Customer Reviews

Collected Maxims and Other Reflections: with parallel French text (Oxford World's Classics)

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I write this largely to counteract the effect of the other reviewer, whose review has to do with the book's preparation for Kindle rather than the content of the book itself.

I will say first that, having read both, more than once, I prefer Penguin's translation. That said, this volume is more comprehensive and, if I recall correctly, represents the largest collection of La Rochefoucauld's writings in English.

They are masterfully composed, his maxims, and represent a somewhat cynical view of human nature, grounded in a belief in egoism. In essence, everything we do, we do from vanity or self-interest. Not that La Rochefoucauld is the first or last person to think this, but he thinks his thoughts more succinctly and pithily than most, and is well-worth reading for the philosophically inclined. However, the book shouldn't be thought rigorous or hard -- it isn't. It's not Spinoza, but it has a charm all its own. I will reiterate, however, than I prefer Penguin's translation which is older, smoother, and somewhat more literary.

The editors/translators have given us a first rate edition of a remarkable text for an unbelievable price. This reads like a critical edition. The editors have gone back to original editions, compared them, and made judicious selections on that basis, producing the most complete edition of these maxims in English. The translation is a strong one and not intrusive in any way. One may prefer another, I suppose, but I found little lacking. I also found the Introduction very helpful and the notes useful although optional, which allows a reader to proceed in as scholarly a manner as s/he sees fit. Rochefoucaud's wit and insight are leading examples of aphoristic thought. He is a brilliant moral psychologist and an elegant and economical stylist. Aspects of his thought remain dated, of course, e.g. his remarks on women and his obliviousness to class privilege, but the text offers so much more than those failings that it fully deserves the label "World Classic."

This would be an excellent version of La Rochefoucauld's Maxims if it had been properly hypertexted for the Kindle, unfortunately, it is not. There are no links to the notes at the back, the table of contents is only partly hypertexted (the prefatory matter can be accessed directly, but you can't go straight to the first page of the text for example). Also there are odd gaps in the text as displayed where a date may have an inappropriate space in it (for example 1 642 for the year 1642). Someone needs to go back and do a better job on this item.