
How to Live
Or a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer
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Narrated by:
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Davina Porter
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By:
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Sarah Bakewell
National Book Critics Circle Award, Biography, 2011
This question obsessed Renaissance writers, none more than Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, perhaps the first recognizably modern individual. A nobleman, public official, and winegrower, he wrote free-roaming explorations of his thought and experience, unlike anything written before. He called them essays, meaning “attempts” or “tries.” He put whatever was in his head into them: his tastes in wine and food, his childhood memories, the way his dog’s ears twitched when it was dreaming, as well as the appalling events of the religious civil wars raging around him. The Essays was an instant best seller and, over four hundred years later, Montaigne’s honesty and charm still draw readers to him. They come in search of companionship, wisdom, and entertainment - and in search of themselves.This book, a spirited and singular biography, relates the story of Montaigne’s life by way of the questions he posed and the answers he explored. It traces his bizarre upbringing, his youthful career and sexual adventures, his travels, and his friendships with the scholar and poet Étienne de La Boétie and with his adopted “daughter,” Marie de Gournay. And we also meet his readers - who for centuries have found in Montaigne an inexhaustible source of answers to the haunting question, “How to live?”
©2011 Brilliance Audio, Inc. (P)2010 Sarah BakewellListeners also enjoyed...




















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The narrator
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A wonderful tale of his life and writings.
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Probably one of the best history reads
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Interesting and in parts Inspired.
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Myself, I choose Montaigne'a cat...
Schrodinger or Montaige's cat? You choose…
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it is much more than a simple review or sample of " the essays "
the book's unique benefit comes from a sly and deeper approach
sarah bakewell tries to answer the question of how to live
to do this she shows us just how michel de montaigne lived
how could 1500's france have given rise to such a modern soul ?
a world of endless religious & political turmoil / concern about a plague
the burden of inherited comfort and position and expectations
a loveless marriage / the death of one's only true male friend
life was clearly too much for montaigne and he retreated
he feared losing his own soul and the essays were his attempt to find it
hello ! / any of this sound familiar to a modern reader ?
how can we find serenity in a world beyond our control ?
can courage and wisdom be found to know where we can make a difference ?
sarah bakewell reaches back 500 years for a very good answer
how to live ? / how he lived !
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A meandering masterpiece
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has deepened my appreciation of the man and his magnum opus.
It would be a wiser and better world were all of humanity to read both How To Live, and its subject’s essays.
How to live? Read Sarah Bakewells Life of Montaigne, then Montaigne himself.
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A wonderful book about how to live one's life
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Editor Needed
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