Recollections of Wittgenstein

"Ray Monk’s book is an excellent biography but, of course, he never knew Wittgenstein. The many essays by friends, pupils, and acquaintances in this book give an immediate first-hand notion of what the man was like and what it was like to talk to him. In this particular collection, there is an extremely interesting essay by his older sister Hermine. There’s a memoir by Fania Pascal who taught Wittgenstein Russian in the mid-thirties, when he was considering abandoning his academic career and settling in Russia as a workman or agricultural labourer. He was very friendly with Fania Pascal, and she writes a really fascinating memoir of their relationship. Then, there’s a recollection of Wittgenstein by the great literary critic and theorist F R Leavis. After that, there’s something from a pupil of his, John King. Then there are two very long discussions by a closer friend, M O’C Drury, whom Wittgenstein had befriended and helped through medical school. There are long discussions about the nature of religious belief which are particularly fascinating. I definitely recommend this. It’s a very good read and it gives you a more intimate picture of Wittgenstein than you can get from Ray Monk’s biography. Some of them are harsh. If I remember correctly, Fania Pascal has an operation and Wittgenstein goes to visit her. He asks how she’s feeling, and she says: “I feel like a run-over dog”. He replies, “how do you know what a run-over dog feels like?” It’s not exactly the sort of thing one should be saying under the circumstances, but it’s altogether typical of him."