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louisejulig's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
The main founder of the essay form. I made a goal to read the Complete Works in one year, and ended up starting in January 2020. Reading this during a pandemic, when the Black Plague was a reality in Montaigne’s time, was surreal timing. Montaigne can be humorous, tedious, and contradictory, but he never takes himself too seriously. I actually loved the opportunity to sink deep into the 1500s and note that the more things change the more they stay the same. Highly recommended to read Sarah Bakewell’s excellent book , “How to Live: The Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer,” beforehand to give some context.
darwin8u's review
5.0
For me the greatest approbation for a book I've just read is a simple declaration that this is a book I'll read again, and perhaps one that I'll read regularly. This is a desert island work for sure. It (for me) fits into the same mental shelf space as Aurelius Marcus' [b:Meditations|30659|Meditations|Aurelius Marcus|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168080018s/30659.jpg|31010] or Herodotus' [b:The Histories|1362|The Histories|Herodotus|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311645588s/1362.jpg|488198] or Adams' [b:The Education of Henry Adams|1037754|The Education of Henry Adams|Henry Adams|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320437756s/1037754.jpg|3212304]. Some pieces of nonfiction should probably be considered a type of humanist sacred-text. One more book I've got to grab if the house is on fire. One more book I will forever be buying extra copies of so I can fop them off on unprepared friends.
spautz's review
5.0
This massive tome of essays is one of the most interesting things I've ever read -- and probably the longest as well. It's interesting, varied, and fascinating, and although it has its awkward parts I'd rank it as literally life-changing.
The majority of this work is Montaigne's actual Essays: he published three books filled with writings on various topics and thoughts -- from philosophy to history to random musings to 16th century events -- in a new-at-the-time style: somewhere between stream-of-consciousness and structured discussions. (The back cover of my book describes it as "talk", "cultivated discontinuities", "tumbling into anecdotes" -- yet it's also clearly a philosophical work.)
He then revised and expanded the essays each time they were published, resulting in a (to me) almost indescribably interesting and (at times) nearly sublime treatment of a wide variety of random and independent topics -- but not too independent: there are plenty of recurring themes and approaches, and also several stances where you can see his opinion shifting over time.
The essays in the first book are rather scattered and random, but as time progresses they grow deeper and more coherent. By the third book he is clearly influenced to some degree by the knowledge that he's actually writing for an audience, yet his writings still convey his personality and intimate thoughts.
The essays are often quite dense, and I felt like no reading speed was quite appropriate yet all were rewarding: slow and careful deep reading reveals multiple layers of meaning and an amazing web of associations as a single topic is revisited and hinted at (sometimes faintly) from many different perspectives over time; but faster reading revealed its own layer of arcs and conversational rails which I completely missed at my normal reading speed, because the scope was too large for me to see. I often had to go slowly (and keep a dictionary nearby) because the writing is so dense and intricate.
Not all of the essays are all that great, however, and there's definitely no shortage of 16th century thinking: rampant jaw-dropping sexism (and other -isms), ludicrously inaccurate ideas about health and medicine, and no shortage of religious thinking. There's also enough variety to balance some of that out: comments about "the lesser and inferior sex" are mixed with a general philosophy that held people closer to equals than most of society did at the time, some of the stuff about health and medicine is borderline hilarious (like rumors of women turning into men if they jump up and down too forcefully), and there's a healthy attitude of skepticism about (some) things in religion and politics.
There is fairly little commentary, although where the footnotes are present they are very thorough and informative. This is especially present in the travel journal and letters.
The travel journal and letters are considerably less interesting and engaging than the actual essays, and I had a hard time getting as into them -- I don't know if I'd recommend those parts (he spends a lot of time complaining about kidney stones and talking about the various sizes and shapes that come out of him), but the historical perspective they provided was fascinating.
I was somewhat tempted to lower my review because, on the whole, not all of this book really merits 5 stars -- but the parts which are good are truly fantastic. Despite the immense time investment it takes to actually read this cover-to-cover (instead of jumping to the more interesting spots, as seems more common) I want to read this again and again.
The majority of this work is Montaigne's actual Essays: he published three books filled with writings on various topics and thoughts -- from philosophy to history to random musings to 16th century events -- in a new-at-the-time style: somewhere between stream-of-consciousness and structured discussions. (The back cover of my book describes it as "talk", "cultivated discontinuities", "tumbling into anecdotes" -- yet it's also clearly a philosophical work.)
He then revised and expanded the essays each time they were published, resulting in a (to me) almost indescribably interesting and (at times) nearly sublime treatment of a wide variety of random and independent topics -- but not too independent: there are plenty of recurring themes and approaches, and also several stances where you can see his opinion shifting over time.
The essays in the first book are rather scattered and random, but as time progresses they grow deeper and more coherent. By the third book he is clearly influenced to some degree by the knowledge that he's actually writing for an audience, yet his writings still convey his personality and intimate thoughts.
The essays are often quite dense, and I felt like no reading speed was quite appropriate yet all were rewarding: slow and careful deep reading reveals multiple layers of meaning and an amazing web of associations as a single topic is revisited and hinted at (sometimes faintly) from many different perspectives over time; but faster reading revealed its own layer of arcs and conversational rails which I completely missed at my normal reading speed, because the scope was too large for me to see. I often had to go slowly (and keep a dictionary nearby) because the writing is so dense and intricate.
Not all of the essays are all that great, however, and there's definitely no shortage of 16th century thinking: rampant jaw-dropping sexism (and other -isms), ludicrously inaccurate ideas about health and medicine, and no shortage of religious thinking. There's also enough variety to balance some of that out: comments about "the lesser and inferior sex" are mixed with a general philosophy that held people closer to equals than most of society did at the time, some of the stuff about health and medicine is borderline hilarious (like rumors of women turning into men if they jump up and down too forcefully), and there's a healthy attitude of skepticism about (some) things in religion and politics.
There is fairly little commentary, although where the footnotes are present they are very thorough and informative. This is especially present in the travel journal and letters.
The travel journal and letters are considerably less interesting and engaging than the actual essays, and I had a hard time getting as into them -- I don't know if I'd recommend those parts (he spends a lot of time complaining about kidney stones and talking about the various sizes and shapes that come out of him), but the historical perspective they provided was fascinating.
I was somewhat tempted to lower my review because, on the whole, not all of this book really merits 5 stars -- but the parts which are good are truly fantastic. Despite the immense time investment it takes to actually read this cover-to-cover (instead of jumping to the more interesting spots, as seems more common) I want to read this again and again.
sookieskipper's review
5.0
Montaigne is timeless. His essays are the very definition of timeless classics. Though he was more well known as a statesman than an author, his essays laced with personal anecdotes, quotes from Greek classics and offered an every man's perspective to those subjects that have been classically complicated. His subject of interests vary from education of children to smelly people; from solitude to problems with popularity. He isn't being ironic when he calls out noteworthy philosophers. Instead he criticizes his critiques for their ambiguous integrity in recognizing or glossing over statements made by famous philosophers. Montaigne argues that there is an inherent bias attached to the name and the position the person holds in the society.
It is uncanny how Montaigne's words resonate in modern world. He strips humanity of all the frills and deals with the naked vapid stinky pile of goo that we are. Its enthralling to read a classic where the author deftly handle and rebuke the "polite-gestures" as set by the elite society. He makes no apologies for bodily functions or disregard for quaint thought process.
Montaigne has to be part of reading curriculum not just for adults graduating in philosophy but in general. His anecdotes, stories and personal preferences add a touch of humanity that sometimes philosophical texts severely lacks. Reading this at an early age can help putting the world into a perspective. One doesn't need to take themselves so seriously all the time. It is okay to let your hai down and bum on the beach.
But hey, what do I know?
It is uncanny how Montaigne's words resonate in modern world. He strips humanity of all the frills and deals with the naked vapid stinky pile of goo that we are. Its enthralling to read a classic where the author deftly handle and rebuke the "polite-gestures" as set by the elite society. He makes no apologies for bodily functions or disregard for quaint thought process.
Montaigne has to be part of reading curriculum not just for adults graduating in philosophy but in general. His anecdotes, stories and personal preferences add a touch of humanity that sometimes philosophical texts severely lacks. Reading this at an early age can help putting the world into a perspective. One doesn't need to take themselves so seriously all the time. It is okay to let your hai down and bum on the beach.
But hey, what do I know?
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