People have different things they buy on impulse.  For me it’s books. I’m better than I used to be. Nowadays, the book has to be something special at a good price. So when we were in Meade Kansas in late April-early May for the Centennial of Lynda’s home church, it was the same weekend as a city-wide “Trash & Treasures”, where people put stuff out at the curb for anyone to come by and pick up. The public library decided it was a good weekend for a used book sale. We just had to go to it.

One of the books I bought (of only two) was Dear Bertrand Russell: A Selection of His Correspondence with the General Public, edited by Barry Feinberg and Ronald Kasrils. For 50¢ I had to buy it. The name was familiar to me, but all I could remember about him, as I bought the book, was that he lived a long life and was some kind of scientist. I’ve since tried to learn a little more about him, and find him to have a unique life that covers many fields of interest.

Once home, I decided to read the book right away rather than add it to the bottom of the reading pile. The premise is: a short excerpt of a letter written to Russell by someone in the general public is given, followed by Russell’s reply, in whole or in part, to the original letter writer. The letters are arranged topically rather than chronologically. The chapters are: Facsimile Letters; Religion; Peace and Politics; Youth and Old Age; Philosophy; and Anekdota. Each chapter includes an introduction, and the book includes a nice, concise listing of Russell’s works and a timeline of his life. The book has a total of 162 pages.

This was a very easy read. I did five to ten pages a day and knocked it out quickly. I mentioned this book and one of Russell’s answers in a previous post. Since he’s an atheist, I obviously don’t agree with his religious views. I’m not sure I understand his pacifist views. He was a pacifist, yet he wanted to use force—even nuclear force—to make the USSR join a one-world government he proposed. Strange man.

All that comes from a couple of short bios I read. I’m predisposed to dislike Russell because he was British nobility: the 3rd Earl Russell. I get irked at British nobility thinking they can tell all the world what to do. But that’s an ad hominem argument and I should get over that. I have much more studying to do to understand Russell better. I doubt, however, that I’ll do much of that. I have too many other areas of study/work taking up my time.

This was a good book. The letters selected mostly come from the last 10 to 15 years of Russell’s life. A greater time-period variety would have been nice. But really, that’s a minor point.

I would urge anyone interested in letters who can find this to read it. I give it 5-stars. But it is not a keeper. Too many books to keep. I’m slowly going to break up my collection of books of letters, and this is the third to go.