Among the essays highlighted is Montaigne’s “Of Three Commerces,” a reflection on companionship. In it, the philosopher ranks his favorite relationships, comparing the three kinds of companions who occupied most of his life. Writing about the first two, Montaigne says he’s enjoyed the company of “beautiful and honorable women” and had “rare and exquisite friendships,” both of which he considered “fortuitous.”
Of these first two types of relationships, the philosopher ranked friendship superior, considering it the only true freely-formed bond two people can have. Love and romance, on the other hand, were associated with marriage which is contractual and constrains freedom, he believed.
Yet, it is third relationship—the company of books—that the philosopher ranks highest. Romance, according to Montaigne, “withers with age.” Meanwhile, true friendship is “troublesome by its rarity.” Neither of these bonds could “have been sufficient for the business of my life,” Montaigne writes. But books are reliable companions and our ties to them are wholly personal. The philosopher explains:
Now, we—like Montaigne was centuries ago—are again poised on the brink of another new age, having replaced books with all manner of devices and entertainments, Compagnon argues. He worries that we may be leaving our old friend the printed tome behind, perhaps not realizing just how nourishing this particular kind of literary relationship can be.
Before we abandon this fine companion, the professor suggests, we should recall the comfort, understanding, and wisdom that books have provided generations of readers for centuries. “They never complain, or protest when they are neglected as flesh-and-blood women do,” Compagnon writes, echoing the words of Montaigne. “The presence of books is always a kindly and serene one, while the moods of friends and lovers vary.”
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Of these first two types of relationships, the philosopher ranked friendship superior, considering it the only true freely-formed bond two people can have. Love and romance, on the other hand, were associated with marriage which is contractual and constrains freedom, he believed.
Yet, it is third relationship—the company of books—that the philosopher ranks highest. Romance, according to Montaigne, “withers with age.” Meanwhile, true friendship is “troublesome by its rarity.” Neither of these bonds could “have been sufficient for the business of my life,” Montaigne writes. But books are reliable companions and our ties to them are wholly personal. The philosopher explains:
[Reading] goes side by side with me in my whole course and everywhere is assisting me: it comforts me in old age and solitude; it eases me of the troublesome weight of idleness, and delivers me at all hours from company that I dislike; it blunts the points of grief if they are not extreme, and have not got an entire possession of my soul. To divert myself from a troublesome fancy, ’tis but to run to my books; they presently fix me to them and drive the other out of my thoughts, and do not mutiny at seeing that I have only recourse to them for want of other more real, natural, and lively commodities; they always receive me with the same kindness.[---]
Now, we—like Montaigne was centuries ago—are again poised on the brink of another new age, having replaced books with all manner of devices and entertainments, Compagnon argues. He worries that we may be leaving our old friend the printed tome behind, perhaps not realizing just how nourishing this particular kind of literary relationship can be.
Before we abandon this fine companion, the professor suggests, we should recall the comfort, understanding, and wisdom that books have provided generations of readers for centuries. “They never complain, or protest when they are neglected as flesh-and-blood women do,” Compagnon writes, echoing the words of Montaigne. “The presence of books is always a kindly and serene one, while the moods of friends and lovers vary.”
- More Here
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