A review by oofym
Fear and Trembling by Søren Kierkegaard

challenging reflective
This was a tough one. Although I didn't technically finish it, I'm counting it as finished due to the fact that reading the introduction (Written by an expert on Kierkegaard), plus half of the book, was more than enough for me to get the core philosophical concept. Because of the stellar introduction; as I made my way through Kierkegaard's "Fear and Trembling" I felt like I was walking over already well tread ground. I'll be honest too; I understood the summary of what Kierkegaard was trying to say in this much better than what Kierkegaard actually said, his writing is convoluted and very repetitive.

With the preamble out of the way, I can say that I really did enjoy this glimpse into Kierkegaard's philosophy on faith and ethics. It helped me better understand my own views and formulate more coherent takes on certain aspects of faith. However, at the end of the day, I feel that what Kierkegaard is attempting to say is actually rather simple, he's just making it endlessly elaborate and purposely obfuscated.
At the core of Fear and Trembling is this phrase:
 “Faith begins precisely where thinking leaves off.” 

And you can pretty much leave it there in my opinion, the leap of faith is just that, it's a leap away from reason and into something higher and much trickier to understand. Kierkegaard himself says that in the end; the power, mystique and the beauty of Abraham's faith is one which he does not understand and yet aspires towards.
Take the leap of faith or don't. If you can do it, you can do it. If you can't, you can't.