On Friendship

On Friendship – Michel de Montaigne

Hmm, I don’t particularly feel up to reviewing this one so I’ll be brief. “On Friendship” is a collection of essays from Montaigne including “On Friendship,” “That it is Madness to Judge the True and False From Our Own Capacities,” “On the Art of Conversation,” “On Idleness,” “On the Affection of Fathers for Their Children,” “On Moderation,” and “That we Should Not be Deemed Happy Till After Our Death.” Quite a range of topics, and he presents rather interesting arguments in each essay. His language is rather dense (these were all written in the 1500s), so it requires more than average (meaning, semi-distracted) effort to focus on what he is saying, but he does make some witty remarks and come to some astute conclusions. More often, though, he makes blatantly sexist and elitist comments about the abilities of different people, but don’t dismiss his arguments outright. Half the enjoyment of reading Montaigne’s essays came from thoughtfully refuting his points. In my head, of course. Reading his essays produces a conversation through active engagement with ideas in the text, which is exactly what books are supposed to do. So maybe don’t read the entire thing in one sitting, but it’s worth reading the essays and considering what he has to say. Or at least the shorter ones.