Books I've Read
with Brief Reviews of Each
Presently Reading
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Les Fleurs du mal 1857
These poems appear on the surface to be a firm repudiation of the values of upright civilization: and at its root that's precisely what it is, a rejection of the vanity of bourgeois society and all its vapid customs. Beaudelaire's presentation of a Satanism is largely a scare tactic meant to drive away intellectual weaklings and those who cling to shallow ideas of Christianity. Yet these poems are some of the most beautiful outpourings of the heart that I've encountered. I read the French version from an edition I bought in Bologna, and translate it as I go.
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Sentimental Education 1869
Another observational French novel, in the vein of Là-Bas and Bel-Ami, this time regarding a young romantic named Frédéric who yearns after a married woman Madame Arnoux. It gives a glimpse into Parisian life at the time of the February Revolution of 1848, and in the fashion of these French novels also crystallizes Parisian social life and all its idiosyncracies. Drawn out at times but utterly pleasant to read.
2026
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La Mia Vita 1563
Benvenuto Cellini's account of his own life and career as a titan of goldsmithery and sculpture during the Renaissance. He narrates many adventures through Italy and France in a time when people were still free, including his imprisonment in Castel Sant'Angelo, various murders, countless arguments, and his crafting his famous works, especially the legendary Perseus.
2025
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Là-Bas 1891
A jarring and refreshing French novel whose main theme is Satanism, but only observationally. The book runs on parallel stories of the 15th century noble and "alleged" Satanist, torturer, and child-killer Gilles de Rais, alongside his modern biographer Durtal, who discovers similar Satanism in Belle Époque Paris. By seducing the wife of an acquaintance, Durtal gains admission to a Black Mass organized by France's leading Satanist priest, Father Docre. Despite such vivid subject matter, not much action takes place in the book, which is to its credit as an observation on human nature; rather the ideas presented show off the force of the novel.
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Bel-Ami 1885
Yet another observational French novel commenting on upper middle class social life; this time following a 'scoundrel' named Duroy as he climbs the social ladder by seducing and manipulating a series of women in his circle. This book is complete fun and is powered by Duroy's apathy, or perhaps lack of self-restraint, in handling these women: he seems to feel either nothing, or feel true passions which are so fleeting that as soon as a woman falls for him, he set a higher target. The theme is again how one might poke holes in bourgeois status anxiety and turn people's 'social striver' behavior against them.
2018
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Thus Spoke Zarathustra 1883
It's quite clear to me from Nietzsche's account of writing Thus Spoke Zarathustra that he was in fact overtaken by an ergreifer which drew this work out of him. I consider it inspired literature, so unlike anything else of its time but yet so characteristic of Nietzsche's works. It is for me the encapsulation of the transcendent spirit which Nietzsche sought and saw in the Greeks. And to me it also carries a scent of the Gospels: many passages I could imagine Christ speaking rather than an imagined Zarathustra, and this is how I know that it converges on Truth.
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