Surveying the tortured life and times of a melancholy Dane

Clare Carlisle’s biography of Søren Kierkegaard is an insightful look into the troublesome life of the ‘father of existentialism’

Philosophy: Philosopher of the Heart: The Restless Life of Søren Kierkegaard , By Clare Carlisle , Penguin, €30

Christianity isn’t really in vogue on these shores right now, so you might be absolved for giving a wide berth to a biography about one of its most eminent philosophers. But there’s more to Søren Kierkegaard than solemnity and piety. Highly critical himself of the Christian orthodoxy of his time, writing in different guises to ...