As Philosophers go, Schopenhauer has a lot of character, and that is highly evident in his writing style.

A short summary:

Parerga and Paralipomena essentially refers to the fact that these are Schopenhauer's addendums. His main idea of Will and Representation having already been published as his principle tome, he decided to publish all his ideas on other topics, ranging from color, noise, religion, pedagogy, the futility of living...you know, the basics.

Schopenhauer's tone ranges from the depths of nihilism to just angsty (his two primary emotions?) While some of his essays roll off of Will and Representation, others come out of the blue; his ideas on education and educational institutions are especially interesting, and rather timeless.

That said, he isn't free of problems. While as philosophy goes, Schopenhauer tends to be an easier reader (let's not mention Lacan any time soon), but some of his ideas are highly outdated or just wrong, especially his disparaging remarks in "On Women." Even so, his problematic moments can serve as historical relics in history of thought, and it would be worse if they weren't published at all.

In general, Arthur tends to be a bit of a self-indulgent curmudgeon, but its just fun to read. ( )