false 51933 067972110X 9780679721109 1153 65 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170383680m/51933.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51933.Madness_and_Civilization_A_History_of_Insanity_in_the_Age_of_Reason 1260 Michel Foucault 11457 754 1 0 false Thu Sep 18 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 23 10:20:48 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 29 17:24:40 -0700 2008
This book, its meaning fixed firmly within the firmament of French culture, left me sweating to make sense of remarks such as --

“Pierre Dupuis, whom Régnier mentions in his sixth satire, is, according to Brascambille, “an archfool in a long robe.”

All chapter 2, in fact, is an interpretation of performing art through the lens of madness, and my ignorance of French classical theater cost me there.

Foucault’s “archeological” style relates madness only to concepts in which it was understood in centuries past, and I was confused that that single word included what we now understand to be both neuroses and psychoses. Many major terms went similarly undefined, and had to be worked out in context.

Mainly, though, the writing was just so much more tedious than necessary. The text included countless dead-boring enumerations and overlong quotes that weren’t to the point. It got better in the second half, but I thought the author could have written a much more reader-friendly book.

By no means a flimsy opus, Madness and Civilization is best suited to readers with special interests such as French culture, the history of medicine, or postmodernism.

Although I didn’t care for it, I think other readers with different backgrounds might find that they do. So my score is mostly my subjective impression, not any broad statement about the value of the work. I’m willing to give Foucault another shot, but the next book I’ll choose with greater care.
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