How to Live
-On the longlist for the 2022 ‘Chartis’ Magazine Awards
Sarah Bakewell’s book is arguably the best popular introduction to Montaigne. With accessible and engaging writing, Bakewell carefully reads Montaigne’s essays, describes aspects of his life and shares with us the essence of her thinking.
Sarah Bakewell’s book is arguably the best popular introduction to Montaigne. With accessible and engaging writing, Bakewell carefully reads Montaigne’s essays, describes aspects of his life and shares with us the essence of her thinking.
How do we get on well with others? How do we cope with grief? How do we deal with our imperfections and mistakes? How do we avoid being swept away by the force of habit? How do we think and feel? How do we find joy? These are some of the many questions that arise in our lives.
The question ‘How should we live?’ particularly preoccupied Michel de Montaigne, who does not turn to philosophy or fiction to draw life lessons, but to self-observation. He observes and carefully records himself: his desires, his actions, his emotions and his thoughts. He is, one might say, an anthropologist of his own self. By exploring his inner world in a simple, everyday way, it is as though he is describing each and every one of us, exploring the unity of human experience behind its multiplicity.
‘Reading Montaigne, I discover myself,’ Pascal once said. Montaigne does not create a system of thought; he writes by testing his own thoughts, hence the term ‘essays’ which he established.
The book is part of the series of philosophical texts ‘Stochastikos Bios’ edited by Charidimos K. Tsoukas.
- Pages: 592
- ISBN: 978-960-572-532-7
- Publication: 2022
- Date of publication: 14/11/2022
- Dimensions: 13.8 x 20.4 εκ.
- Categories: Books, Biographies & Personal Narratives, Humanities & Social Sciences, Biographies, Φιλοσοφία
"Η Sarah Bakewell πραγματεύεται την ανθρώπινη εμπειρία μέσα από τη ζωή και τη σκέψη του φιλοσόφου Μισέλ ντε Μοντέν. Ακούγεται περίπλοκο αλλά στην πραγματικότητα είναι ένα εξαιρετικά ενδιαφέρον αλλά και αρκετά προσιτό βιβλίο."
– Σίμος Καβαλιεράτος, Περιοδικό Κ
"...Κάθε σελίδα και μια εμπειρία, μια γοητευτική περιήγηση στον κόσμο των βιωμάτων. Η μετάφραση του Βαγγέλη Προβιά εξαιρετική."
– Ανθούλα Δανιήλ, Diastixo.gr"Το εξαιρετικό βιβλίο της Σάρα Μπέικγουελ φροντίζει με ένα απολαυστικό πραγματικά τρόπο να μας εισαγάγει στον κόσμο του Μονταίνιου ωθώντας μας ταυτόχρονα να αναζητήσουμε στις βιβλιοθήκες μας, ή στο κοντινότερο βιβλιοπωλείο, τα «Δοκίμια» του Μονταίνι."
– Άρης Σφακιανάκης, Athens VoiceSarah Bakewell
Sarah Bakewell was a curator at the Wellcome Library, responsible for the early printed books, before becoming a full-time writer and publishing her widely acclaimed books *The Smart* and *The English Dane*. She lives in London, where she teaches creative writing at City University and catalogues the National Trust’s collections of places of historical interest and natural beauty.
