by Michel de Montaigne, Charles Cotton
Normally I would wait until I have finished a book to write a commentary, however this book is a lot different in that is contains a large collection of essays on a multiple of subjects. Secondly, I have not been reading this book continually, but rather picking it up, reading a few essays, and then...
Montaigne is known as the father of the essay for good reason--he coined the very word for them. An essai is french for attempt--which gives you a sense of Montaigne's style and intent. They're very conversational, as if he's thinking out loud. A little rambling, yes, in the way the conversation wit...
Few things are more humbling that watching exceptional men humble themselves. In his collection of essays, nearly 900 pages long, Montaigne reflects on all things from the greatness of Rome to smells. With unpretentious ease, he references the western classical historians and philosophers who prov...