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Reviews
How to Live: A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at An Answer by Sarah Bakewell
shaneboyar's review against another edition
At this point, I will read anything Sarah Bakewell writes.
ktymick's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
"Twenty first century people, in the developed world, are already individualistic to excess, as well as entwined with one another to a degree beyond the wildest dreams of a sixteenth century winegrower. His sense of the 'I' in all things may seem a case of preaching to the converted, or even feeding drugs to the addicted. But Montaigne offers more than an incitement to self indulgence. The twenty first century has everything to gain from a Montaignean sense of life, and in its most troubled moments so far, it has been sorely in need of a Montaignean politics. It could use his sense of moderation, his love of sociability and courtesy, his suspension of judgment, and his subtle understanding of the psychological mechanisms involved in confrontation and conflict. It needs his conviction that no vision of heaven, no imagined Apocalypse, and no perfectionist fantasy can ever outweigh the tiniest selves in the real world. It is unthinkable to Montaigne that one could ever 'gratify heaven and nature by committing massacre and homicide, a belief universally embraced in all religions.' To believe that life could demand any such thing is to forget what day-to-day existence actually is. It entails forgetting that, when you look at a puppy held over a bucket of water, or even at a cat in the mood for play, you are looking at a creature who looks back at you. No abstract principles are involved; there are only two individuals, face to face, hoping for the best from one another."
brodeheim's review
5.0
I'm fluent in English now, but growing up, whenever I don't get a book, I would assume my comprehension was lacking (as it often was the case). Now thanks to Bakewell, I've learnt that Montaigne is just this meandering writer and I wasn't the one who lost it. After enjoying Bakewell's incredible recounting of his life and the "canal of minds" that fed from his work, I would sum up Montaigne's philosophy as "I'm just a dude." Which is to be honest pretty refreshing.