March 2023
Un beau ténébreux, Julien Gracq, 1945 | How come each Gracq’s book I read becomes my favorite? Well, Le roi pêcheur is still my absolute favorite but this one comes right after. The atmosphere, the tension, everthing is addicting. The writing, so elegant and striking. I really love Julien Gracq you guys.
Philosophie du droit, Jacques Ellul, 2022 | This is a lecture from the 70s given by Ellul to PhD students in Bordeaux. Kinda sad to see that PhD students from that same university are now mainly offered lectures on entrepreneurship and how not to be too depressed during their thesis! About the book itself, just like a lecture, some bits are really interesting and others less. Not too dense, overall a good introduction to law philosophy I think!
Pensées, Blaise Pascal, 1669 | I read this in order to read another book about jansenism and the figure of God in Pascal’s, Racine’s and Kant’s work. I’ll admit I skipped the parts about theology but the first half of the book is really worth reading. Not gonna lie, I wouldn’t have enjoy reading this if not for Goldmann’s book that brings a really interesting light on Pascal’s philosophy!
Le Dieu caché, Lucien Goldmann, 1955 | This book is an analysis of Pascal’s Pensées (and Racine’s tragedies but this is a very short part of the book unfortunately). I really like how it uses concepts and methods from Hegel and Marx to give a really deep and interesting insight on Pascal’s philosophy. The main concept of the book is the concept of “vision du monde” (world view). The author tries to demonstrate that Pascal’s philosophy (and Racine’s tragedies) embodies a tragic world view. The author shows that Pascal’s philosophy is one of paradoxes that cannot be solve in the world, but only in christian heaven. Thus, a never ending suffering for the one that cannot not live in the world where everything is relative and full of contradictions yet aspires to something absolute that can embrace and overtake the contradictions.
Liberté grande, Julien Gracq, 1946 | I was a bit disappointed but not too surprising as I am not usually a fan of prose poetry! Well, I had to have a least favorite Gracq’s piece!
Buddenbrooks, Thomas Mann, 1901 | Second book by Mann that I read and he is slowly but surely becoming an author that I really enjoy. This one is the portrayal of an old and wealthy family declining in a generation or so. The writing is clever, witty, often funny, often touching. Reading it was a ride! It had been a while since I appreciated a book so much for its characters.
La forme d’une ville, Julien Gracq, 1985 | An essay about the French city of Nantes and its role in shaping what is a city for the author. Very poetic essay (very Gracq), as the title suggests : as Baudelaire wrote, “la forme d'une ville change plus vite, hélas ! que le cœur d'un mortel”. It isn’t a description of Nantes as it is (was) but rather an exploration of the city as it exists in Gracq’s memory and mind.