/r/montaigne
A place to discuss the essays and writings of Michel de Montaigne.
Michel Eyquem de Montaigne,
28 February 1533 - 13 September 1592
"It is an accomplishment, absolute and as it were God-like, to know how to enjoy our being as we ought."
/r/montaigne
Mostly, I find, people skip around and read the essays that appeal to them at the moment. Is this your method for experiencing Montaigne?
I've been approaching randomness from a different angle: the order the essays come in provides a fairly omnivorous line-up of topics, sufficient that shooting straight seems best for me personally.
I'd be interested to know: are you reading Montaigne exclusively? Quickly? Slowly? One a day? As many daily as possible? First time through? Montaigne lifer?
EDIT: wretched typos...
By Sarah Bakewell. Anybody read this?
Two propositions:
You need a good memory to be a liar or you will be entrapped in conflicting stories and discovered.
Lying is the worst offense there is; the faith in each others words is all that binds us together.
Those two propositions are tied together by the narrative thread of Montaigne saying he has a terrible memory, and that has a lot of blessings and fits him for public service. And his friends shouldn't resent his forgetfulness. Then there's the jumble of stories at the end of dukes, kings and popes deceiving each other and being found it.
Have begun reading the Frame translation--seems quite good. Others have recommended Screech however and their advice keeps me wondering if I've made the right choice.
Help?