Reddit reviews Essays and Aphorisms (Penguin Classics)

For stuff by Schopenhauer, start with Essays and Aphorisms. It's a good starter because it presents Schopenhauer's thoughts on a wide variety of topics, and it also has a solid Introduction by R.J. Hollingdale.

For stuff about Schopenhauer, start with Schopenhauer: A Very Short Introduction. In addition to being a great short reference, the VSI books have good "Further Reading" sections at the end with more scholarly books that delve further into the topic.

Happy reading!

Schopenhaur is my favorite philosopher/writer. His writings are genius. I read http://www.amazon.com/Essays-Aphorisms-Penguin-Classics-Schopenhauer/dp/0140442278/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410879540&sr=1-1&keywords=schopenhauer after a suggestion here on TRP and I plan to read his main work, http://www.amazon.com/World-Will-Representation-Vol/dp/0486217612/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410879540&sr=1-3&keywords=schopenhauer when I find the time. My recommendations to everyone: read him, it is very, very pleasant literature.

Sure thing. If you want an online overview, here is a great place to start. If you want a book, his seminal work is The World as Will and Representation but it is extremely long, so I'd highly recommend this collection of influential writings

I would go with Essays and Aphorisms (Penguin Classics) first. It's a decent dose of different topics. You don't need to know a bunch of technical metaphysics to understand it. You could probably find it online for free if you know where to look.

Contents:

ESSAYS

On the Suffering of the World

On the Vanity of Existence

On the Antithesis of Thing in Itself and Appearance

On Affirmation and Denial of the Will to Live

On the Indestructibility of our Essential Being by Death

On Suicide

On Women

On Thinking for Yourself

On Religion: a Dialogue

APHORISMS

On Philosophy and the Intellect

On Ethics

On Law and Politics

On Aesthetics

On Psychology

On Religion

On Books and Writing

On Various Subjects

I would recommend you start by reading these rather than "The world as will and representation".

https://www.amazon.com/Essays-Aphorisms-Penguin-Classics-Schopenhauer/dp/0140442278/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501014218&sr=8-1&keywords=schopenhauer+essays

https://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Life-Counsels-Maxims/dp/1541028953/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1501014265&sr=8-2&keywords=schopenhauer+wisdom+of+life

Here ya go buddeh

https://www.amazon.com/Essays-Aphorisms-Penguin-Classics-Schopenhauer/dp/0140442278

https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Nietzsche-Library/dp/0140150625

I read Essays and Aphorisms last year and I think it is a readable introduction to a reasonably broad array of his thought. I only have working knowledge of Kant, Hume, etc. but I understood most of what he was trying to get across.

Be prepared, he is known as a cantankerous writer and there are some laughably prickly moments in his writing.

There's a Penguin Edition of Schopenhauer's Essay's and Aphorisms which is a great sample of his thought.

A bit more on the technical side, On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason is a key text that has the epistemic cornerstone for the rest of his philosophy.

Happy readings! Schopenhauer is one of those rare philosophers with a knack for writing beautifully.