Of all the acerbic dictionary-format works of satire this one is by far my favorite. Like previously- reviewed P&P, took this book along with me to work this summer to read on the bus and occasionally a cafe after I left the office. I anticipated a Candide-esque tract of biting hilarity, and while my expectation was mostly fulfilled, I was in fact entertained in multivarious ways, detailed here:
Style: I don't think I have to tell you people that François-Marie Arouet [Voltaire's real name] was an excellent satirist with a sharp tongue and cajones of pigiron. He was clearly a very learned man; his prose is suffused with historical and cultural references which range from common, locatable in a contemporary children's primer, and highly obscure, the variety of legend one might find suffocating in the sticky pages of some aged monk's diary. The PD also features a number of different formats, including dialogues, whose interlocutors were more often than not arcane Chinese or Hindu philosophers. In fact, Voltaire discusses the Chinese in approximately 28 places throughout the text, more often than not singing their praises. It has always been the fashionable among certain species of intellectual [myself perhaps among them!] to defer automatically to the idea that there is something inherently better in the mystical wisdom of the Orient, and this selection may be a prototype of that fad.
Polemic: Voltaire writes aggressively, giving no kinder a treatment to his living contemporaries [regardless of standing, reputation, or intimacy] than he does to the Old Masters or their old ideas. Biblical figures like David and Paul receive frequent criticism, often in the space of entirely different essays, though with the same points. Voltaire also One of the most prominent targets for his darts is the Bible, and Christianity as a whole. In these essays, he lays what are likely the foundation for many styles of atheist argumentation used by modern Brights, like Dawkins or Hitchens, poking at the absurd implications of religious life, the illogic and inconsistencies of God and the Bible, and explicitly detailing the violent or psychological atrocities associated with religious institutions.
Anti-Semitism Right off the bat, it's not that I think anti-Semitism is funny, per se. However, Voltaire makes it clear that he has an incredibly base opinion of the Jews, and it is his (1) preposterous strength of language (2) prejudice and hypocrisy (3) and immense political incorrectness of the statements in a modern context which I find laughably ridiculous.
"The Jews had God Himself for master; see what has happened to them on that account: nearly always have they been beaten and slaves, and to-day do you not find that they cut a pretty figure"
"...remember that the Jews have never had but one good institution, that of having a horror of virginity. "
"The Pharisees, among the little Jewish people, did not adopt destiny until several centuries later; for these Pharisees themselves, who were the first literates among the Jews, were very new-fangled."
"Descartes was forced to leave his country, Gassendi was calumniated, Arnauld dragged out his days in exile; every philosopher is treated as the prophets were among the Jews"
Voltaire references the Jews, almost always disparagingly, over 50 times in the course of the work.What is ironic about this phenomenon is that ---while it disenchants a modern audience--- Voltaire tends to use the same fallacious tactics of prejudice, ignorance and cherry-picked quotes to substantiate his complaints against the Semites. This is the selfsame approach he spends the other 99% of the Dictionary writing viciously against. It just goes to show you that if one takes comedy too seriously, the air can turn quickly tragic.
Overall, a great read, full of fun and provocative stories, well worth a peek or two;
Rating: 4/5 Uricons
No comments:
Post a Comment