The Essays
Michel de Montaigne · 1533–1592 · France
Originally Essais (French)
Why it matters
Retired to his tower, a French magistrate tries to write down how his own mind actually works: on friendship, cannibals, cowardice, thumbs, death. The invention of the essay, and still the most companionable book in the Western canon.
At a glance
essay
Difficulty 6/10slow pace1300 pagesDigressive structure and constant classical quotation, though any single essay stands alone.
Deep dive
Why a book with no plot and no ending keeps getting called the most intimate portrait in Western literature, and what its restless, self-interrupting form is actually doing.
Where to go next
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