Book Review – How We Weep and Laugh at the Same Thing by Michel de Montaigne

A collection of short essays from the man responsible for the essay form. I didn’t think I would enjoy this as much as I did and it stemmed from the length and depth. While not excelling in either, depth being how much Montaigne bolstered his opinions, they were an interesting take of someone writing in the mid-1500s.

Essay 1 – How We Weep And Laugh At The Same Time

From a storyteller’s perspective, this was an interesting one. Montaigne talks about how one can have competing, conflicting, and multiple emotions at the same time. As a result, looking at men in history we shouldn’t just say they had an experience and that experience is one dimension and to say a display of emotion and a comment on a different emotion one would feel at the same time would be a lie – is a shallow and illogical notion. One of the best examples he gives is Julias Caesar holding Pompey’s head and while in victory and against the odds he can still feel sad at the loss of a friend rival and happy at the memories of their time before this moment. An interesting look at what stories were being told at the time.

Essay 2 – On Conscience

He speaks on the understanding that if someone would do something right or wrong it would drive them to bravery (when right) or weakness (when wrong). This one has some interesting points but needed to be flushed out more. I guess if you’re investing the essay that it’s still a work in progress.

Essay 3 – Fortune Is Often Found In Reason’s Train

A very interesting persuasive essay on Fortune (read today as Providence) happens in the world and so much of it that to leave it up to an understanding of blind, random chance seems to undercut the poetic hilarity God provides. Not a bad take from a Frenchman.

Essay 4 – On Punishing Cowardice

Interesting premise on punishing cowardice based on fear and cowardice based on malice. The malice part is quickly dealt with as it seems to engage those who inflict harm or loss. Cowardice based on fear like that of someone going AWOL from the military, Montaigne argues, should be punished in similar fashion. Again, way too short for a topic that would be intriguing for the time and place of the author. However, he gives his opinion and tends to end it with essentially, “that’s that”.

Essay 5 – On The Vanity Of Words

It seems like Montaigne has someone specific in mind as he writes against those who on base their lives on words only rather than action. He argues that one could be intelligent, able to recite deep thinkers, and pull quotes from scholars doesn’t do any good if the follow up isn’t movement in one’s life. Again, too short but a take that is worth exploring – and ripe to be addressed today.

Essay 6 – To Philosophize Is To Learn How To Die

A rollercoaster of emotion here in the vein of Lamentations. Montaigne comes close at times to pronounce everything is “vanity, vanity!” He seems to write his emotional and logical states into this section. He’s focused on death as he fears it and he believes rightly so especially as a learned man. This leads him into a morose opining that death comes for us all and we should be ready. A slight light seems to break as he focuses on the fact that death is the end of the fear of death and only part of the coverage is on an afterlife. He even loops in the fact that death is an experience everyone will take so at least we’ll be in good company. Towards the end he seems to try to cheerily impress upon the read that it’s best not to take death to seriously but the focus on death will lead to freedom from the fear of it.

All the essays are too short for a modern reader. Yet, having 6 short essays from the man who invented the essay and in a different time period and from a different place kept my interest and provided insight to just how similar man has always been and how we’ve wanted to communicate that to others through writing.