I love window-shopping on Amazon, especially putting books into the “cart” and returning to read more about them. Sometimes I buy, but usually I hit “delete” or move them to the “wish list.”
The other day I bought a book by accident: Isaiah Berlin: A Life by Michael Ignatieff (1998). I’d tucked it the cart to find out more about who Isaiah Berlin was after seeing the name referenced in an article. (No, he’s not related to the composer!)
But even though the biography was just 1 cent (plus $3.99 shipping), I hadn’t intended to buy it. My curiosity would have been satisfied by reading the reviews.
Sir Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997) was, in fact, one of the 20th century’s most insightful thinkers. Born in Riga as a Russian Jew, he was renown throughout his life both for his historical analysis and his gift as a raconteur. His family moved to England shortly after World-War I, fleeing anti-Semitism and Bolshevism. Highly accomplished academically, he focused most of his energies on the life of the mind. In many ways, his life was surprisingly simple.
But viewed another way, his life was like a volcano. He witnessed most of the earth-shattering events of the 20th century, including the February and Bolshevik Revolutions in 1917. He became connected to nearly every luminary of the period, including the poetess Anna Akhmatova and novelist Boris Pasternak. In fact, he was instrumental in fostering British publication of the manuscript of Dr. Zhivago, smuggled to the West. Teaching at Oxford and Harvard, he constantly preached the values of liberty and pluralism, staunchly opposing absolutism, and particularly Marxism-Leninism.
In short, his story has much to tell us.
Only I hadn’t intended to buy the book. And by the time I realized it and contacted the seller, the lickety-quick fellow had mailed it. Mindful of those critical online evaluations, he solicitously apologized and said, “Yes, yes, of course you can return it.”
Something about ordering a book accidentally made me smile, though. Is there an accidental book? Or might I need to learn what was in this one? Especially for the investment of a penny?
From the first word I’ve been fascinated by this surprisingly modest man’s path through the complex challenges of pre- and post-World War II culture. He writes clearly, calmly, and persuasively.
Injustice, poverty, slavery, ignorance—these may be cured by reform or revolution. But men do not live by fighting evils. They live by positive goals, individual and collective, a vast variety of them, seldom predictable, at times incompatible. —Four Essays on Liberty
The stories told are priceless, such as his rare faux pas while in Picasso’s company (a man mortified by death) when he narrated Lope de Vega’s death-bed confession of being bored by Dante. This may be the best one-penny investment I’ve ever made.
And, yes, I left the seller a five-star rating for his courtesy as “feedback.” Meanwhile, I’m wondering what the next accident will be. An accidental symphony?
