The Complete Essays of Montaigne

By: Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, Donald M. Frame - translator

Narrated by: Christopher Lane

Length: 49 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's Summary

“A faithful translation is rare; a translation which preserves intact the original text is very rare; a perfect translation of Montaigne appears impossible. Yet Donald Frame has realized this feat. One does not seem to be reading a translation, so smooth and easy is the style; at each moment, one seems to be listening to Montaigne himself - the freshness of his ideas, the unexpected choice of words. Frame has kept everything.” (Andre Maurois, The New York Times Book Review)

©1958 Donald M. Frame (Translation) (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Spend some enjoyable time with Michel de Montaigne

If you could sum up The Complete Essays of Montaigne in three words, what would they be?

Meet yourself here.

What other book might you compare The Complete Essays of Montaigne to and why?

In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust

Both are long, basically autobiographical works. Though Proust is writing a novel, and Montaigne essays (the form he is credited with initiating), both move through the lives, experiences and reflections of the writers referencing contemporary historical events and social environments. The books share a fearless intimacy relative to personal habits, tastes and psychological states as well as generalizations about the nature of humankind.

Surprising to me, both works are quite funny in parts.

What does Christopher Lane bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Christopher Lane is an excellent reader. It's great to listen to the essays while doing menial tasks or relaxing at the end of the day.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

An utter delight for fans of eight hour films

Any additional comments?

Experts seem to concur that Donald Frame's is the best English language translation.

A conversation with a genius!

Where does The Complete Essays of Montaigne rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

As much as I have enjoyed so many audible titles, this is by far the best of all. I will always look back on 2012-13 as my year with Montaigne. I have every intention of picking up a copy of this work (in this translation) as a permanent fixture on my desk.

What did you like best about this story?

Montaigne and I may have some philosophical and thrological disagreements on details but he is the most pleasant of companions.

What about Christopher Lane’s performance did you like?

Throughout the work, Mr Lane allowed Montaigne speak through him

LIFE AND DEATH

Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, a sixteenth century philosopher and writer, wrote and re-wrote “Essays”, originally published in the 1580s. Essay was a new form of writing in the sixteenth century. Montaigne’s subject is the philosophy of life and death.

Montaigne writes his collection of essays while cloistered in a château in southwest France. Donald Frame translates and compiles three volumes of Montaigne’ essays into one book–“The Complete Essays of Montaigne”, first published in 1957. One of the benefits of Frame’s translation is in asides that clarify meaning, place, and person.

Montaigne, born into a family of wealth, affords the luxury of time for personal reflection and contemplation. Aristotle wrote that life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation. In one sense, this quiet life is a weakness in Montaigne’s philosophy. Montaigne reflects on history and ancient times to explain how life should be lived when his life seems a shadow of most people’s reality, the reality of a day-to-day fight for survival. There is reader skepticism about Montaigne’s philosophy based on a 1% versus 99% life of most people. The irony of that skepticism is that Montaigne is consider by some to be the father of skepticism; i.e. believing nothing is proven true by the senses.

"The Complete Essays of Montaigne" is only a brief introduction to a person that lived as one of those rare human beings that "...have a superior perception of reality." If one has a spare 40 hours to listen, "The Complete Essays of Montaigne" offers some fine human insight.

A lifetime companion

I do not advise making this your only book for a while. Download the essays chapter by chapter, listen to one here, one there. They are great contemplations, full of spice, and wonder, and charm, and folk stories. I am still greatly adoring to know that French school girls were told not to play hopscotch or their inner manhood equipment might fall out of their lady regions and they would be boys- wow! People were so inventive with their bullplop. Our quacks should take lessons, the crap our senators and health wonder pill spinsters come out with is so tedious and common by comparison! Montaigne is great to relax to, great to muse over, and the narrator simply feels like the man himself, conjured by seance. I cannot praise him highly enough. A masterful, perfect production from all sides and accounts. I have more to go through, and some of the essays are tedious or stray, but hey, the man invented the essay and this sort of book. Certainly something any ponderer or intelligent person should take time to peruse a little at the very least in their lifetime. Let's not make a dali lhama of Montaigne though. He was not a world-altering genius or anything. This will enrich your life, probably not change it.

Stands next to the Bible and M.A.'s Meditations

For me the greatest approbation for a book I've just read is a simple declaration that this is a book I'll read again, and perhaps one that I'll read regularly. This is a desert island work for sure. It (for me) fits into the same mental shelf space as Marcus Aurelius' Meditations or Herodotus' The Histories or Adams' The Education of Henry Adams. Some pieces of nonfiction should probably be considered a type of humanist sacred-text. One more book I've got to grab if the house is on fire. One more book I will forever be buying extra copies of so I can fop them off on unprepared friends.

Excellent

If you like Shakespeare you'll love Montaigne. Excellent choice or narrator for Montaigne, and a good modern translation.

Easy listening for anyone anywhere

Even thought The Essay was written several hundred years ago. It remains a philosophical guidebook for a fair minded approach in life in the 21st century. The wisdom of Montaigne is tinkling with humors throughout, wonderfully translated by Donald Frame and lively narrated by Lane, all together made this audio book an easy listening for everyone, including non-English listeners.

Timeless and relevant

This audio version is a huge investment of time. I spaced it out over a few months. The narration is the best of all audiobooks I have listened to so far. One gets the sense of listening to a wise friend from centuries ago. I read different English translations of some chapters to aid my understanding. This translation is superior. Montaigne lived a full rich life and gave us the gift of his unashamed inner thoughts. His knowledge of the ancients is astounding. More so, his ability to place context relevant to his time and ours is inspired and inspiring. My only regret is that I wish I had read this earlier in life. Then again the wisdom might have been lost on the younger me. Well worth the time spent and a bargain at twice the price.

Incredible

Simply perfect all the way around. The voice, the author, and the translator couple not have been more perfectly married together to product this audible masterpiece.

If you love Montaigne...

If you love Montaigne, then this review won't matter. All you need to know is that this is a great recording. Go for it (Lucretius).

If you don't know Montaigne, think about getting a book about him or his work. Hit the highlights. Check out a few summaries. Then decide if you're ready for fifty hours of Montaigne. Because we're talking about fifty hours of Montaigne here! That's a lot of Montaigne. I am thinking that if you were to compile every minute of Montaigne talking about his bodily functions or specifics of his anatomy, you'd basically have an audiobook the size of Moby Dick. Pun very intended (Seneca). Or, as another reviewer wisely wrote, take in a little bit of this at a time. Why don't I ever read wise reviewers before I listen? Taken altogether a life's work may seem hypocritical or contradictory even though it just reflects a change of perception that comes naturally with age.

What you're actually getting here is a kind of offbeat free-association of a very intelligent, profoundly eloquent, morbidly verbose and extraordinarily dead man. It is often funny, insightful, hyperbolic, and a little gross. As a life's work it is a masterpiece. As an audiobook, taken in one sitting, it was... pretty good.

a singular experience

Montaigne is a seminal French Renaissance essayist, so the content of this work is both influential but also, in its totality, rather esoteric. Having wanted for years to read the essays, but been daunted by the language and the length, I made the very good choice of listening to them instead, and by that means have been able to engage with them all. It remains something of a marathon because, unlike other long audio-books, there is no "story" to help you along and I did have to rely on systematic creation of bookmarks to ensure smooth progress without inadvertently skipping backwards or forwards.

That said, this is an excellent way to come to grips with and to enjoy Montaigne. Top marks to Christopher Lane who interprets faultlessly everything from erudite translations from Latin to the most graphic physical details, not forgetting all the footnotes. Top marks too to Donald Frame for such a comprehensible translation.

Aided by these two interpreters, Montaigne's work can afford you well over 45 hours of real interest, with only a very small percentage which is now beyond the non-specialist. The immediacy and freshness of his style, the pithiness of his comments, the details we get of his life and that of his family and his famed friend La Boetie, the copious illustration of philosophical precepts with lively, concrete examples, and much more, ensure that the Essays still speak directly to the reader/listener.

Listening to this audiobook is a serious undertaking but it is one which I very much value.

A great way to enjoy a mammoth work

If you could sum up The Complete Essays of Montaigne in three words, what would they be?

Fascinating, resonating, amusing.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Complete Essays of Montaigne?

Essay after essay so much of what Montaigne writes is still relevant today and surprisingly easy to understand/relate to.

Have you listened to any of Christopher Lane’s other performances? How does this one compare?

N/A

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No - it is not the format for that, the individual essays are complete in themselves. You do want to hear the next intriguing view he has but also sometimes you pause to consider that particular thought before heading off to the next one. As a physical book it is something to dip into or it seems too intimidating - as an audio book you feel able to tackle the whole work comfortably!

Montaigne is a joy

I've read a few essays by Montaigne in the past, and enjoyed them - but reading them in there entirety is a fantastic experience. He ranges over seemingly every subject, and his droll humour is a joy. He sparks the mind and sets you on your own flights of imagination - indeed I found myself continually repeating passages as my mind had flown so far I had lost the original thread!
His quotes are always perfect for the subject at hand and he deploys them expertly.
I'm now convinced that if everyone read these essays at least once in their lives, the world would be a much better place.

As for the translation by Frame, I found it erudite and flowing, and his notes extremely helpful.

I cannot recommend this highly enough. In fact I loved it so much I'm planning on reading through again - in a variant translation - as soon as I have had time to properly 'decompress' from this experience.

no index

Is there anything you would change about this book?

very good audiobook, but with no index it's a real drag to navigate this huge work

Incredibly interesting

What did you like best about The Complete Essays of Montaigne? What did you like least?

might turn your brain to mosh if you listen to a lot at once, not easy listening.

What did you like best about this story?

interesting, its dated but I like the philosophical views. I like you can pause between each essay gives you thinking time. I love the way it was written, no one writes like this.

What about Christopher Lane’s performance did you like?

very good

An easy way into the essays

It's very good and the reader goes a great job in holding attention. Would definitely recommend it.

Stunning performance

The magic of Montaigne's Essays - one of the most touching reading experiences a person can have - is rendered in this audiobook by a really good translation and a wonderfully well sustained narration by Christopher Lane. Congratulations for this production, really excellent.

Fantastic book. It should be compulsory reading

It is a fantastic book. Deep and interesting comments by Montaigne, coupled with digressions on various classic scholars. The reading is also superlative. it kept me fully engaged throughout.

Quotations are badly presented.

Montaigne quotes a huge number of classical authors. The name of the author being quoted should be given first, and after it should come the quotation. This would make it easier for the listener to follow Montaigne's arguments. The way the quoted are presented here is sloppy and mindless.