Montaigne
A Life
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $18.99
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
A definitive biography of the great French essayist and thinker
One of the most important writers and thinkers of the Renaissance, Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) helped invent a literary genre that seemed more modern than anything that had come before. But did he do it, as he suggests in his Essays, by retreating to his chateau, turning his back on the world, and stoically detaching himself from his violent times? In this definitive biography, Philippe Desan, one of the world's leading authorities on Montaigne, overturns this longstanding myth by showing that Montaigne was constantly concerned with realizing his political ambitions—and that the literary and philosophical character of the Essays largely depends on them. The most comprehensive and authoritative biography of Montaigne yet written, this sweeping narrative offers a fascinating new picture of his life and work.
As Desan shows, Montaigne always considered himself a political figure and he conceived of each edition of the Essays as an indispensable prerequisite to the next stage of his public career. He lived through eight civil wars, successfully lobbied to be raised to the nobility, and served as mayor of Bordeaux, special ambassador, and negotiator between Henry III and Henry of Navarre. It was only toward the very end of Montaigne’s life, after his political failure, that he took refuge in literature. But, even then, it was his political experience that enabled him to find the right tone for his genre.
In this essential biography, we discover a new Montaigne—caught up in the events of his time, making no separation between private and public life, and guided by strategy first in his words and silences. Neither candid nor transparent, but also not yielding to the cynicism of his age, this Montaigne lends a new depth to the Montaigne of literary legend.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Desan, an expert on French essayist Michel de Montaigne (1533 1592), takes readers on a detailed yet sweeping journey through the world of one of the Renaissance's most important literary figures. Desan is motivated by what he perceives as an overwhelming scholarly focus on Montaigne's literary innovations, at the expense of sociopolitical context. This is a bold statement that verges on exaggeration. Nonetheless, it makes clear that Desan is as interested in history as biography. In his telling, the Montaigne known to modern writers for popularizing the essay as a genre of expression becomes instead the shrewd politician and statesman familiar to his contemporaries. But Desan does not shy away from Montaigne's development as a writer, delving into the early childhood and later humanist schooling that instilled in him the curiosity that eventually manifested itself in his greatest works. When Montaigne's essays are mentioned in a chapter of their own, the emphasis is not on their contents but rather the tense political climate that surrounded their creation. If this book is read in its entirety which, at nearly 800 pages, is no small task then Montaigne will be seen less as an isolated essayist than a product of a specific, now newly vivid world.
