Today I got a book in the mail. It was one I’d ordered about a week ago…”Michel de Montaigne: The Complete Essays.” It is a tome of over 1,200 pages and is the collected works of the man who coined the term ‘essay.’
For most people, the word ‘essay’ probably brings back horrific memories of high school English class and dreaded assignments that made up their final grade. For me, those were memories of where I excelled. Whenever a grade depended on the quality of my essay, I knew I’d get a solid A.
To me, the essay has always been the purest form of writing. It is free form, without the boundaries of a magazine article or even fiction. An essay is the best opportunity for a writer to express his inner most thoughts, to explore any idea or theory. The essay is thought put on paper.
Several months ago, I read a post on Tim Ferriss’s blog about De Montaigne and it reminded me of my love of this form of writing, and of who first delved into it so formally.
So I decided to read and study the works of the master. I decided to buy his complete works and read about the things which carried his fancy and drove him to create a wholly new form of writing.
Perhaps I’ll find a deeper appreciation of this form. Or perhaps I’ll learn something of him, or even myself in these pages.
Whatever happens, I’m sure it will be well worth the many hours spent in these pages.
