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How to Live: A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at An Answer by Sarah Bakewell
topquark19's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
ericfheiman's review against another edition
3.0
I am not a fan or regular reader of historical non-fiction, so I give How To Live credit for holding my interest through most of the book. The novelty here is answering the question "How to Live?" in ways related to Montaigne as an underlying narrative structure. Even if some chapters end up being more resonant and profound than others in their chronicling and assessment of Montaigne's life, the point that his writings still have their applications today is never in doubt.
nightchough's review against another edition
3.0
A must-read for anyone who has enjoyed Montaigne's Essays, to learn more about the author and his times.
Bakewell has an obvious sympathy for Montaigne and his work and gives her own experience with them in an unobtrusive way. She does a very good job of setting context, describing the society Montaigne was in, and his own professional history.
I enjoyed this quite a bit but wonder how much less I would have, without having read Montaigne first.
Bakewell has an obvious sympathy for Montaigne and his work and gives her own experience with them in an unobtrusive way. She does a very good job of setting context, describing the society Montaigne was in, and his own professional history.
I enjoyed this quite a bit but wonder how much less I would have, without having read Montaigne first.
sujuv's review
4.0
I knew almost nothing about Montaigne before reading this book, an insightful and entertaining look into the man, his essays, and his legacy for following generations. While it didn't have as much of an impact on me as her book about the existentialists - likely because that took place in the 20th century and encompassed historical figures and events more familiar to me - this book took me to 16th century France and into the life of a surprisingly modern man whose ideas about "how to live" resonate today.
judeamorris's review against another edition
5.0
I just wanted to know a little bit about Montaigne after having explored Marcus Aurelius and the Stoics. Instead, I devoured this book. Blakewell's writing rather than being dryly academic (I'm used to wading through that stuff in my research) was conversational, explanatory in modern terms, and highly readable. I came away enlightened rather than simply informed. Looking forward to more of Blakewell's work.
annevoi's review against another edition
5.0
This book has everything: philosophy, biography, history, criticism, motion, fascination. Ostensibly the story of the original essayist Montaigne (1533–1592) himself, it is organized in such a way that Bakewell can take elegant detours without losing the reader. The "twenty attempts at an answer" to the very basic question of "how to live" all come from Montaigne's thoughts and writing, but she uses them to also explore sixteenth-century French history (and what a period it was, marked by religious warfare and the plague); the editorial history of his Essays themselves, from Montaigne's own obsessive rewrites straight into present-day scholarship; Montaigne's influences among Classical writers and philosophers, especially the Stoics, Skeptics, and Epicureans; his admirers and detractors through the centuries. In straight biography, the book covers his childhood and youth, his marriage and home life, his travels through Europe, his famous loving friendship with Étienne de La Boétie, his political career as both mayor of Bordeaux and advisor to kings, his death. But all that is woven into a more general exploration of, simply, how to live.
I loved this book.
I loved this book.
dogfood's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.0
Did not finish.
Ich weiß nicht wie und wo, aber irgendwie hatte ich aufgeschnappt, dass Sarah Bakewell in diesem Buch die Essays von Montaigne auf unsere heutige Zeit überträgt und fragt, was wir daraus für unser Handeln ableiten können.
Ja, so ein bisschen passiert das auch. Der Einstieg des Buches erweist sich als interessante Mischung aus Biographie von Montaigne und seiner Zeit und den Essays-Inhalten Montaignes zu einem Themenschwerpunkt.
Aber im Laufe der Zeit ist es mir zu repetitiv geworden. Irgendwo in der Mitte des Buches kam bei mir das Gefühl auf, dass es nicht mehr zu Montaigne und zu seinen Essays zu sagen gibt. Und das war der Moment, wo ich mich nicht mehr weiter durchquälen wollte.
Ich weiß nicht wie und wo, aber irgendwie hatte ich aufgeschnappt, dass Sarah Bakewell in diesem Buch die Essays von Montaigne auf unsere heutige Zeit überträgt und fragt, was wir daraus für unser Handeln ableiten können.
Ja, so ein bisschen passiert das auch. Der Einstieg des Buches erweist sich als interessante Mischung aus Biographie von Montaigne und seiner Zeit und den Essays-Inhalten Montaignes zu einem Themenschwerpunkt.
Aber im Laufe der Zeit ist es mir zu repetitiv geworden. Irgendwo in der Mitte des Buches kam bei mir das Gefühl auf, dass es nicht mehr zu Montaigne und zu seinen Essays zu sagen gibt. Und das war der Moment, wo ich mich nicht mehr weiter durchquälen wollte.
ribeirofrio's review against another edition
2.0
Era un libro consigliato da Nick Hornby, e mi è proprio venuta voglia di capire di cosa si trattasse, avendo solo una vaga idea di chi fosse Montaigne.
Questo libro forse non è un buon punto di partenza per gli ignari come me, visto che l'autrice tratta la biografia in via discontinua, facendo riferimento a fatti che vengono menzionati qualche capitolo dopo, e trattando la critica testuale non in ordine cronologico, ma di importanza, saltando dall'Illuminismo ai contemporanei di Montaigne con poco preavviso.
Il quadro che ne emerge è abbastanza noioso e caotico, che forse non rende giustizia né a Montaigne né al lavoro di Bakewell.
Questo libro forse non è un buon punto di partenza per gli ignari come me, visto che l'autrice tratta la biografia in via discontinua, facendo riferimento a fatti che vengono menzionati qualche capitolo dopo, e trattando la critica testuale non in ordine cronologico, ma di importanza, saltando dall'Illuminismo ai contemporanei di Montaigne con poco preavviso.
Il quadro che ne emerge è abbastanza noioso e caotico, che forse non rende giustizia né a Montaigne né al lavoro di Bakewell.
hagbard_celine's review against another edition
3.0
In retrospect, it probably would have been better to just go read Montaigne.