It is rare to read a book of correspondence between two well-known writers and thinkers that has as much emotional impact as WITHIN FOUR WALLS: The Correspondence Between Hannah Arendt and Heinrich Blucher, 1936-1968. As we witness throughout the 32 years of letters and other writings exchanged by these two brilliant minds, there existed not only a deep and abiding respect for each other's intellectual capabilities but also a core of love that grew stronger and stronger over the years, over their varying university positions, their public writings, their lasting psychological scars from their escape from Nazi Germany in 1933. Married in 1940, the couple remained together throughout many dark times, when their dependence on each other was the only bulwark against a storm of controversy for their political and intellectual actions.

The way in which each letter moves swiftly between the mundane and the historically significant ("Paris is teeming with Americans --- all of whom are complaining about the food! You see, one never learns. But there are cherries and strawberries, very cheap, and I'm feasting!... Heidegger sent me a transcript of a discussion in Zurich. In part, quite nice and lively; in part also --- enfin, on verra.... Your Hannah.") shows us a human side of this philosophical giant, one of the few women philosophers of the 20th century whose works are still considered valuable as her posthumous days grow in length. The relationships they had with other writers and thinkers (most especially Arendt's passionate friendship with Mary McCarthy and her difficult but fascinatingly complicated association with the Heideggers) make these letters seem even more important --- they are the philosophy world's version of a celebrity tell-all book.

In a world where quick e-mails take the place of long and detailed letters of those set apart from loved ones by work and location, it may seem archaic or even quaint to experience this deep and loving relationship through letters. Certainly, both parties spent a great deal of time on the road, and their words to each other were probably a very important way to keep their fragile egos in check and their insecurities about their relationship in good order. It seems as if, with the power of their language and the combination of everyday and workaday details in these letters, both Arendt and Blucher benefited greatly from the correspondence and that their love was never in danger. They grew to understand each other more and more through their writings --- a perfect way for two intellectuals to wend their ways into each other's hearts more deeply.

A fascinating book, nicely edited by Kohler, who puts the correspondence together in such a way that it is a story of a marriage, told from start to almost end, and a testament to love and mutual respect that is so rare in this world we live in today.