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Jacques the Fatalist and the Master

by Denis Diderot, David Coward (Translator)

3.86 · rating details · 820 ratings · 56 reviews

Jacques the Fatalist is a provocative exploration of the problems of human existence, destiny, and free will. In the introduction to this brilliant translation, David Coward explains the philosophical basis of Diderot's fascination with fate and examines the experimental and influential literary techniques that make Jacques the Fatalist a classic of the Enlightenment.
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Paperback, 258 pages

Published June 1st 2009 by Oxford University Press, USA (first published 1778)

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Jan 05, 2012

Paquita Maria Sanchez rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: literature, invisible-pink-unicorn

Master: Do you pray?
Jacques: Sometimes
Master: And what do you say?
Jacques: I say: "Thou who mad'st the Great Scroll, whatever Thou art, Thou whose finger hast traced the Writing Up Above, Thou hast known for all time what I needed, Thy will be done. Amen."
Master: Don't you think you would do just as well if you shut up?

It is often too easy for me to forget that high humor and religious cynicism are not new developments within the realm of published ...moreMaster: Do you pray?
Jacques: Sometimes
Master: And what do you say?
Jacques: I say: "Thou who mad'st the Great Scroll, whatever Thou art, Thou whose finger hast traced the Writing Up Above, Thou hast known for all time what I needed, Thy will be done. Amen."
Master: Don't you think you would do just as well if you shut up?

It is often too easy for me to forget that high humor and religious cynicism are not new developments within the realm of published fiction. On top of that, as much as we readers here about "pomo trickery" and meta-humor, these terms--often used as insults akin to calling someone "trendy"--are generally associated with literature no more than a century old. Well, to all you pomos and popomos: allow me to introduce you to Denis Diderot. He is your metatastic brother from another great-great-great-great-great-grandmother. At some point before his death in 1784, he composed Jacques the Fatalist (in some editions titled Jacques the Fatalist and His Master, an arguably better name because of the fact that it directly references the text's play on character power dynamics). 1784. Remember that.

This "novel", written in the stage play style seen above combined with frequent asides by an omniscient, brassy narrator, tells the story of real-life-storytelling as depicted in written form. Diderot breaks down the common motifs of the stock "novel", holding its cliches in one hand and the reality of conversing with other human beings in the other. The dialogue is the same interrupted, rambling, endless swirl of words that we tend to find in actual attempts at expressing ourselves verbally either one-on-one or in groups. Therefore, stories are begun and left unfinished, people are cut off, corrected, and reprimanded, and plot possibilities are dangled in front of the reader and left to his or her own particular devices, all while our playful, snarky narrator reminds us that there is no way we can know for a fact one way or another if he is being truthful, so why put stock in him or the story/stories in the first place? The book constantly re-references, repeats, mirrors/distorts, and criticizes itself in a way that calls to question all creative interpretations of reality due--amongst other things--to the biases reader, storyteller, and subject bring into the telephone game that is relaying information in a meaningful way. And it is amazingly funny while doing so. I would be willing to bet my lunch money that Charlie Kaufman is a huuuuge Diderot fan.

To go back to my earlier point...if you are religiously inclined, I would stay away from this book unless you are of a mind to read eloquently expressed, harshly stated opinions which conflict with your own. It is no secret that Diderot was a spiteful sort about organized religion, and he uses Jacques and his insistence on Predestination as means to excuse his debauchery (along with every other spiritual figure in the story, each of which is almost more corrupt than basically every non-religious character within this fictional realm) as a means to highlight the hypocrisy, escapism, and general slovenliness he saw in default spiritual beliefs. Proceed with caution, as this one does bite.

This story was a bit of an awakening for me. It may be the oldest piece of literature I have read which embraced meta-humor to such an extreme. As I previously stated, I tend to let myself think that this sort of thing is a new-ish development, a product of information over-saturation or something. However, Jacques the Fatalist is one of the most self-aware, admittedly (even brazenly) self-critical, and quite frankly hilarious novels about novel writing and reading that I have ever read. It constantly stops to reflect on itself, jarring you with by repeatedly pointing out that this is not an escape, this is not a reality, this is a story about stories within stories within stories, and you are reading it right now. The tangled mess that it eventually becomes reminded me in many ways of THIS bit of genius. (less)

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Sep 24, 2011

MJ Nicholls rated it

Shelves: novels, je-suis-désolé

For those exhausted or defeated by Tristram Shandy, here is a precursor to the postmodern novel that packs in more incident, philosophy, bitching and warm humour in its 237 pages than most modern avant-garde writers manage in a whole corpus. Jacques—the titular Fatalist—attempts to recount the tale of his “first loves” while accompanying his Master on a series of oblique misadventures that invariably end up as digressions and more digressions. All postmodern tricks—stories-within-stories, frame...more

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Feb 11, 2009

yellow tree rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: cogitating people

Recommended to yellow tree by: my mother

Shelves: prose

this book really has something. its style is as innovative now as it was in diderot's time, and the ideas being articulated, then ground-breaking, are still worth some thoughts. for a work of this age, it's surprisingly easy to be read, and the difficulties arise from elsewhere then expected. the storyline is permanently interrupted by stories, dialogues, and the narrator, suddenly starting to talk to the reader about the trustworthiness of the former reports, so sometimes it's hard to reorienta...more

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Feb 02, 2009

Gabriel rated it

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Much is made of Diderot's rather bald appropriations from Sterne's "Tristram Shandy." Diderot made no secret of it-- his book is, in many ways, the Dionysian face of that book (! if that can be said with a straight face). Just look at Sterne's material-- war, and the wounds that result; Diderot, on the other hand, skips lightly past the battlefield to the real seat of Uncle Toby's wound, the heart, and its battles.* As such, Jacques put me more in mind of "The Decameron," or ...more

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Oct 19, 2007

علی rated it

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I read this first when I read Kundera's "Jaques and His Master"(1971) and his higly recommendation on Diderot. I'm a bit cautious when it comes to Classics and big shots! don't know what to say / write! What I could say is that without Kundera's description on Diderot's work, I was possibly not able to get the esense of this magnificent work.
جالب تر آن که بدانیم، "دنیس دیدرو" کتاب مشهورش "ژاک قدری و اربابش" را در بحبوحه ی انقلاب نوشت و منتشر کرد. شخصیت این رما...more

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Jan 13, 2011

مريم شهریاری rated it

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Shelves: رمان

بهتره درباره نویسنده چیزی نخونید و بعد از تموم کردم کتاب مشخصات نویسنده رو ببینید. اون وقت هست که حسابی متعجب می‌شید وقتی می‌فهمید این کتاب رو یه نویسنده قرن هجدهمی نوشته.
اگر اهل خوندن کتاب‌های ایتالو کالوینو بوده باشید احتمالاً نوع نوشتار و زبان راویان کتاب شما رو یاد کتاب‌های این نویسنده می‌ندازه. نوع نوشتار "اگر شبی از شب‌های زمستان مسافری" رو به یادتون میاره و طنز موجود در کلام شخصیت‌ها و راوی "سه گانه نیاکان ما". اون وقت ممکنه توقع داشته باشید که این نویسنده هم ایت...moreبهتره درباره نویسنده چیزی نخونید و بعد از تموم کردم کتاب مشخصات نویسنده رو ببینید. اون وقت هست که حسابی متعجب می‌شید وقتی می‌فهمید این کتاب رو یه نویسنده قرن هجدهمی نوشته.
اگر اهل خوندن کتاب‌های ایتالو کالوینو بوده باشید احتمالاً نوع نوشتار و زبان راویان کتاب شما رو یاد کتاب‌های این نویسنده می‌ندازه. نوع نوشتار "اگر شبی از شب‌های زمستان مسافری" رو به یادتون میاره و طنز موجود در کلام شخصیت‌ها و راوی "سه گانه نیاکان ما". اون وقت ممکنه توقع داشته باشید که این نویسنده هم ایتالیایی بوده باشه. ولی وقتی می‌بینید نویسنده فرانسوی هست و تو قرن 18 میلادی هم این رمان رو نوشته باز تعجب می‌کنید.
حتی ممکنه اسم مترجم هم براتون آشنا باشه. اما باز توصیه می‌کنم چیزی دربارش نخونید و بگذارید که بعداً بفهمید که این خانم همون کسی هست که کوری رو هم ترجمه کرده.

البته تعجب‌ها و تحسین‌هایی که این کتاب در وجود شما ایجاد می‌کنه به همین جا ختم نمیشه. داستان در ظاهر قرار هست داستانی باشه درباره عشق و عاشقی‌های ژاک که برای اربابش تعریف می‌کنه. اما نویسنده با چنان مهارتی داستان‌های با ربط و بی ربط دیگه رو توی متن قرار میده و چنان دیالوگ‌هایی بین کاراکترها میذاره که یه جاهایی حس می‌کنید باید برای احترام گذاشتن به این نویسنده و این پردازش قوی ذهنش چند لحظه‌ای کتابش رو ببندید و بایستید و بهش احترام بگذارید. هر چند خیلی جاها هم اینقدر مشتاق شنیدن داستانی که بعد از بارها وقفه دوباره از سر گرفته شده هستید که اگر ببینید باز هم حیله‌ای سر راهتون قرار داده شده برای تعریف نکردن اون داستان اصلی و گفتن داستانی فرعی، توانایی اینو دارید که فحش رو بکشید به نویسنده و برای همیشه قید تموم کردن این کتاب رو بزنید! البته مطمئن باشید این حالت شما بیشتر از چند ساعت ادامه پیدا نمی‌کنه و وسوسه می‌شید و باز کتاب رو برمی‌دارید و ادامه می‌دید.

ژاک و اربابش تازه با هم آشنا شدن و آغاز به سفر کردن. ارباب آدمی هست که دوست داره داستان بشنوه و ژاک هم مثلاً نوکری که دوست داره حرف بزنه. چه چیزی بهتر از این؟ ژاک نظرش درباره اتفاقات زندگی رو که از فرمانده‌ش یاد گرفته رو بیان می‌کنه و میگه که هر اتفاقی که توی مسیر زندگی براش میفته اون بالا توی طومار بزرگ نوشته شده و قابل تغییر نیست. برای همین نه از چیزی شاد میشه و نه از چیزی ناراحت. اما داستان به این سادگی پیش نمیره که ژاک و اربابش همش در حال اسب سواری و طی مسیر باشند و ژاک هم بتونه راحت داستانش رو برای اربابش تعریف کنه. باید با ژاک طناز و فیلسوف و اربابش همراه بشید تا بفهمید چه اتفاقاتی سر راهشونه.

ژاک قضا و قدری و اربابش رو باید خوند و تحسین کرد هوش سرشار نویسنده و حتی کاراکتراش رو. باید دیالوگ سازی و داستان پردازی رو ازش یاد گرفت. باید حرف زدن و بازی با خواننده رو ازش یاد گرفت.
ژاک قضا و قدری و اربابش ممکنه داستان خاصی نداشته باشه، ولی مطمئناً فراموش نمیشه. و حتی شاید شما هم مثل من به نوشته‌ی "رمان‌های کلاسیک خارجی" که روی جلد کتاب نوشته شده بخندید. ژاک برای کسانی که آثار جدید رو خونده باشن اصلاً کلاسیک به حساب نمیاد.‏

اما من. این کتاب رو شاید یک سال و نیم پیش یکی از دوستای دانشگاه بهم معرفی کرد. خیلی وقته تو لیست خرید کتابم هست و هی فراموش شده. تا اینکه یه شب که یهویی عشقم گرفت و رفتم خونه خواهرم موندم، و خوابم نبرد و تا 1 و نیم تو جام غلت می‌زدم، موبایلم رو برداشتم و با نور صفحه‌ش رفتم سراغ کتابخونه خواهرم تا ببینم به چه چیز هیجان انگیزی برمی‌خورم. و خب گفتن نداره که اولین تیتری که خوندم ژاک قضا و قدری بود و باعث شد دیگه چراغ رو روشن کنم و تا ساعت 3 که خوابم بگیره 100 صفحه‌شو یه نفس بخونم! و با اینکه چیزی به نام آخرین امتحان دوره کارشناسی جلوی راهم بود کلاً کتاب اون رو ببندم و به دو ساعت قبل از امتحانش بسنده کنم، ولی در عوض لذت خوندن یه کار خوب رو از دست ندم. به قول خود ژاک حتماً اون بالا توی طومارم نوشته بودن که باید این اتفاق برای من بیفته.
:)

پنج شنبه. 23.دی.89(less)

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Sep 09, 2009

Jocelin rated it

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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Favorite quote: "Do we control our destiny or does our destiny control us?"
It was written in the 1700's. I just assumed that because it was written so long ago that it would be difficult reading but it's not at all. It's about a guy named Jacques who believes that everything happens because it was written in the heavens and that destiny essentially controls everything, and he's very funny. He has a Master who argues with him a lot. The best part of the book is that author just p...more

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Oct 31, 2009

Christina rated it

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Mildly amusing, but mostly exasperating. I know that the point here was to be different from other novels and to bite the proverbial thumb at your traditional narrative, and all that was interesting to a point. I just didn't get that excited about any of the characters or the stories they were trying to tell. Between the interruptions built into the novel and the actual interruptions of life, I could never remember what was going on or who anyone was.
One thing that interested me that wa...more

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Jun 20, 2011

David Lentz rated it

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It may be your destiny to read and adore the pithy wit of Diderot. At a time when the novel was new as a genre as a contemporary of Sterne and Richardson, Diderot confronts the religion and philosophy of his day entrenched in the idea that man's fate was written on a scroll on high and that man only acted out a bit part devoid of real choice in his slavery to destiny. Pre-destination did not sit well with Diderot and Jacques is the novelist in this "dog's breakfast" he has served up ra...more

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Apr 04, 2007

Melinda McLaughlin rated it

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Shelves: philosophy

Another one of my favorite books. Diderot was one of the few men to be brave enough to admit his atheism in a pre-Darwin world, and definitely suffered many a setback for it. However, this examination of fatalism, life, love, religion, society etc. etc. is both hilarious and undeniably clever. It's not terribly dense, and is pleasurable while remaining clearly smart - read immediately.

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Dec 28, 2010

Michael rated it

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I truly love this book. I first read this at St. John's College, school of knowledge, during a preceptorial or the Philosophical Novel. The Preceptorial was not great, but the books chosen were, and this was really the best of them. I have since taught the book several times, and as of this writing I consider this to be one of the great works of literature. Diderot is really investigating how both the novel and the individual subject comes into being. The story starts from nowhere, with a s...more

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Mar 23, 2009

kasia rated it

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Recommends it for: fans of Tristram Shandy

Good times.

Full Review

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Jun 04, 2011

Tom marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: french-lit

Recent reading of Carlos Fuentes essay "Two Centuries of Diderot" persuaded me to add this to list. CF argues that DD was highly influential on development of novel and remains quite contemporary in vision of writer-reader relationship. I'm a bit wary though, as my love of French novels is rooted in much more traditional narratives of Balzac, Flaubert and Zola. But it's always good to shake out the gnarly trees of tradition now and then to see what nuts fall upon one's head, knocking...more

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Nov 15, 2010

Marcello rated it

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Fenomenale. Un racconto - "ceci n'est point un roman" - in cui il narratore, lui, l'enciclopedista, si rivolge in continuazione al lettore per discuterne le reazioni. Giacomo il servo dal cervello fino che, consapevolmente, guida il proprio padrone e glielo fa anche notare. Il divertente e surreale filo conduttore della narrazione, e dei vari episodi che si inseriscono, è la storia degli amori di Giacomo.
Per citare la quarta di copertina: "Qualunque cosa dica, Diderot crea e sorp...more

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Oct 26, 2011

Edward rated it

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When I mentioned to some French friends that I was reading Jacques le Fataliste et Son Maitre, written in the l770's. I thought they might show some enthusiasm for this French "classic", or at least a "curiosity". Instead, they rolled their eyes and asked why? Good question. I read somewhere that it was a French version of Lawrence Sterne's TRISTAM SHANDY, as well as a riff on Don Quixote, so I became curious and read it. It's worth the read and is often a very funny b...moreWhen I mentioned to some French friends that I was reading Jacques le Fataliste et Son Maitre, written in the l770's. I thought they might show some enthusiasm for this French "classic", or at least a "curiosity". Instead, they rolled their eyes and asked why? Good question. I read somewhere that it was a French version of Lawrence Sterne's TRISTAM SHANDY, as well as a riff on Don Quixote, so I became curious and read it. It's worth the read and is often a very funny book. the humor even emerges in my time-intensive French reading skills.

It's "road" story about a voyage taken by servant Jacques and his Master, full of running jokes, stories told by each, authorial intrusions asking the reader what he expects from a story anyway, jokey pedantic footnotes on sources. I suppose at the bottom (if there is a "bottom") of this long shaggy dog narrative, is the philosophical question of whether one follows his fantasy, disguised as reason, or his reason which often a dangerous fantasy. Sound like Don Quixote? Yes, and it's no accident, Diderot being a shameless and unapologetic borrower from other writers.

More specifically, who sets the "rules" for what can be included in a story? Aristotle's dictums come up, of course, but they're found inadequate. Jacques undermines the rules of literature, and life, by pointing out that what we think of as "good" often leads to "evil" and apparent evil to good, so one never quite know where one is going. His solution? - It's all being "written above", willed by God.

One of the running jokes is a request for details on Jacques' amorous past adventures. He is not too forthcoming, but an irony is that there is plenty of sex and bawdiness supplied in most of the stories that are told as they continue on their travels which end with the Master being sent to prison for having fathered a bastard son. What will become of the son? Who knows? - he may become a good and respected person, or he may become a scoundrel. Whatever happens is "written above". In an odd way, an appropriate ending - what will be the fate of Diderot's "bastard" mishmash of what could loosely be called a novel? If the reader thinks this is a impossible question to answer, Diderot suggests that he supply his own ending.

In a postcript, an "editor" finds three additions, not included in the original story. Ttwo of which he thinks are authentic, and the third clearly spurious. More questions, more uncertainty. In Kurt Vonnegut's words, so it goes. (less)

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Apr 19, 2011

Arash Hadadan rated it

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ye ja mige:
miduni chera mardom miran maraseme edam (dar zadan) ro tamasha mikonan?! chun ye chizi dashte bashan ke dar moredesh ba ham harf bezanan.
alan ketab hamram nis,badan eine ebarato mizaram inja vaghan aalie in ketab.
به نظر شما چه چیزی عوام را به میدان اعدام می‌کشاند؟ سنگدلی؟ اشتباه می‌کنید، مردم سنگدل نیستند و اگر زورشان می‌رسید این بدبختی را که روی سکوی اعدام احاطه‌اش کرده‌اند از چنگال عدالت بیرون می‌کشیدند. اینان اگر به میدان اعدام می‌روند برای آن است که وقتی به محله‌...more

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Jan 26, 2008

Giuliana rated it

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Shelves: reviews

I dreamed I was in "sunny Somerset," England, but it was night. I was finishing dinner at Henry Fielding's house, and Jonathan Swift and Laurence Sterne were also there. We had dined on cold meats and red wine. Three hound dogs were dozing near the fire, and I played with some dried fruit while I listened to the three men's conversation. The atmosphere is one I would confidently define as "jovial." Fielding, Swift, and Sterne were talking about the Odyssey and how epic, poetr...more

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Jul 29, 2011

Pavlina rated it

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18th century french novel written by a man who was among the first ones who were able to say to the world: "Hey, there may not be God the way we have always thought..." A novel about a journey from one nameless point to another, a journey of Jacques the servant and his master. A must read for everyone studying literature. A need read for all those who ever told themselves: Is this honestly my boss? What if I am more although he is my master? A book for all those who believe in destiny...more

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Mar 22, 2009

Paula rated it

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Recommended to Paula by: Raymond Lemieux

Shelves: french, novels-and-stories, best-reads-of-2009

I love this book and have already started to reread it in anticipation of my French book club's discussion. Diderot pays unabashed obeisance to Sterne's Tristram Shandy with his constantly interrupted, disrupted, and recommenced tale. As noted in the Preface to the novel (or anti-novel, as Diderot might have considered it)Jacques le fataliste is composed of one long chapter (over 300 pages in this edition)and includes around 60 characters, 21 stories and 180 breaks in the narrative. This is 18t...more

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Jul 28, 2011

Brian Burt rated it

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Recommends it for: philosophical fiction; literary style

An entertaining wandering and more importantly an essential piece of literary history. The novel is philosophical in content and almost exhaustive in its exploration of literary style. The story seems aimless but humorous, even if the narrator is too clever for his own good. The casual reader may not be impressed, but anyone interested in the progression of literature will find much here. To be read after Cervantes.

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Aug 08, 2011

Philip Lane rated it

Shelves: favorites

Brilliant - very impressed. It felt like a cross between The Canterbury Tales and Tristram Shandy. Lots of farcical stories and lots of comments on the writing process. I didn't enjoy Rameau's Nephew but this was quite enchanting and made me laugh. One I wouldn't have read if I hadn't been attempting the '1001 bookes to read before you die' list.

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Feb 06, 2010

Kirk rated it

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Read Laurence Sterne's 'The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman' first; otherwise this book will seem more original and strange than it really was, plus you won't get half the allusions. Diderot took up Sterne's mantle (and some of his narrative) and somehow made the tone even more lighthearted, added some elements forbidden to Sterne - blasphemy, social criticism, more explicit sexual references. It also lacks the weight of Tristram Shandy, as the digressions are limited to a few pa...more

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Oct 18, 2009

Carl-Erik Kopseng rated it

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Shelves: skjønnlitteratur

One of my absolute favorite classical books, taking a lot from Tristram Shandy comedy wise, this book talks to and makes fun of the reader at all times. It is at times a frustrating read, as our protagonist deviates from the main story, but it makes out for an unforgettably funny read.

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Jul 30, 2011

Dorian Neerdael rated it

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Le jeu que Diderot entretient avec le lecteur est excellent. Il le malmène constamment, retarde son histoire, manipule ses personnages avec une ironie subtile. Mais on ne dira peut-être pas autant de bien de l'histoire en elle-même.

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Nov 15, 2008

Cat rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 18thcenturyenglishliterature, 1001books

I'm making my way through the classics of 18th century lit via the "1001 Books to Read Before you Die" (I know, I know, I'm embarrassed.) Anyway- it's been a mixed back. I've enjoyed books like Tom Jones, suffered through books like Pamela & puzzled through but ultimately enjoyed books like Tristram Shandy.

The point of the preamble is that Jacques the Fatalist is the first of these 18th century books that I've really, really loved. I agree with all of the other reviewers- th...more

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Nov 22, 2011

Francisco rated it

· review of another edition

Diderot el ilustrado, rompe con la novela en medio de un romanticismo pleno, descarado como lo fue Bocaccio dos siglos antes, adelantado a su época cien años.

"Jaques" se revela contra las formas de la novela, una atisbo a lo postmoderno, la novela es un conflicto en si misma. Mientras Jaques el férreo determinista expone ampliamente su filosofía "Il est ecrit la haut - Esta escrito allá arriba", la narración es casi cuántica, todo pasa y no pasa, vuelve en si mis...more

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Dec 08, 2010

Geraud rated it

· review of another edition

ça a un peu vieliit tout de même.
indispensable pour sa culture, le lire n'est tout de même plus vraiment un plaisir. Même si sa sagesse vous servira chaque jour.

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Jun 13, 2009

Buck rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Buck by: Kasia

I'm too distracted to read this in French, since Sophocles is still giving me fits and, well, I do have a life. Besides, the translation I'm reading is wonderfully brisk and colloquial. How can you not love a novel from 1780 that begins with this Beckettian up-yours?:

How had they met? By chance, like everybody else. What were there names? What's it to you? Where were they coming from? From the nearest place. Where were they going? Does anyone really know where they're going?...more

like 1 like

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Jan 10, 2010

Diana rated it

· review of another edition

Brilliant book.The way Diderot plays with the reader's patience and expectations was a stroke of genius.It's the most original novel I have ever read.

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Feb 23, 2009

Sarah rated it

· review of another edition

I read this for a comedy writing class in college. It is probably one of the funniest books I've ever read and I highly recommend it.

· see review

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About Denis Diderot

Denis Diderot (October 5, 1713 – July 31, 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent persona during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder and chief editor of and contributor to the Encyclopédie.
Diderot also contributed to literature, notably with Jacques le fataliste et son maître (Jacques the Fatalist and his Master), which emulated La...more

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Quotes from Jacques the Fatalist

“The fact is that she was terribly undressed and I was extremely undressed too. The fact is that I still had my hand where she didn't have anything and she had hers where the same wasn't quite true of me. The fact is that I found myself underneath her and consequently she found herself on top of me.” — 4 people liked it

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