Warren Fournier's Reviews > The Complete Essays

Montaigne strikes me as one of those writers that I would love to have living in our current day. I think we could be friends. He can be self-deprecating and humble, never stubborn because he knows the absolute truth is beyond human comprehension, but hopeful in a greater purpose behind our existence, and he is always curious about anything and everything, which for him can house clues to a greater mystery and a better way for society to engage with this life. And in general, he seems like a very funny guy, one you'd love hanging out at your dinner table sharing a glass of eau de vie.

His "Essays" are a look into the mind and soul of this great thinker. They are a diary of his thoughts about things he has observed or read, things which puzzle him and things which annoy him. He often writes in a stream of consciousness which is tangential and circumstantial, feeling more like a stand-up comedy routine: "And what's up with people doing such and such? Why is this a thing? Who does that!" Montaigne probably had ADD, and he even admits to this fact as best he can, as he lived centuries before any DSM, complaining about how he can't remember jack, and has a hard time focusing. So he rambles on about things that often have no relationship to his supposed subject, and he uncovers more than he discovers, leaving us with a sense of comfort that we are not alone in our fears, wonders, and confusion. In reading Montaigne, we grow to accept and even embrace these mysteries with a healthier approach to life.

In keeping with the comic tradition, Montaigne is truly funny, and sometimes even vulgar. When his wit isn't being sharpened with scepticism and the deconstruction of human customs and behavior, he is wondering why the Romans wiped their asses with a coarse sponge on a stick, quips about cuckholds and impotence, and quotes fart jokes of the ancients.

As an example, he comments on how so many nations have religions that have in common the recommended abstinence from sex and cultural mores that restrict women to behaviors that deny their own sexual needs. He states how these attitudes toward sex causes a lot of neurotic behavior and degrades rather than elevates women and all of society, though he admits that perhaps our sex organs do look a bit silly and perhaps we have good reason to be ashamed, his own "parts" having lately become "shameful and pitiful" as he reaches middle age.

I particularly enjoyed his words regarding our own mortality. He is open and honest about his fear of death, but encourages us all to accept death gracefully as necessary and perhaps even part of the beautiful machine to which we all belong. "All the time you live you steal from life, living at life's expense... No one ever dies before their time. The time you leave behind was no more yours than that which passed before your birth, and concerns you no more."

Now, the "Essays" is one massive book, and I would recommend anyone wishing to experience this masterwork to do one of the following:

1) Read Donald Frame's "Twenty-nine Essays," which selects the best and most representative of these writings. You will truly get a good feel for the work as a whole from this classic collection.

2) Read just a few of the entire "Essays" a day. Do not attempt to speed-read in order to get through all of them. Savor them. Think about them. It might take you all year. You might want to go back and revisit your favorites for the rest of your life. Make notes and highlights on what struck a chord with you and why. Montaigne himself says that he can't remember what he read unless he marks up a book with his own notes and writes his own review about it. I suspect he would have been very active on Goodreads! So follow his example and then compare your notes with how you feel and think several years from now. In that way, this book not only serve as a portal into Montaigne's soul, but a reflection of your own. It's that kind of work.