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Title: Persian Letters (Penguin Classics) by Charles Louis de Secondat Montesquieu, C. J. Betts ISBN: 0-14-044281-2 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: June, 1977 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.33 (6 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Hard to define; easy to enjoy!
Comment: This enlightenment work is hard to peg. In some ways, it is a novel; in some ways a philosophical treatise; in some ways, a 'travelogue'. It works well as all three, to tell the truth.
Montesquieu - who later wrote 'Spirit of the Laws" - published this collection of fictional letters between two Persian brothers roaming Europe, anonymously. And, yes, the book did cause a decent amount of controversey as M was denounced as an unbeliever. To be sure, this book is some of the most thrilling satire on Western European ideosyncracies I've ever seen and, to be fair, christianity - religion in general - is not exempt from M's jibes.
While the novel can be read as quasi-fiction, there is no story line between the letters (161 letters and 6 unpublished fragments in all). Each letter, is more like a condensed essay reflecting on some subject - the nature of governments, some religious tradition, a behavioral trait of a certain people; there are even some letters thrown in from the brothers relatives, wives, and eunuchs pertaining to the goings on in Persia. Truth be told, one could read these letters in a random order and be fine (with exception of a few necessarily linear 'chunks').
All in all, the 'theme' is the quest for universals, as these Persian brothers are seeing the Western world through Persian eyes (hence the ability for satire on Western traditions). While I'm not sure there is an answer made to this question (as Montesquieu is always talking through his characters which may be right or wrong), it is an entertaining effort, and a brilliant encapsulation of some enlightenment ideas, particularly on religion and government. Even his later "Spirit of the Laws" is prefigured here.
Rating: 5
Summary: Persian Letters
Comment: Persian Letters (Lettres Persanes) was first published in 1721 when Montesquieu was 32 years old. The book is about three Persians: Usbek, Rica, and Rhedi, who set out for Europe to study it's manners and institutions. Rhedi stops at Venice, while Usbek and Rica continue on to Paris. Very soon after their departure, there begins a brisk exchange of letters between the Persian visitors, and their wives, servants, and friends at home, as well as between the visitors themselves.One visitor, Usbek, a Persian lord, must keep in close contact with his harem of wives in his seraglio, as well as the eunuchs who guard the wives. When disorders break out in the seraglio, the eunuchs try to restore discipline by administering to two of the wives, "that chastisement which begins by shocking one's modesty, involving the deepest humiliation and takes one back to the time of her childhood." Montesquieu however, uses this framework to comment on a very wide amount of subjects. The book also attacks errors and vices that will last as long as humanity. It is sometimes witty, sometimes profound.
Rating: 4
Summary: A delicious entertainment
Comment: There are many reasons one might choose to read this work, including reasons associated with one's studies at University, or for its historical interest, or for its views on law and justice. But, the compelling reason for me is that it provides a level of elegant discourse with such wit and charm that I would recommend it for its value as an entertainment alone. On the Spanish " Those Spaniards who do not get burnt seemed to be so attached to the Inquisition that it would be churlish to take it away from them.(p156)" On History " Here are the books on modern history. First you will see the historians of the church and the papacy, books which I read for edification, and which often have exactly the opposite effect on me.(p241)" " I observe that people here argue about religion interminably: but it appears that they are competing at the same time to see who can be the least devout.(P.101)" "There is not a single Protestant ruler who does not raise more taxes from his people than the Pope from his subjects; yet the latter are poor, while the former live in opulence. With them, commerce brings everything to life, while with the others monastacism carries death with it everywhere.(p213)" This book in short is a wonderful antidote to the protestations, statements, and self-righteousness of most living politicians and religious leaders. Relax and enjoy.
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Title: Leviathan (Penguin Classics) by Thomas Hobbes, T. Hobbs, C. B. MacPherson ISBN: 0140431950 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: June, 1982 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: The Spirit of Laws (Great Books in Philosophy) by Charles De Secondat, Baron De Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu ISBN: 1573929492 Publisher: Prometheus Books Pub. Date: March, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Letters from a Peruvian Woman (Texts and Translations: Translations, No 2) by Francoise De Graffigny, David Kornacker, Grafigny ISBN: 087352778X Publisher: Modern Language Association of America Pub. Date: December, 1993 List Price(USD): $8.95 |
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Title: The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Maurice Cranston ISBN: 0140442014 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: June, 1968 List Price(USD): $9.00 |
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Title: Montesquieu: The Spirit of the Laws by Charles de Montesquieu, Anne M. Cohler, Basia Carolyn Miller, Harold Samuel Stone, Raymond Geuss, Quentin Skinner ISBN: 0521369746 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 21 September, 1989 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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