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Philosophical Letters: Voltaire
In his Philosophical Letters, Voltaire provides a pungent and often satirical assessment of the religion, politics, science, and arts of the England he observed during his nearly three-year exile. In addition to the Letters, this edition provides a translation of Voltaire's "Proposal for a Letter about the English," a general Introduction, chronology, notes, and bibliograp...more
Paperback, 176 pages
Published
June 1st 1961
by Prentice Hall College Div
(first published 1733)
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Mar 01, 2013
Daniel
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
commendable-but-lacking-grit-punch
I found Candide amusing, smart and playful. It excelled in what it was naturally brilliant at, throughout the book from start to finish. And as far as comedies go, which for me, is something exceedingly hard to produce well enough to make me chuckle in spoken word let alone on a page, its fine and dandy. It gave more of an appreciation and connection to the author than the characters roaring from the confines of the ink. After finishing the novel, which is too small for something with so much po...more
Apr 06, 2013
Ensiform
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
french,
non-fiction
Translated, with a rambling introduction and rather sporadic annotation, by one Leonard Tancock. It is a series of epistles to no one in particular, comparing the relatively tolerant and free atmosphere of England of the time (1734), as well as its great men of letters and science (Newton and Locke) to that of France, for the benefit of the French public. The book was banned in France. At the same time, Voltaire satirizes certain foibles of the English nobility, the Quakers, English poetry, etc,...more
Last summer I read a delightful biography of Voltaire (Voltaire Almighty), and after some twenty years since I had read Candide, I decided to read some of his writings. I liked the format and would like to mimic it myself in, say, writing about Pittsburgh. I found the latter part of the book less interesting than the beginning, but it wrapped itself up very nicely. Voltaire comes across very humane, very witty, and consequently very quotable.
Breaks a dimension to the social aspects that prevailed once upon a time in France. Written quite artistically and let's hand it out to the fact that it's Voltaire that we are speaking of, his efforts in gripping the 'lecteur' is absolute :) So far I have thoroughly enjoyed the reasoning skills of the Quakers :)
"There are but few persons, and those of a grotesque taste, who pretend to understand and to esteem this work." Anyone who can skewer Rabelais like this gets my vote. While there were one or two letters I skimmed rather - explanations of Newton's optics, for one - and his judgements on contemporary poets show the foolishness of judging too soon, generally this was a very enjoyable read as well as valuable for building a picture of life at that period. I started this as duty but read it with plea...more
Voltaire writes on various subjects including the history of English religion, innoculations for small pox, the Magna Carta and the House of Lords, merchant culture, the theatre and the history of the greatest minds in England. I found some of this book amazingly interesting while other sections dragged.
Mar 31, 2013
Eddy Allen
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
arts-and-historical
The voice of the Age of Reason remarks on English religion and politics during the early 18th century: Quakers, Church of England, Presbyterians, Anti-Trinitarians, Parliament, government, commerce, plus essays on Locke, Descartes, and Newton. Voltaire's observations on English tolerance sounded a revolutionary note among European readers that resonated long after the book's first publication.
I didn’t know whether to give this one or two stars. The first letters (on religion in England and commerce) were the most interesting, and it quickly went downhill from there. The section on Locke was basically un-readable, and the anti-Semitism that showed through in the final letter on Pascal was a big turn off. And yet . . . Voltaire doesn’t shy away from having and expressing an opinion, which added a breath of life to what would otherwise be extremely dry subject matter.
Read it for History Class... it wasn't so bad if you know the context behind the book, otherwise it would be horrible.
Not for everyone but satisfyingly gets to the guts of Voltaire's beliefs & opinions.
Ugh. Voltaire, you fox.
Voltaire extolls the virtues of England while at the same time poking England in the eye with a sharp stick for holding on to some fairly unreasonable public positions.
A must read for anyone interested in understanding modern western civilization.
A must read for anyone interested in understanding modern western civilization.
Essays on Quakerism are fantastic.
Definitely worth reading for anyone interested in philosophy/early theory. His letters "On the Government", "On the Parliament", and "On Trade" are particularly fascinating because he seems to have an attitude reminiscent of modern capitalist theory, which was being introduced as an economic system at the time of his writings, but would not be discussed at length until Marx in the 19th century.
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"On Tragedy", "On Comedy", and "On Government" are superb essays. The collection is a quick read, full of quick ideas. I enjoyed the book, but it could be a one time only read, albeit, an extraordinary read.
Newton in other light
A neat primary source. I really enjoyed his insights on the English people and their institutions.
Who needs Tom Wolfe when there was Voltaire?
philosophy,history,enlightenment,nonfiction
Moderately amusing.
Edition irrelevant.
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François-Marie Arouet, better known by the pen name Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, essayist, deist and philosopher known for his wit, philosophical sport, and defense of civil liberties, including freedom of religion and free trade.
Voltaire was a prolific writer, and produced works in almost every literary form, authoring plays, poetry, novels, essays, historical and scientific works...more
More about Voltaire...
Voltaire was a prolific writer, and produced works in almost every literary form, authoring plays, poetry, novels, essays, historical and scientific works...more
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