La vie de monsieur Pascal/La vie de Jacqueline Pascal

by Gilberte Périer, Alain Couprie

Gilberte Prier, l'ane de la famille, rdigea cette vie de son frre Blaise Pascal en 1662, le lendemain de la mort de l'auteur des Penses. C'est moins l'exactitude des faits qui nous meut ici que le cheminement spirituel de l'effrayant gnie - un acte de pit, une contribution magnifique au lgendaire familial dont tmoigne galement la biographie que Gilberte consacra Jacqueline, la sour cadette, rdige comme la premire dans une langue admirablement dpouille. Une histoire d'amour familial.

128 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published February 24, 1993

About the author

1620-1685

Reviews

[Ioana Petre · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this biography for the simple reason that it depicts the life of a fascinating character - Blaise Pascal - and it's written by someone who had direct access to both its significant and insignificant events. This would be his sister, Gilberte Perier. 'La vie de Monsieur Pascal' reminded me in a strange way of Benjamin Franklin's 'Autobiography'. The length to which both of them pursued self-improvement and growth is truly amazing and inspiring, even if they didn't choose the exact same paths. Also, the recollection of Pascal's childhood made me think of Richard Feynman. Feynman's close relationship with his father and the influence that his father had on the way in which he saw the world is also paralleled by Pascal's own experience. Pascal was home schooled by his father, who refused to teach him math and, as a consequence, ended up arousing his son's curiosity about this field. After reading this book, one thing is for sure: you'll never think about Pascal's bet in the same way again!