taking it upon himself to write about the Jewish experience (and the experience of racism in general) WITHOUT ACTUALLY CONSULTING JEWISH THINKERS. Is that..... your place, Sartre?????
justin_bustin_chustin's review against another edition
3.0
Jean-Paul Sartre's Anti-Semite and Jew is a powerful critique of antisemitism and the failure of the liberal democratic society that allows the ideology to fester. In the book, Sartre utilizes his renowned existential philosophy to paint a portrait of the anti-semite that inauthentically creates an imagined enemy to avoid the horror of the human condition; the democrat whose naiveté makes him complicit with the violence against the Jews; and the Jews that must deal with this tragic situation he is thrown in, authentically or inauthentically. The book is also a call to action. It is a work that calls for gentiles to stand in solidarity with Jews, stating that "what must be done is to point out to each one that the fate of the Jews is his fate."
There are parts of this book that are a little weird and bad. But since I don't wish to do a gentile-splaining to anyone and since Michael Walzer's preface to the book already provides a devastating critique of the worst parts of the book, I will write about the part I like the most in the book: Sartre's characterization of the anti-semite.
Sartre rejects the view that takes antisemitism as an opinion that deserves discussing in a democratic society. He observes that antisemitism is not a conclusion reached through experience, nor is it supported by any real evidence. Antisemitism is an a priori obsession, a passion. He writes, "far from experience producing his idea of the Jew, it was the latter which explains his experience. If the Jew did not exist, the anti-semite would invent him." Moreover, this antisemitic passion that, manipulated by the ruling class, often emerges from the middle-class milieu stems from a refusal to be moved by reason; from a desire to claim an "us" alongside the ruling class by creating an imaginary "them"; from a will to be impenetrable, to be superior, and to reject all that is valuable in authentic living. "Antisemitism," Sartre writes, "is a fear of the human condition. The anti-semite is a man who wishes to be pitiless stone, a furious torrent, a devastating thunderbolt––anything except a man." I think this view of the anti-semite is useful in understanding not only antisemitism but also all kinds of bigotry, at least on an individual level.
(Idk where else to say this but Michael Walzer's critique of this book in the preface is just so hilariously brutal. How can any Marxist recover from having "indeed, he is a liberal, for all his Marxizing sociology" in THE PREFACE OF THEIR OWN BOOK LMAO??? It's a great preface tho)
twistingsnake's review against another edition
4.0
The anti-Semite is afraid of discovering that the world is ill-contrived for then it would be necessary for him to invent and modify, with the result that man would be found to the master of his own destinies, burned by the agonizing and infinite responsibility.
Sharply relevant to today's political climate around hatred toward minority groups (immigration in particular) Sartre's pocket-sized thesis on what creates a social hive mind around the us vs. them ideology and provides smart commentary on the mindset of oppression and how it can inflict generational trauma with lasting effects on how people interact with their own individualism. I annotated the fuck out of this and after I lend it out to a few people I could see myself revisiting it. This is one of the first books someone recommended me for getting into Jewish theology/history and it absolutely lived up to expectations. There were many notable passages and a lot of profound insights/commentary that made rethink or reconceptualize a lot of my understanding of how to view racists and the mindset of someone who has to dehumanize another to feel safe in his own humanity. One part in particular that stood out was his commentary on social complacency toward members of the community who are loudly outspoken with their aversion to certain minority groups. "There was a tacit understanding between Jules and his family: they ostentatiously avoided talking about the English in front of him, and the precaution gave him a semblance of existence in the eyes of those about him at the same time that it provided them with the agreeable sense of participating in a sacred ceremony." which is a sentiment that, again, has great relevance today.
It took me over a month to read this book and even longer to annotate/research the climate and world powers that were central for France in the 40s but it was worth the grind and I couldn't recommend this swiss army knife of a social thesis more. 4 1/2 stars.
Sharply relevant to today's political climate around hatred toward minority groups (immigration in particular) Sartre's pocket-sized thesis on what creates a social hive mind around the us vs. them ideology and provides smart commentary on the mindset of oppression and how it can inflict generational trauma with lasting effects on how people interact with their own individualism. I annotated the fuck out of this and after I lend it out to a few people I could see myself revisiting it. This is one of the first books someone recommended me for getting into Jewish theology/history and it absolutely lived up to expectations. There were many notable passages and a lot of profound insights/commentary that made rethink or reconceptualize a lot of my understanding of how to view racists and the mindset of someone who has to dehumanize another to feel safe in his own humanity. One part in particular that stood out was his commentary on social complacency toward members of the community who are loudly outspoken with their aversion to certain minority groups. "There was a tacit understanding between Jules and his family: they ostentatiously avoided talking about the English in front of him, and the precaution gave him a semblance of existence in the eyes of those about him at the same time that it provided them with the agreeable sense of participating in a sacred ceremony." which is a sentiment that, again, has great relevance today.
It took me over a month to read this book and even longer to annotate/research the climate and world powers that were central for France in the 40s but it was worth the grind and I couldn't recommend this swiss army knife of a social thesis more. 4 1/2 stars.