Choice Review

Philosopher, original thinker, and disciple of Ortega y Gasset and Zubiri, Zambrano wrote on dreams, poetry, and the philosophy of lived experience and was acquainted with intellectual sources ranging from the pre-Socratics to phenomenology and the works of Unamuno. The product of her passionate engagement with Spanish politics at the beginning of the 20th century, this volume is written in the third person in an allusive language that dissolves superficial distinctions between poetry and analysis. The memoirs invite the reader to experience the world of a young intellectual whose life ran parallel to the birth of the Second Spanish Republic, and to understand how women of this new generation saw themselves as the masculine world of politics and culture became an arena of struggle and change. Meditating on time and the self, Zambrano communicates her unique feelings as she approaches the unknown. The last section touches on her exile in Puerto Rico. Essays by Roberta Johnson and Maier throw light on the process of translation and provide historical background. A useful glossary of names, institutions, and historical details is included. Both a welcome introduction to Zambrano and a model literary piece, the volume is recommended for upper-division undergraduates through faculty. O. B. Gonzalez Loyola University of Chicago