Although this audiobook is long enough for a cross-country drive, it is better consumed in small chunks, one essay at a time. While Peter Wickham’s friendly, conversational tone is easy to listen to, the essays themselves may require some thought. Some of them will also require knowledge of the classical world of Montaigne’s education. (How many people today are familiar with Epaminondas?) Wickham keeps the text from becoming dry or unemotional, but this is a work deeply embedded in the French Renaissance and the Counter-Reformation, which may limit its appeal. Wickham’s performance is fine, but the work may be of serious interest only to a range of specialists. D.M.H. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
In 1572, Montaigne - nobleman, humanist, and thoroughly Renaissance man - retired to the seclusion of his estate in the Dordogne and started to write. From his pen poured a stream of `essays' - attempts to capture the observations that came to him on an idiosyncratic range of subjects, from ancient customs, cannibals and books to thumbs, war-horses and the wearing of clothes. He made the study of himself the starting point for investigations into how to live, and wrote with a startlingly modern candour about love, grief, friendship, sex and death. His voice, by turns lively, curious, digressive, ironic and moving, is utterly captivating. The Essays feel less like a work of literature and more like an ongoing conversation with a very well-informed friend.
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The Complete Essays
In 1572, Montaigne - nobleman, humanist, and thoroughly Renaissance man - retired to the seclusion of his estate in the Dordogne and started to write. From his pen poured a stream of `essays' - attempts to capture the observations that came to him on an idiosyncratic range of subjects, from ancient customs, cannibals and books to thumbs, war-horses and the wearing of clothes. He made the study of himself the starting point for investigations into how to live, and wrote with a startlingly modern candour about love, grief, friendship, sex and death. His voice, by turns lively, curious, digressive, ironic and moving, is utterly captivating. The Essays feel less like a work of literature and more like an ongoing conversation with a very well-informed friend.
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Product Details
BN ID: | 2940177426877 |
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Publisher: | Naxos Audiobooks |
Publication date: | 07/31/2021 |
Edition description: | Unabridged |
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