Scan barcode
A review by brizreading
How to Live: A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at An Answer by Sarah Bakewell
3.0
This was one of those books that I spent several years (!) preparing myself emotionally for, and - God - I really didn't need to. Also, Montaigne would probably not advocate for such reverence.
Basically, what I *imagined* this book to be was a Deep, Meaningful, Philosophical Treatise that would be sort of boring, but would have some awesome, dharma payoff of wisdom, if I just managed to clear my mind/life enough to struggle through it. I imagined it as something akin to The Snow Leopard. Instead, this book is - well - okay, it sort of *is* a Deep, Meaningful, Philosophical Treatise, though it advocates a fierce irreverence and humility in the face of life's big questions.
The book is a biography/hagiography about Montaigne, 16th century French philosopher, who advocated a plain, Soto Zen-style "just sit to sit" humanistic philosophy in a series of essays called, Essays. The funny thing about this book is that it spends a lot of time deconstructing, analyzing and commentating on the Essays, couching them in a chronological journey through Montaigne's small town 16th century France life, and... I've never read the Essays! So yeah. I think this book must have a big payoff for existing Montaigne fans. As a Montaigne intro, it piques the interest, but often left me going, "Maybe I should just read these damn Essays..."
Nonetheless, you do get the JIST of the Essays, and that is that folks should just chill the eff out sometimes (most of the time), and stop allowing themselves to get carried off on flights of seriousness and importance. Montaigne, it seems, was my kinda guy: endlessly equivocal, deeply irreverent, a Stoic with a sense of humor. Sounds great! This type of sensibility (which is basically captured in Italian movies from the commedia all'italiana 1970s period) is very special, indeed.
Basically, what I *imagined* this book to be was a Deep, Meaningful, Philosophical Treatise that would be sort of boring, but would have some awesome, dharma payoff of wisdom, if I just managed to clear my mind/life enough to struggle through it. I imagined it as something akin to The Snow Leopard. Instead, this book is - well - okay, it sort of *is* a Deep, Meaningful, Philosophical Treatise, though it advocates a fierce irreverence and humility in the face of life's big questions.
The book is a biography/hagiography about Montaigne, 16th century French philosopher, who advocated a plain, Soto Zen-style "just sit to sit" humanistic philosophy in a series of essays called, Essays. The funny thing about this book is that it spends a lot of time deconstructing, analyzing and commentating on the Essays, couching them in a chronological journey through Montaigne's small town 16th century France life, and... I've never read the Essays! So yeah. I think this book must have a big payoff for existing Montaigne fans. As a Montaigne intro, it piques the interest, but often left me going, "Maybe I should just read these damn Essays..."
Nonetheless, you do get the JIST of the Essays, and that is that folks should just chill the eff out sometimes (most of the time), and stop allowing themselves to get carried off on flights of seriousness and importance. Montaigne, it seems, was my kinda guy: endlessly equivocal, deeply irreverent, a Stoic with a sense of humor. Sounds great! This type of sensibility (which is basically captured in Italian movies from the commedia all'italiana 1970s period) is very special, indeed.