The House of Wittgenstein by Alexander Waugh

(.) By refusing to make such connections, and by being so disdainful of Wittgenstein’s reputation as a philosopher, Waugh leaves us always wondering what the point of his story is (.) The House of Wittgenstein gives a crass picture of a terrible family tragedy.

'One of the reasons a book like Waugh’s should be useful is that Wittgenstein’s philosophy is so much about trying to understand what he has inherited: the languages, the conventions he was born into, and what he could and could not use them to do.It is probably just as well, for it is hard to imagine another account showing such fluency, wit and attention to detail as Alexander Waugh's.' - Simon Heffer, Literary Review 'The story in this book is so gripping and fascinating that it is remarkable that it has never been told in this way before.This is a magnificently refreshing and invigorating volume which deserves a wide readership.' - Frank McLynn, The Independent 'Waugh seems bored by philosophy, and if late Wittgenstein is at issue, who can blame him ? But his book in general is marvellous, a sharp combination of some formidable scholarship in the German sources with a wonderful eye for absurdity.It certainly casts some light on Ludwig's extraordinary contradictions.' - Terry Eagleton, The Guardian 'Alexander Waugh's eminently readable, meticulously researched account of the Wittgenstein madhouse might have speculated a bit more on how this background helped to shape the most celebrated of all the Wittgensteins.(.) The House of Wittgenstein might have been a much more interesting book had it focused on the differences, rather than the similarities, between Ludwig and the other Wittgensteins.' - Marjorie Perloff, Bookforum The information - facts, dates, the furnishings of the various Wittgenstein properties, specific Nazi edicts - is all there, but the richness and complexity of this culture, the texture so brilliantly chronicled by Karl Kraus or, more recently, by Brigitte Hamann in Hitler’s Vienna, is missing. 'In Waugh’s telling, no one comes off well (.) The difficulty is that Waugh’s book gives no evidence of any real grounding in the history and culture of fin de siècle, much less postwar, Vienna.

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The House of Wittgenstein by Alexander Waugh