Reviews for The Fables of Reason: A Study of Voltaire's Contes Philosophiques

The average rating for The Fables of Reason: A Study of Voltaire's Contes Philosophiques based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-07-21 00:00:00 Gunnar Richter Karen Sullivan found an aspect of Medieval French literature'and life'that had as a theme been rather neglected by scholars and crafted an astute, certain, and much-needed book that probably few even realized was in fact needed at all. Yet, needed it was, and those who are involved in the study of this period of literature are much better off for her efforts. The heretic, as Sullivan tells us, was a social figure and thus a literary one, whether or not he or she was a living person in actual life. The concept of a heretic was essential to the consummate concept of the Church as the heretic provided the literal antithesis needed to position evil in the axiom of the Church's dynamics of good and evil, God and devil. The heretic wasn't a common criminal who robbed or murdered, but something worse, and he was isolated in his evil against the Church so the Church was a victim as well as a warrior against evil. For however hard it was to isolate actual heretics in society, in literature they were very apparent and ready examples could be found all over French Medieval writing. Sullivan, who is a professor of literature at Bard College, examines how the heretic became both a stock character in this period's literature and a very essential discursive element to the same. The book could be longer and more-developed, but it is overall great and does fill a void no one may have even realized existed. Sullivan's scholarship is sound and her writing is top-notch: this book is actually very enjoyable to read as well as quite informative.

Review # 2 was written on 2018-05-03 00:00:00 Mitchell Winneker هرجلد از مجموعه ی "آشنایی با نویسندگان"، یه خلاصه ی مختصر و مفید از زندگی یه نویسنده ست که نشر مرکز چاپ کرده. البته خیلی وقته که دیگه چاپ نمیشه اما هنوز تو بعضی از کتابفروشیا هست. هرجلد کمتر از 100 صفحه ست و توش چیزایی گفته شده که شما با سرچ کردن تو گوگل به راحتی پیدا نمیکنید! من بکت رو خوندم چون نویسنده و شخصیت مورد علاقمه. عالی بود؛ چیزایی ازش فهمیدم که هم علاقم بهش بیشتر شد هم به درکِ بهتر آثارش کمک کرد. حتما از این مجموعه باز خواهم خوند🙋🍃