“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 ...
“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.” –New York Times Book Review
Product Description
(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)
Humanist, skeptic, acute observer of himself and others, Michel de Montaigne (1533—92) was the first to use the term “essay” to refer to the form he pioneered, and he has remained one of its most famous practitioners. He reflected on the great themes of existence in his wise and engaging writings, his subjects ranging from proper conversation and good reading, to the raising of children and the endurance of pain, from solitude, destiny, time, and custom, to truth, consciousness, and death. Having stood the test of time, his essays continue to influence writers nearly five hundred years later.
Also included in this complete edition of his works are Montaigne’s letters and his travel journal, fascinating records of the experiences and contemplations that would shape and infuse his essays. Montaigne speaks to us always in a personal voice in which his virtues of tolerance, moderation, and understanding are dazzlingly manifest.
Donald M. Frame’s masterful translation is widely acknowledged to be the classic English version.
He was gradually discovering the true and endless subject of his work: himself. He found that the exploration of this absorbing subject relieved his depression, and that the continued exploration of its complexities had its effect in changing the subject. He was gradually becoming less strict in his moral views and less interested in stoic and ancient virtues, more tolerant of his own inconsistencies, more diffuse and easygoing both in his writing and in his life. (查看原文)
For like actors in a comedy - you see them on the stage assume the mien of a duke or an emperor, but immediately afterward, there they are, turned back into miserable valets and porters, which is their natural and original condition - so the emperor, whose pomp dazzles you in public -see him behind the curtain: he is nothing but an ordinary man, and perhaps viler than the least of his subjects. (查看原文)
读完没什么明确的启发，但很享受这样的写作——娓娓道来而滔滔不绝，是现代作家难以想象的方式。相比散文，其实更像相声贯口，随着思路流到哪个地方，就千八百篇地背诵起来。”O what a vile and abject thing is man, if he does not raise himself above humanity.” (555)
Donald Frame 译者
3 有用 Caesura 2010-04-13 12:41:46
看来那个年代只有蒙田能把自己的胆结石和排大便写个五六页
2 有用 Keto 2013-03-25 13:33:22
重印的Frame，还是老问题，蒙田的引文都直接翻译成了英文，没有原文（这其实倒还不是很有所谓），关键是引文没有标明出处，对于不懂法文不能看各种考订本的同学来说，多少还是有点不友好吧。虽然译文质量可能稍逊，但还是觉得Screech的本子更好一点。
0 有用 Whimsicat 2023-03-07 08:13:07 加拿大
读完没什么明确的启发，但很享受这样的写作——娓娓道来而滔滔不绝，是现代作家难以想象的方式。相比散文，其实更像相声贯口，随着思路流到哪个地方，就千八百篇地背诵起来。”O what a vile and abject thing is man, if he does not raise himself above humanity.” (555)
0 有用 Joyceulysses 2018-04-10 02:02:03
我大概是被形而上学洗脑了，读不来。。。
0 有用 有毒可食用菇 2024-04-02 06:25:20 美国
在英译 中古法语 现代法语之间横跳 然后知道老师也是之后 我放心了😌