November 8, 2012

BATMAN AND PHILOSOPHY - The Bat-Blog Book Review -


It's no surprise that I totally love the BATMAN character but one thing many people will probably not know is that I also like 2 other things as well, Books and Philosophy! So, when the opportunity came along for me to read this new paperback book by Wiley Books, titled, "BATMAN AND PHILOSOPHY: THE DARK KNIGHT OF THE SOUL", I totally jumped on it!

Well, I gotta say that after reading it I can only say a few things about it without giving away too many plot points. One, it's an extremely interesting book even if you are ONLY a Fan of the Bat AND have no interest in Philosophy. The book does a great job at being both a "Batman History" book AND a series of essays all about philosophical theory.

This book does a pretty good job at answering many questions like:
  • Why doesn't Batman Just kill The Joker & end his crime spree?
  • Can we hold the Joker responsible for his actions?
  • Is Batman better than Superman?
  • What is the Tao of the Bat?
  • Is Batman a Moral Exemplar?
  • What is the Social Order of Gotham City? 
  • Can anybody become the Dark Knight?
The book is basically broke down into approx. 20 different essays which all try to answer these questions & many more. Almost every essay is written by a different Author, so each one has a very unique writing style. But this doesn't take away from the story in any way, it actually adds many fresh and different view points & that keeps it interesting.

I'd also like to add that the 3 Editors of this book: William Irwin, Mark White, and Robert Arp all did a fine job here. The book, in paperback form, has about 294 pages & was published ©2008. If you're a serious Batman Fan then you're gonna love this book. So, Please, Go Check it Out!




1 comment:

Mike said...

Not sure if you've heard of this one, but I'm currently reading "Wisdom from the Batcave" by Cary A Friedman. Quick read, pretty thoughtful and interesting. I'm almost done with it and I'm liking it. Very similar to "Batman and Philisophy" -- which ironically that's next on my reading list. Thanks for the review!