Montaigne's essays (1 Viewer)

[MDR]

Just bought Montaigne's essays after reading Gore Vidal's second memoir (Point to Point Navigation) which referred to it a lot. It's a big book (about 1,300 pages) but the essays are all about 5 or 6 pages each. It will take me a long time to get through it, but I'm in no hurry, as I have about 50 years of my life expectancy left.

From skimming the book online the modern translations seem snappy and the text itself seems choc full of wisdom and humour.

Any of you guys read it in your philosophy, English lit studies?

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

I have this too, I've read a few of them but never really got stuck in. I found there was a bit of a smugness to the few i read, a sort of "amnt i sound" kinda thing. maybe thats just because it made me feel bitter and inadequate or something. might have been the translation too i guess, or maybe only in my mind.

 

[St. Fechin]

I bought this a few months ago while in my Machado de Assis novel-reading phase - Montaigne is mentioned as an influence in a few of the introductions. Since then I've just dipped into it now and again, I've got a mountain of other stuff to get through before I'll allow myself to read it from start to finish.

Relatedly, I got this the other day:

A collection of aphorisms. Supposedly hilarious and supposedly heavily influenced by Montaigne. As Mike Tyson said: "It all flows down. The greats are all connected."
(I've only flicked through it so far...)

 

[outoftheblue]

Any of you guys read it in your philosophy, English lit studies?

I've wanted to read his essays for ages after seeing yer man Alain de Botton talk about him on TV one time when I was young and impressionable, but somehow I've never got round to it. There was a nice series about Montaigne in the Guardian last year, if you didn't see it, that might be a good companion to reading the essays. This is the first one: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/may/10/montaigne-philosophy

 

[Andy_aurel]

"his investigations are not merely random; they all centre on one great question which concerns us all: how does one live? That is, how does one make wise and honourable choices, understand oneself, behave as a fully human being, treat others well, and acquire peace of mind?"

I like the sound of that.

 

[St. Fechin]

Well, having cleared some of my book backlog over Christmas, one of my New Year's resolutions is to read an essay of this a day until I finish it, which by my calculations will take me until the middle of April. (I'll probably take a weekend over 'An Apology for Raymond Sebond'.)

How's this for an opening gambit?

Reader, I myself am the subject of my book: it is not reasonable that you should employ your leisure on a topic so frivolous and so vain.

Therefore, Farewell:

(To be honest, what I've read so far has been just OK; the nutty religiosity of the introduction and some of the notes is a bit off-putting also. But I'm sure great pleasures await me...)

 

[rettucs]

I read some of this over xmas also. It was free to download on the kindle, which was grand til I gave my kindle away. The one I read was about grieving. I don't think I could relate to it, but it still interested me a little.

I shall read a little more before dismissing completely. MDR has never put me wrong on a book recommendation yet (though I think I've only read one of his recommendations). Plus its long out of copyright so I'm sure its dirt cheap to pick up.

 

[rettucs]

bah, double post

 

[St. Fechin]

I've wanted to read his essays for ages after seeing yer man Alain de Botton talk about him

...but don't let that put you off, hoho...

Incidentally, does anyone remember him presenting a series on Channel 4 called something like: 'Millenium Minds' or 'Minds of the Millenium', 'round about 1999? As I remember it was broadcast on Sunday afternoons/evenings. It was one of those intellectuals-have a-chat-around-a-table-for-three-hours-while-we-film-it type programmes that they don't make anymore. It would almost literally be: "This week: Dante Versus Newton, who is The Best? I'm joined by Prof. Something-Or-Other and the novelist blah blah blah..." I used to watch it regularly as an insufferable twat teenager and I remember it got some sneering newspaper coverage after one of the panelists fell asleep on air. It was the first time I'd heard of de Botton, probably his first TV work. Perhaps I'm being super thick/imagining it all, but it seems to have been erased from history, there's nothing on imdb that resembles it for instance... anyone?

 

[jonah]

Alain de Botton makes philosophy sexy

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

I've had Montaigne's essays beside my bed since this thread was started but I just can't get into it/them

 

[outoftheblue]

...but don't let that put you off, hoho...

Ah yeah, apologies for dragging him into a thread about philosophy. I have the blurriest of memories of him -- whatever show I was watching wasn't what you're describing there -- and he mustn't have seemed obnoxious to me when I was 17. Surprising, because I'm sure I disliked more people when I was 17 than I do now.