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Tämä ei ole tarina
Valikoima sisältää neljä valistusfilosofi ja kirjailija Denis Diderot’n (1713–1784) aiemmin suomentamatonta tekstiä: tarinoita ja dialogeja, joista jokaisessa huomion kohteeksi tulee nainen – kuitenkin niin, että “dialogin kumppaniksi tai aiheeksi ei sovi nainen, joka pysyy aikakauden tyypittelyissä eikä riko missään sovinnaisuuden rajoja” (suomentaja Jan Blomstedt jälkisanoissaan). Hurskaaksi kuvattu Marsalkatar de *** lipsuu Diderot’n kanssa rupatellessaan ja tämän johdattelemana roolistaan, ja toisaalta ainakin sukulaisten viettelijättärenä pitämä Mlle de La Chaux osoittautuu rakkaudessaan mitä sovinnaisimman uskolliseksi. Taitavasti suomennettu valikoima vie lukijan 1700-luvun säätyläissalonkeihin, rikastaa kuvaamme kirjailijasta ja asettaa samalla monia edelleen aiheellisia kysymyksiä sukupuolten välisistä suhteista ja avioliittoinstituution paradokseista.
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1773
13 people are currently reading
229 people want to read
About the author
Denis Diderot
2,433 books573 followersWork on the
Encyclopédie
(1751-1772), supreme accomplishment of French philosopher and writer Denis Diderot, epitomized the spirit of thought of Enlightenment; he also wrote novels, plays, critical essays, and brilliant letters to a wide circle of friends and colleagues.
Jean le Rond d'Alembert contributed.
This artistic prominent persona served as best known co-founder, chief editor, and contributor.
He also contributed notably to literature with Jacques le fataliste et son maître (Jacques the Fatalist and his Master), which emulated Laurence Sterne in challenging conventions regarding structure and content, while also examining ideas about free will. Diderot also authored of the known dialogue, Le Neveu de Rameau (Rameau's Nephew), basis of many articles and sermons about consumer desire. His articles included many topics.
Diderot speculated on free will, held a completely materialistic view of the universe, and suggested that heredity determines all human behavior. He therefore warned his fellows against an overemphasis on mathematics and against the blind optimism that sees in the growth of physical knowledge an automatic social and human progress. He rejected the idea of progress. His opinion doomed the aim of progressing through technology to fail. He founded on experiment and the study of probabilities. He wrote several articles and supplements concerning gambling, mortality rates, and inoculation against smallpox. He discreetly but firmly refuted technical errors and personal positions of d'Alembert on probability.
Jean le Rond d'Alembert contributed.
This artistic prominent persona served as best known co-founder, chief editor, and contributor.
He also contributed notably to literature with Jacques le fataliste et son maître (Jacques the Fatalist and his Master), which emulated Laurence Sterne in challenging conventions regarding structure and content, while also examining ideas about free will. Diderot also authored of the known dialogue, Le Neveu de Rameau (Rameau's Nephew), basis of many articles and sermons about consumer desire. His articles included many topics.
Diderot speculated on free will, held a completely materialistic view of the universe, and suggested that heredity determines all human behavior. He therefore warned his fellows against an overemphasis on mathematics and against the blind optimism that sees in the growth of physical knowledge an automatic social and human progress. He rejected the idea of progress. His opinion doomed the aim of progressing through technology to fail. He founded on experiment and the study of probabilities. He wrote several articles and supplements concerning gambling, mortality rates, and inoculation against smallpox. He discreetly but firmly refuted technical errors and personal positions of d'Alembert on probability.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
May 28, 2024
This work is not a tale but is very similar to one. Diderot develops his ideas here for our pleasure in this short but dense writing!
April 14, 2022
These are not short stories in the current sense of the word, but rather philosophical tales and dialogs. The first three are on the subject of sexual ethics, taking a position opposed to the church and the state. The final "story" is a dialog in which Denis Diderot, his father, brother and sister are participants.
I enjoyed This Is Not a Story and Other Stories, but more as a work of moral philosophy than as a work of fiction. It's worth reading as the product of one of the great philosophes whose work predated the French Revolution.
I enjoyed This Is Not a Story and Other Stories, but more as a work of moral philosophy than as a work of fiction. It's worth reading as the product of one of the great philosophes whose work predated the French Revolution.
October 26, 2021
These five stories (non-stories? :-) were written between 1770 and 1772, prior to Diderot pulling off an identity scam worthy of today’s catfishing. Even though it’s completely tangential, I can’t help but starting there. The story goes that knowing that his friend the Marquis de Croismare had a personal interest in a nun who was hoping she could be released from her vows, he and his friends wrote to him as if they were the nun, informing him that she had escaped and needed his help. The letters back and forth between the two intensified so much that, glee aside, Diderot and his friends felt obliged out of mercy to “kill” the nun off. This of course led to his somewhat salacious novel, The Nun finished in 1780, and then published after his death in 1796.
I have to say, The Nun is probably of more interest than these stories, which were originally published in a periodical with very low readership, and in which Diderot, the 18th century French free-thinker, questions conventional morality, and condemns the fickleness of gossip and public opinion. They are reflective of the Enlightenment, and use the interesting literary device of being framed as parts of conversations. Diderot is particularly hard on sexual morality, saying that marital laws binding a man and woman together sexually for life are inherently against human nature, as are the vows of abstinence taken by the clergy. He also asks the philosophical question, when is it better to “do the right thing” even if it’s not lawful, seeming to advocate it, and yet knowing the limits, and dangers of individuals making this determination.
Of the five stories, ‘Supplement to Bougainville’s Voyage’ was the most interesting, as Diderot used utopian reports from explorers of Tahitian free love and what practically amounted to communism (all over-idealized) to point out ways in which ‘superior’ European culture was actually at odds with man’s true nature, and therefore inferior. It’s hard to imagine that 250 years ago entirely new worlds of people, flora, and fauna could be discovered on the planet! And I imagined myself in an intellectual at the time, sitting in a mahogany study, reading this ‘supplement’ to the explorer’s reports, and pondering the moral and ethical implications. These stories are not about plot, but they’re not dry and stuffy either, and are worth reading.
Quotes:
On freedom:
“But do you want man to be happy and free? Then do not interfere in his affairs; there are enough unexpected chances in the world to lead him to enlightenment or vice; and always remember that it was not for your sake but for theirs that cunning legislators molded and misshaped you as they have done. Look at all political, civil, and religious institutions; study them with care; and I’m much mistaken or you will find Man, century after century, the yoke-ox of a handful of knaves. Mistrust the man who comes to you praising ‘order’; creating order always means bullying others to their own discomfort.”
On native people; these words inserted into the mouth of an old Tahitian chief:
“This country yours! Why? Because you set foot in it? If one day a Tahitian were to land on your shores and carve on one of your stones, or the bark of one of your trees, ’This country belongs to Tahiti’, what would you think? You are the stronger? Well, and what if so? When one of the wretched trifles your boat is full of was stolen, you made an outcry and took revenge; and in the very same moment, in the depths of your heart, you were planning to steal a whole country! You are not slaves, you would suffer death rather than be one, and you want to enslave us! … Leave us our own customs; they are wiser and more honorable than yours.”
I have to say, The Nun is probably of more interest than these stories, which were originally published in a periodical with very low readership, and in which Diderot, the 18th century French free-thinker, questions conventional morality, and condemns the fickleness of gossip and public opinion. They are reflective of the Enlightenment, and use the interesting literary device of being framed as parts of conversations. Diderot is particularly hard on sexual morality, saying that marital laws binding a man and woman together sexually for life are inherently against human nature, as are the vows of abstinence taken by the clergy. He also asks the philosophical question, when is it better to “do the right thing” even if it’s not lawful, seeming to advocate it, and yet knowing the limits, and dangers of individuals making this determination.
Of the five stories, ‘Supplement to Bougainville’s Voyage’ was the most interesting, as Diderot used utopian reports from explorers of Tahitian free love and what practically amounted to communism (all over-idealized) to point out ways in which ‘superior’ European culture was actually at odds with man’s true nature, and therefore inferior. It’s hard to imagine that 250 years ago entirely new worlds of people, flora, and fauna could be discovered on the planet! And I imagined myself in an intellectual at the time, sitting in a mahogany study, reading this ‘supplement’ to the explorer’s reports, and pondering the moral and ethical implications. These stories are not about plot, but they’re not dry and stuffy either, and are worth reading.
Quotes:
On freedom:
“But do you want man to be happy and free? Then do not interfere in his affairs; there are enough unexpected chances in the world to lead him to enlightenment or vice; and always remember that it was not for your sake but for theirs that cunning legislators molded and misshaped you as they have done. Look at all political, civil, and religious institutions; study them with care; and I’m much mistaken or you will find Man, century after century, the yoke-ox of a handful of knaves. Mistrust the man who comes to you praising ‘order’; creating order always means bullying others to their own discomfort.”
On native people; these words inserted into the mouth of an old Tahitian chief:
“This country yours! Why? Because you set foot in it? If one day a Tahitian were to land on your shores and carve on one of your stones, or the bark of one of your trees, ’This country belongs to Tahiti’, what would you think? You are the stronger? Well, and what if so? When one of the wretched trifles your boat is full of was stolen, you made an outcry and took revenge; and in the very same moment, in the depths of your heart, you were planning to steal a whole country! You are not slaves, you would suffer death rather than be one, and you want to enslave us! … Leave us our own customs; they are wiser and more honorable than yours.”
March 15, 2025
Klasikleri sevenler için kısa ama keyifli bir okuma…
Kitapta insan doğası ve davranışlarına dair iki felsefi öykü var.
Kitapta insan doğası ve davranışlarına dair iki felsefi öykü var.
March 2, 2023
Antología de tres cuentos [o no cuentos] de Diderot, "Esto no es un cuento", "Los dos amigos de Bourbonne" y "La señora de la Carlière", y un fragmento ensayístico llamado "Autores y críticos", que es un capítulo de su "Discurso sobre la poesía dramática".
A excepción de "La señora de Carlière", que le daría un 2/5, el resto de cuentos y el ensayo breve se mantendrían en un sólido 3/5.
Me gusta la narrativa dialogal de Diderot, los cuentos se interrumpen constantemente y las interacciones son extrañas, y más lo fueron para la época, pero le dan un toque único a los escritos. Por lo que tengo entendido, Diderot trasteaba con los límites de la narrativa, y esto fue lo que lo llevo a escribir "Jacques el fatalista", una obra póstuma considerada impublicable por el autor por ser tan antinovelistica.
Habiendo leído "Jacques el fatalista", su novela más sonada, estos cuentos se me han quedado un poco cojos. Supongo que los "Esto no es un cuento" y compañía fueron unos relatos previos y un tonteo con nuevas formas narrativas. Al ser algo, a mí parecer, previo, hace que se queden a la sombra de "Jacques el fatalista" si ya se ha leído la novela, pues esta supera a los cuentos en todos los ámbitos.
Los relatos están bien escritos, pero se hacen pesados a momentos y tampoco son demasiado brillantes.
A excepción de "La señora de Carlière", que le daría un 2/5, el resto de cuentos y el ensayo breve se mantendrían en un sólido 3/5.
Me gusta la narrativa dialogal de Diderot, los cuentos se interrumpen constantemente y las interacciones son extrañas, y más lo fueron para la época, pero le dan un toque único a los escritos. Por lo que tengo entendido, Diderot trasteaba con los límites de la narrativa, y esto fue lo que lo llevo a escribir "Jacques el fatalista", una obra póstuma considerada impublicable por el autor por ser tan antinovelistica.
Habiendo leído "Jacques el fatalista", su novela más sonada, estos cuentos se me han quedado un poco cojos. Supongo que los "Esto no es un cuento" y compañía fueron unos relatos previos y un tonteo con nuevas formas narrativas. Al ser algo, a mí parecer, previo, hace que se queden a la sombra de "Jacques el fatalista" si ya se ha leído la novela, pues esta supera a los cuentos en todos los ámbitos.
Los relatos están bien escritos, pero se hacen pesados a momentos y tampoco son demasiado brillantes.
February 3, 2020
Tämä ei ole tarina is an interesting collection of short stories by Diderot. We don't know if the stories are real or fiction, but even still - they amaze by being so thoughtful. I love philosophy and the points Diderot makes are deep and profound and still light in manner. It's interesting how he's surely an atheist, but looks at God and religion very wisely and makes the reader question their own believes. The women in his stories are bound by their time of course, but Diderot keeps his own opinions out of the picture and yet the text seems fresh. His women have their own thoughts and mind and they are righteous and if they aren't, they've decided so by themselves.
The book consists of four short stories and mostly they are dialogues between Diderot and someone else (or least we can assume it's him). It's like reading stories when someone else is telling them at the same time and the interaction is very humane. This style is nowadays slightly outdated and perhaps hard to read and follow, but I enjoyed it. The profound thoughtfulness is the key element in Diderot's texts and it would've been awesome to have discussions with him during his time. The stories themselves are like little life lessons from time gone by and very much worth your time.
The book consists of four short stories and mostly they are dialogues between Diderot and someone else (or least we can assume it's him). It's like reading stories when someone else is telling them at the same time and the interaction is very humane. This style is nowadays slightly outdated and perhaps hard to read and follow, but I enjoyed it. The profound thoughtfulness is the key element in Diderot's texts and it would've been awesome to have discussions with him during his time. The stories themselves are like little life lessons from time gone by and very much worth your time.
April 24, 2023
Quick reading for a lazy afternoon. Considering when it was written (XVIII), I found the idea of a narrator being interrupted by a reader/listener quite modern. There’s not much happening in terms of a story, it feels more like an assemble of thoughts and a random conversation between two people - but a good one, just the right size, like a coffee chatting. Language is simple and has some quirky moments.
November 7, 2019
Impressive stories from the great intellectual that operate largely in dialogic mode. There are elements of metafiction as he plays with real and invented characters and existing texts such as Bougainville's Voyage. He's largely concerned with getting readers to examine received notions of morality and does this very successfully.
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September 13, 2016Luin, koska halusin saada jotain (ohutta) luettua Helmet-haasteen 1700-luvulla kirjoitettu kirja -kohtaan. Neljän tarinan kokoelma kertonee naisista ja sovinnaisten tapojen problemaattisuudesta lähinnä dialogimuodossa. Jotenkin hankala sisäistää, ehkä luin huolimattomasti.
June 15, 2016
Dois bons contos de Diderot, com um deles contado em diálogo a um interlocutor, como um conto oral. Contudo, não ficarão na memória.
September 2, 2025
O que máis adoito ler cando se fala da postmodernidade anticipada do Quijote —unha relectura a posteriori, pero non por iso menos próximo ás similitudes con esas correntes— aténdese a cuestión dunha autoconsciencia, isto é, unha consciencia da literatura e da súa tradición como unha serie de símbolos e tropos repetidos, pero flexibles, tan imitables como cambiables.
Nese sentido, a literatura vólvese un exercicio para pensarse a si, pero non ex nihilo, é dicir, alleo ao acerbo cultural do que é froito, senón xustamente totalmente inscrito: a literatura como creación comunitaria, onde en común creamos unha serie de ideas que repetimos e ampliamos en conxunto.
As sátiras de Diderot non traballan nun sentido moi distinto e ese pensamento enciclopédico do que el formará parte será, non só o pensamento como acumulación, senón o pensamento como arquivable e polo tanto consultable un sistema de organización plenamente contemporáneo.
Estas maneiras de evidenciar, non só as súas formas, tamén a sua propia natureza de invención estética cimentada sobre unha tradición permite outorgar as preguntas sobre o papel da literatura na propia vida. No caso de Cervantes, tal vez, dende un plano máis epistemolóxico —a dúbida sobre que certezas temos de coñecer o que coñeces—, mentres que Diderot aproveita esta metarreflexión para plantexar cuestións éticas —a dúbida sobre os criterios polos que emitimos xuizos sobre o comportamento propio ou do outro—.
Nese sentido, a literatura vólvese un exercicio para pensarse a si, pero non ex nihilo, é dicir, alleo ao acerbo cultural do que é froito, senón xustamente totalmente inscrito: a literatura como creación comunitaria, onde en común creamos unha serie de ideas que repetimos e ampliamos en conxunto.
As sátiras de Diderot non traballan nun sentido moi distinto e ese pensamento enciclopédico do que el formará parte será, non só o pensamento como acumulación, senón o pensamento como arquivable e polo tanto consultable un sistema de organización plenamente contemporáneo.
Estas maneiras de evidenciar, non só as súas formas, tamén a sua propia natureza de invención estética cimentada sobre unha tradición permite outorgar as preguntas sobre o papel da literatura na propia vida. No caso de Cervantes, tal vez, dende un plano máis epistemolóxico —a dúbida sobre que certezas temos de coñecer o que coñeces—, mentres que Diderot aproveita esta metarreflexión para plantexar cuestións éticas —a dúbida sobre os criterios polos que emitimos xuizos sobre o comportamento propio ou do outro—.
February 1, 2023
Diderot hikâyesinde, ara ara okuyucu oluyor ve yorum yapıyor. İlk hikâye basit gibi dursa da felsefik bakış açısı ve özgün anlatımıyla klasik sanata dönüşmüş. İkincisi ise dostluk üzerine yazılmış ve yine felsefi düşüncelerle harmanlanmış.
January 30, 2024
Libro corto, de cuatro cuentos reales, de amantes que dejan y son dejados, amores y desamores.
Entretenida gracias al oyente que interrumpe al narrador con preguntas y observaciones irónicas e impertinentes.
Entretenida gracias al oyente que interrumpe al narrador con preguntas y observaciones irónicas e impertinentes.
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July 20, 20241770-
"This Is Not a Story," 1773
"On the Inconsistency of Public Opinion Regarding Our Private Action,"
"Supplement to Bougainville's Voyage," 1773
"The Two Friends From Bourbonne" 1770
"Conversation of a Father with His or the Danger of Setting Oneself Above the Law,"
"This Is Not a Story," 1773
"On the Inconsistency of Public Opinion Regarding Our Private Action,"
"Supplement to Bougainville's Voyage," 1773
"The Two Friends From Bourbonne" 1770
"Conversation of a Father with His or the Danger of Setting Oneself Above the Law,"
May 28, 2025
"-Ystäväni, viisainkin mies saa olla onnellinen, jos ei ole tavannut sitä naista, kaunista tai rumaa, henkevää tai hupsua, jolla on valta riistää hänen järkensä ja toimittaa hänet hullujenhuoneeseen."
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March 28, 2020But what is it?
February 11, 2021
Esto no es un cuento
Los dos amigos de Bourbonne
La señora de La Carlière
Los dos amigos de Bourbonne
La señora de La Carlière
August 17, 2021
muy sorprendido de diderot
July 16, 2025
3.75
August 28, 2025
First book of my English 443 class. Very meh, it's cute but ultimately just barely scratching the surface of metafiction.
April 20, 2023
“The Dutch will print anything provided they do not pay for it.”
October 10, 2020
Estrutura dialógica interessante. Duas histórias contadas para criticar o comportamento masculino, achei questionável quão bom era o homem virtuoso, mas o que me incomodou e muito foram os pressupostos de virtude feminina.
Virtude é associada a nascer em boa família e ter bens. Uma boa mulher se sacrifica pelo homem de todos os jeitos (larga família, bens, saúde, devota emoções e intelecto ao amante etc.). Se ela morrer na pobreza melhor ainda. Mas tem que ser fiel em seu amor ao cafajeste.
Uma mulher pobre que depois de abandonada na pobreza se vira arrajando amantes ricos (único jeito de sobreviver, até incentivada pelo "bom homem" que a deixou sozinha na miséria). Esta que se desilude do amor e valoriza os bens materiais que a impedirão de morrer de fome é uma vilã. Uma mulher racional e que cuida de si é malvada nesse mundo.
Conto misógino demais para eu gostar dele. Tem seu interesse histórico.
Virtude é associada a nascer em boa família e ter bens. Uma boa mulher se sacrifica pelo homem de todos os jeitos (larga família, bens, saúde, devota emoções e intelecto ao amante etc.). Se ela morrer na pobreza melhor ainda. Mas tem que ser fiel em seu amor ao cafajeste.
Uma mulher pobre que depois de abandonada na pobreza se vira arrajando amantes ricos (único jeito de sobreviver, até incentivada pelo "bom homem" que a deixou sozinha na miséria). Esta que se desilude do amor e valoriza os bens materiais que a impedirão de morrer de fome é uma vilã. Uma mulher racional e que cuida de si é malvada nesse mundo.
Conto misógino demais para eu gostar dele. Tem seu interesse histórico.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 28, 2016
Olisin kovin halunnut pitää tästä enemmän. Pikkukirja sisältää neljä Diderotin kirjoittamaa vuoropuhelua, jotka ovat pahimmillaan tolkuttoman pitkäpiimäisiä ja parhaimmillaan ihan hauskan teräviä. Vuoropuheluitten aiheena ja toisinaan myös osallistujina ovat naiset, ja laajempina teemoina voi havaita ainakin valistuksen ja yhteiskunnan muutoksen. Erityisesti jäi mieleen sivistynyt rouva, joka opetteli useita kieliä ja käänsi aina vain vaikeampia teoksia (ilmeisesti salaa).
Tällaisia teoksia löytää, kun lainaa kirjastosta mitä tahansa alle sentin paksuista.
Tällaisia teoksia löytää, kun lainaa kirjastosta mitä tahansa alle sentin paksuista.
February 3, 2011
it was okay, i liked the first two stories ("stories") the most. "conversation" reminded me a little too much of plato, which is not a bad thing in general, but makes it unfavorable to me
also i'm going to say i didn't read "supplement" because i didn't read and do not intend to read the original/source work/whatever you call it, which means i didn't read like half the book
also i'm going to say i didn't read "supplement" because i didn't read and do not intend to read the original/source work/whatever you call it, which means i didn't read like half the book
June 24, 2011
Irrelevant. Too much clergy and Noble Savage to be really interesting to me.
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December 28, 2014Livro interessante. Fiquei com vontade de ler mais do Diderot. (O livro que li continha também o conto “Os dois amigos de Bourbonne”.)
July 17, 2015
Very well preserved humorous thinking from the 18th century. Most enjoyable.
April 7, 2016
worth reading.
December 11, 2016
-- Je crains bien que sa douleur et sa présence n'y fassent que de l'eau claire. Le dégoût c'est une terrible chose que le eégoût en amour, te d'une femme!...
August 20, 2019
Je me suis bien amusée en lisant ce petit non-conte.
"S'il y a des femmes méchantes et des hommes bons, il y a aussi des femmes très bonnes et des hommes très méchants".
"S'il y a des femmes méchantes et des hommes bons, il y a aussi des femmes très bonnes et des hommes très méchants".
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews