French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. Compagnon, Summer with Montaigne
Writers: Biography, Letters and Memoirs
Bibliographic reference: A. Compagnon, Summer with Montaigne, Éditions des équateurs, 2013. EAN13: 9782849902448.
Antoine Compagnon, Summer with Montaigne
Paris: Éditions des équateurs, 2013.
EAN 9782849902448.
Price 12EUR
Publisher's overview:
“People would be stretched out on the beach or sipping an aperitif, getting ready for lunch, and they would hear people chatting about Montaigne on the radio. When Philippe Val asked me to talk about the Essays on France Inter during the summer—just a few minutes each weekday—the idea seemed so bizarre and the challenge so risky that I didn't dare turn it down. First of all, reducing Montaigne to excerpts went against everything I had been taught, against the prevailing views of my student days. Back then, people denounced the traditional morality drawn from the Essays in the form of aphorisms, advocating instead a return to the text in all its complexity and contradictions. Anyone who had dared to chop up Montaigne and serve him in pieces would have been immediately ridiculed, treated as a minus habens, and cast into the dustbin of history as an avatar of Pierre Charron, author of A Treatise on Wisdom made up of maxims borrowed from the Essays. Breaking such a taboo, or figuring out how to bypass it, was a tempting provocation. Secondly, choosing some forty passages of just a few lines to briefly gloss them, highlighting both their historical depth and contemporary relevance, seemed an impossible gamble. Should I pick the pages at random, like Saint Augustine opening the Bible? Ask an innocent hand to point them out? Or gallop through the great themes of the work? Give an overview of its richness and diversity? Or simply stick to some of my favorite fragments, without caring about unity or exhaustiveness? I did all of that at once, without order or premeditation. Finally, taking to the airwaves at the hour of Lucien Jeunesse—to whom I owe the best part of my adolescent culture—was an offer I couldn't refuse.” In 40 chapters, Antoine Compagnon interprets Montaigne in a clear, lucid, and witty manner, covering everything from political commitment to the throne of the world, via conversation and education. A professor at the Collège de France and a renowned specialist in autobiography, he introduces us to a summery Montaigne who allows us to tan our souls.
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See also: A short text by Antoine Compagnon on The Essays breaks sales records. Decoding an unexpected bestseller. By Th. Clermont, lefigaro.fr 9/8/13.
Originally conceived as a series of short radio broadcasts for France Inter, this book adapts rigorous academic scholarship for a broad, curious audience. Antoine Compagnon approaches Michel de Montaigne's sixteenth-century masterpiece not as a monolithic philosophical system, but as a dynamic companion for daily life. By examining selected passages without rigid chronological order, the author highlights the enduring relevance of Renaissance humanism, inviting readers to reflect on modern concerns through the lens of early modern skepticism, personal introspection, and the art of conversation.
This accessible volume bridges the gap between specialized literary criticism and leisure reading, making it a valuable resource for students, educators, and general enthusiasts of French literature. It offers fresh entry points into the Essays, encouraging deeper engagement with themes such as education, politics, and self-knowledge. Scholars of autobiography and sixteenth-century thought will appreciate the author's nuanced perspective, while newcomers will find an inviting introduction to one of the most influential figures in intellectual history.