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Des Cannibales
Montaigne ne passa pas à côté de l'évènement majeur qui ébranla la Renaissance : la découverte du Nouveau Monde. Il évoque dans Des Cannibales (Essais, livre I) le choc sanglant entre la « civilisation » et la « sauvagerie ». II dispose d'un témoignage de première main, ayant eu à son service l'un des membres de l'expédition coloniale française en terre de Brésil, de 1555 à 1557. Ce qu'il apprend des peuplades lui inspire avant tout l'idée que « chacun appelle barbarie ce qui n'est pas de son usage ».
Jugeant les pratiques de torture des Européens plus cruelles que l'anthropophagie des sauvages, Montaigne inverse la hiérarchie habituelle et ouvre la voie à l'ethnologie moderne d'un Lévi-Strauss.
Jugeant les pratiques de torture des Européens plus cruelles que l'anthropophagie des sauvages, Montaigne inverse la hiérarchie habituelle et ouvre la voie à l'ethnologie moderne d'un Lévi-Strauss.
62 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1580
5 people are currently reading
121 people want to read
About the author
Michel de Montaigne
1,557 books1,547 followersMichel Eyquem de Montaigne (1532-1592) was one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance. Montaigne is known for popularizing the essay as a literary genre. He became famous for his effortless ability to merge serious intellectual speculation with casual anecdotes and autobiography—and his massive volume Essais (translated literally as "Attempts") contains, to this day, some of the most widely influential essays ever written. Montaigne had a direct influence on writers the world over, from William Shakespeare to René Descartes, from Ralph Waldo Emerson to Stephan Zweig, from Friedrich Nietzsche to Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He was a conservative and earnest Catholic but, as a result of his anti-dogmatic cast of mind, he is considered the father, alongside his contemporary and intimate friend Étienne de La Boétie, of the "anti-conformist" tradition in French literature.
In his own time, Montaigne was admired more as a statesman then as an author. The tendency in his essays to digress into anecdotes and personal ruminations was seen as detrimental to proper style rather than as an innovation, and his declaration that, "I am myself the matter of my book", was viewed by his contemporaries as self-indulgent. In time, however, Montaigne would be recognized as embodying, perhaps better than any other author of his time, the spirit of freely entertaining doubt which began to emerge at that time. He is most famously known for his skeptical remark, "Que sais-je?" ("What do I know?").
Remarkably modern even to readers today, Montaigne's attempt to examine the world through the lens of the only thing he can depend on implicitly—his own judgment—makes him more accessible to modern readers than any other author of the Renaissance. Much of modern literary nonfiction has found inspiration in Montaigne, and writers of all kinds continue to read him for his masterful balance of intellectual knowledge and personal storytelling.
In his own time, Montaigne was admired more as a statesman then as an author. The tendency in his essays to digress into anecdotes and personal ruminations was seen as detrimental to proper style rather than as an innovation, and his declaration that, "I am myself the matter of my book", was viewed by his contemporaries as self-indulgent. In time, however, Montaigne would be recognized as embodying, perhaps better than any other author of his time, the spirit of freely entertaining doubt which began to emerge at that time. He is most famously known for his skeptical remark, "Que sais-je?" ("What do I know?").
Remarkably modern even to readers today, Montaigne's attempt to examine the world through the lens of the only thing he can depend on implicitly—his own judgment—makes him more accessible to modern readers than any other author of the Renaissance. Much of modern literary nonfiction has found inspiration in Montaigne, and writers of all kinds continue to read him for his masterful balance of intellectual knowledge and personal storytelling.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
December 10, 2015
Of cannibals is one of my favorite play not only because it was very interesting but also because it exposed us to a new civilization.In the play the author portrayed the people of the Brazilian tribe as barbaric because they eat the dead bodies of their war prisoners.
My favorite part was when Mickel De Champaigne went on and compare the Brasilian cannibal to the people of the civilized world in Europe.This play faced many cricisms because many people think that the cannibals were barbaric.We have to understand that the cannibals were not killing their prosoners out of lack of food or hunger.They did it because it is part of their traditions to do so.The Europeans people taught that they were better that the cannibal and Mickel work focuses on clarifying that thought.The author argued that the cannibals were not barbaric as the Europeans were.He went on and argued that the barbarians did not actually eat the prisoners while they were alive,they only eat the dead bodies.Instead of painting them as cannibal,Michel De cahmpaigne claim that these people are actually less barbaric that the Eurpeans because they do not need much to live happy.They is no need for them to conquer new lands.they are satisfied with what the nature has offered them.Contrary to the people of of cannibals,the Europeans anger for land and war make them less civilized.the Europeans of the civilized world are never satisfied.They fight each other all the time and kill each other.
I think Michel De Champaigne is being fair in criticizing his own people and comparing them to the cannibals.Many people think that what the cannibals were doing was wrong and inhuman.
I personally think that the definition of wright and wrong depend on the vertu of that society in which we live.Each society whether civilized or not,it has its own culture, traditions and a way of doing thinks.we should avoid as much as possible to judge people without even understanding how their traditions work
I have enjoyed reading this book and i really appreciate how to author was supportive of the cannibals traditions. I will definitely recommend this book because it gave me the opportunity to learn about a new tribe and to understand their lifestyle.
I actually read a similar book about another tribe in Brazil.That tribe live in the forest as the cannibals but they have different traditions.The young boy are to jump off the a forty feet tower and land on the mud and if they survives,they are now classified as a man and until they do so they must remain with their mom and stay home.They could not go hunting because they pass the jumping test and people were willing to do anything for their honor even if it be fatal sometime.(516 words)
My favorite part was when Mickel De Champaigne went on and compare the Brasilian cannibal to the people of the civilized world in Europe.This play faced many cricisms because many people think that the cannibals were barbaric.We have to understand that the cannibals were not killing their prosoners out of lack of food or hunger.They did it because it is part of their traditions to do so.The Europeans people taught that they were better that the cannibal and Mickel work focuses on clarifying that thought.The author argued that the cannibals were not barbaric as the Europeans were.He went on and argued that the barbarians did not actually eat the prisoners while they were alive,they only eat the dead bodies.Instead of painting them as cannibal,Michel De cahmpaigne claim that these people are actually less barbaric that the Eurpeans because they do not need much to live happy.They is no need for them to conquer new lands.they are satisfied with what the nature has offered them.Contrary to the people of of cannibals,the Europeans anger for land and war make them less civilized.the Europeans of the civilized world are never satisfied.They fight each other all the time and kill each other.
I think Michel De Champaigne is being fair in criticizing his own people and comparing them to the cannibals.Many people think that what the cannibals were doing was wrong and inhuman.
I personally think that the definition of wright and wrong depend on the vertu of that society in which we live.Each society whether civilized or not,it has its own culture, traditions and a way of doing thinks.we should avoid as much as possible to judge people without even understanding how their traditions work
I have enjoyed reading this book and i really appreciate how to author was supportive of the cannibals traditions. I will definitely recommend this book because it gave me the opportunity to learn about a new tribe and to understand their lifestyle.
I actually read a similar book about another tribe in Brazil.That tribe live in the forest as the cannibals but they have different traditions.The young boy are to jump off the a forty feet tower and land on the mud and if they survives,they are now classified as a man and until they do so they must remain with their mom and stay home.They could not go hunting because they pass the jumping test and people were willing to do anything for their honor even if it be fatal sometime.(516 words)
October 3, 2020
This is less about cannibals than it is about barbarity, using cannibalism as a sort of prolonged analogy by which to discuss it. I would describe “Of Cannibals” as a cross between Montaigne’s usual type of philosophical essay and a sort of proto-anthropological study wherein he recounts the way of life of an anonymous New World people (now known as indigenous Brazilians). Montaigne is surprisingly clear-eyed here, fairly divorced from the condescension of his day which would’ve painted these people as base savages—in describing their customs, traditions, and view of the world, he exhorts us to look hard at our own habits and social stratification, cloaked as they are in the veil of “modernity,” before we presume to judge these occasional cannibals who seem to be getting along just fine.
”We may then call these people barbarous, in respect to the rules of reason: but not in respect to ourselves, who in all sorts of barbarity exceed them.”
”We may then call these people barbarous, in respect to the rules of reason: but not in respect to ourselves, who in all sorts of barbarity exceed them.”
April 9, 2016
Who are the real barbarians here?
November 14, 2025
rip montaigne you wouldve loved bones and all by camille deangelis
February 2, 2024
To read if you want to hate on Europeans and justify cannibalism.
Quelques citations:
“ il faut juger non en fonction des idées reçues, mais sous l’angle de la raison”
“ L’honneur de la valeur militaire consiste à combattre, non à battre. “
“ Toutes les choses, dit Platon, sont produites, ou par la nature, ou par le hasard, ou par l’art, les plus grandes et les plus belles par l’une ou l’autre des deux premiers, les moindres et les moins parfaite par le dernier. “
“ Je pense qu’il y a plus de barbaries à manger un homme vivant qu’à le manger mort .”
Montaigne n’arrête pas de faire des hors sujets, mais bonne culture générale et écriture. Je ne pense juste pas qu’il avait absolument à prendre autant de pages pour nous faire comprendre que les occidentaux sont des sauvages.
Quelques citations:
“ il faut juger non en fonction des idées reçues, mais sous l’angle de la raison”
“ L’honneur de la valeur militaire consiste à combattre, non à battre. “
“ Toutes les choses, dit Platon, sont produites, ou par la nature, ou par le hasard, ou par l’art, les plus grandes et les plus belles par l’une ou l’autre des deux premiers, les moindres et les moins parfaite par le dernier. “
“ Je pense qu’il y a plus de barbaries à manger un homme vivant qu’à le manger mort .”
Montaigne n’arrête pas de faire des hors sujets, mais bonne culture générale et écriture. Je ne pense juste pas qu’il avait absolument à prendre autant de pages pour nous faire comprendre que les occidentaux sont des sauvages.
Read
February 14, 2024Ovid: There was once a golden age…
“First was the Golden Age. Then rectitude
spontaneous in the heart prevailed, and faith.
Avengers were not seen, for laws unframed
were all unknown and needless. Punishment
and fear of penalties existed not.
No harsh decrees were fixed on brazen plates…
The towns were not entrenched for time of war;
they had no brazen trumpets, straight, nor horns
of curving brass, nor helmets, shields nor swords…
Then of her own accord the earth produced
a store of every fruit. The harrow touched
her not, nor did the plowshare wound
her fields…”
Montaigne: there still is a golden age, among “barbarians” who live in a state of uncorrupted nature, and whose barbarity we civilized men surpass…
“This is a nation [...] in which there is no sort of traffic, no knowledge of letters, no science of numbers, no name for a magistrate or for political superiority, no custom of servitude, no riches or poverty, no contracts, no successions, no partitions, no occupations but leisure ones, no care for any but common kinship, no clothes, no agriculture, no metal, no use of wine or wheat. The very words that signify lying, treachery, dissimulation, avarice, envy, belittling, pardon — unheard of.”
Shakespeare : there could be a golden age, in the utopian fantasies of lowly servants...
“I' the commonwealth I would by contraries
Execute all things; for no kind of traffic
Would I admit; no name of magistrate;
Letters should not be known; riches, poverty,
And use of service, none; contract, succession,
Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard, none;
No use of metal, corn, or wine, or oil;
No occupation; all men idle, all;
And women too, but innocent and pure;
No sovereignty;--”
“All things in common nature should produce
Without sweat or endeavour: treason, felony,
Sword, pike, knife, gun, or need of any engine,
Would I not have; but nature should bring forth,
Of its own kind, all foison, all abundance,
To feed my innocent people.”
“First was the Golden Age. Then rectitude
spontaneous in the heart prevailed, and faith.
Avengers were not seen, for laws unframed
were all unknown and needless. Punishment
and fear of penalties existed not.
No harsh decrees were fixed on brazen plates…
The towns were not entrenched for time of war;
they had no brazen trumpets, straight, nor horns
of curving brass, nor helmets, shields nor swords…
Then of her own accord the earth produced
a store of every fruit. The harrow touched
her not, nor did the plowshare wound
her fields…”
Montaigne: there still is a golden age, among “barbarians” who live in a state of uncorrupted nature, and whose barbarity we civilized men surpass…
“This is a nation [...] in which there is no sort of traffic, no knowledge of letters, no science of numbers, no name for a magistrate or for political superiority, no custom of servitude, no riches or poverty, no contracts, no successions, no partitions, no occupations but leisure ones, no care for any but common kinship, no clothes, no agriculture, no metal, no use of wine or wheat. The very words that signify lying, treachery, dissimulation, avarice, envy, belittling, pardon — unheard of.”
Shakespeare : there could be a golden age, in the utopian fantasies of lowly servants...
“I' the commonwealth I would by contraries
Execute all things; for no kind of traffic
Would I admit; no name of magistrate;
Letters should not be known; riches, poverty,
And use of service, none; contract, succession,
Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard, none;
No use of metal, corn, or wine, or oil;
No occupation; all men idle, all;
And women too, but innocent and pure;
No sovereignty;--”
“All things in common nature should produce
Without sweat or endeavour: treason, felony,
Sword, pike, knife, gun, or need of any engine,
Would I not have; but nature should bring forth,
Of its own kind, all foison, all abundance,
To feed my innocent people.”
June 22, 2025
The Essays of Michel de Montaigne – Cannibals – The Essays of Montaigne is one of Top 100 Greatest Books in History http://realini.blogspot.com/2021/07/t... the list is at The Guardian site
10 out of 10
This is one of the greatest works you could read – The Norwegian Book Club has asked the most prominent, respected authors of the age, Umberto Eco, Salman Rushdie, Nadine Gordimer, John Irving and scores of others to list their preferred masterpieces, and the result has Don Quixote at the top and The Essays, Tolstoy, Hemingway, Marcel Proust, Jane Austen, James Joyce, Scott F Fitzgerald on the list
One of the themes that astounding Michel de Montaigne takes on is that of cannibalism, and this is big right now, as Netflix has had the premiere of The Society of The Snow, nominated for The Golden Globe and other prizes, about the real life airplane crash that took place in The Andes, already adapted for the screen as Alive http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/05/a...
Spoiler alert for these films (and incidentally, for the rest of the lines, which are not worth the trouble) they are faced with the rules of three – you survive for three minutes without air, three days without water, and three weeks without food, and since there is nothing to eat in that eternal snow, what can they do, but eat the bodies of the dead humans, those who died just as the plane hit the earth, and the rest
On death, Michel de Montaigne has mesmerizing thoughts (just like on everything else), encouraging readers to take the example of Jesus – here this reader would have some qualms, because, unlike the glorious philosopher, he does not believe in God, he is actually closer to Magister Ludi Kingsley Amis http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/06/t... who said something like ‘it is not that I do not believe in Him, I hate Him’, and hence what model to take from such characters?
The point with Jesus Christ is similar to the one connecting him with Alexander, grandiose figures that have died at such an early age, when I am sixty, it looks preposterous to moan if Death strikes soon…something Montaigne appears to insist on –if we joke here, it could be said it might be a bit morbid, he has an interest in death that may surpass the normal – and the ancients had the wisdom to look at the terminal period
When a winning general paraded through Rome, at the zenith of his career, the best moment of life, he would be tempted to bask in the glory and forget everything else, to avoid this, he had a slave riding in the same chariot, whose job was to repeat in the ear of the winner ‘memento mori’ aka remember you are mortal
Audiences are invited to think of every day as being the last and thus every hour will be a boon, this is a quote (more or less, if phenomenal Montaigne is accurate, well, I do not remember the line, which you could search for, if keen to know the exact words) and we also have Socrates and his attitude in the face of the death sentence – when asked about burial, he does not care – he says when told ‘the judges have condemned you to die…and Nature them’ Socrates was puzzled by the Oracle of Delphi
This Oracle had declared him the wisest man of ancient times, and when considering why, Socrates came to the conclusion that he does not say he knows what he does not know (Michel de Montaigne has lines on the subject, with amateurs talking about what they do not know) and this refers to death as well, for Socrates explains that he cannot (and the rest of us) fear death, because nobody knows about it, to be afraid of it would be the old mistake of pretending to know what we do not know, nobody came back from the other side
We should think of death as liberating, Montaigne muses on pain as well, for if it is intense, then the end is near and quick, with the reverse, if less excruciating, then there would be more time…we must judge the life after death, and there are references (always the case) to different sages, and how this story developed, one saying I lived one day more than I should, the end comes unexpectedly- his own brother is hit by a ball and dies
Fyodor Dostoyevsky is in the same elite, crème de la crème society of the best writers, with The Idiot http://realini.blogspot.com/2014/06/t... The Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment, Notes From the Underground acclaimed as classics, and he has had a real life experience of death and life, which we can read about in his magnum opera, where we have the hero facing the other side
Dostoyevsky was condemned to death, and he was in front of the firing squad, when he had three minutes left, which he divided into…three, one minute to say goodbye to friends, another to pass his life in front of him, and the last to admire a ray of sunshine that was falling on the top of a church nearby, when he is pardoned, or else the czar had had a sort of trick in mind from the beginning, to scare the revolutionary
We thus read in the chefs d’oeuvre how one feels when one knows there are only days, hours, minutes left to live, how we would trade that short timespan for a life in the middle of the ocean, on a bare rock, anything is preferable, life is so precious, unique, we have this chance and must use it…paradoxically, I had thought for quite some time, even reading Fyodor Dostoevsky, that he was an atheist, when in fact he was so deeply religious, when he said ‘I would rather be a sausage maker, who believes in God without fail, goes to church daily and prays…’, alas, when looking on the net for the lines, I did not get them, so it might be that the words are not close enough, or maybe I just made this up…however, for some time, I thought this is the atheist, wishing to be a faithful person, without doubts, but the truth was that, in reality, the writer was deeply immersed in the dogmas of the church…
Now for my standard closing with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Heritage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
‚parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’
“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”
10 out of 10
This is one of the greatest works you could read – The Norwegian Book Club has asked the most prominent, respected authors of the age, Umberto Eco, Salman Rushdie, Nadine Gordimer, John Irving and scores of others to list their preferred masterpieces, and the result has Don Quixote at the top and The Essays, Tolstoy, Hemingway, Marcel Proust, Jane Austen, James Joyce, Scott F Fitzgerald on the list
One of the themes that astounding Michel de Montaigne takes on is that of cannibalism, and this is big right now, as Netflix has had the premiere of The Society of The Snow, nominated for The Golden Globe and other prizes, about the real life airplane crash that took place in The Andes, already adapted for the screen as Alive http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/05/a...
Spoiler alert for these films (and incidentally, for the rest of the lines, which are not worth the trouble) they are faced with the rules of three – you survive for three minutes without air, three days without water, and three weeks without food, and since there is nothing to eat in that eternal snow, what can they do, but eat the bodies of the dead humans, those who died just as the plane hit the earth, and the rest
On death, Michel de Montaigne has mesmerizing thoughts (just like on everything else), encouraging readers to take the example of Jesus – here this reader would have some qualms, because, unlike the glorious philosopher, he does not believe in God, he is actually closer to Magister Ludi Kingsley Amis http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/06/t... who said something like ‘it is not that I do not believe in Him, I hate Him’, and hence what model to take from such characters?
The point with Jesus Christ is similar to the one connecting him with Alexander, grandiose figures that have died at such an early age, when I am sixty, it looks preposterous to moan if Death strikes soon…something Montaigne appears to insist on –if we joke here, it could be said it might be a bit morbid, he has an interest in death that may surpass the normal – and the ancients had the wisdom to look at the terminal period
When a winning general paraded through Rome, at the zenith of his career, the best moment of life, he would be tempted to bask in the glory and forget everything else, to avoid this, he had a slave riding in the same chariot, whose job was to repeat in the ear of the winner ‘memento mori’ aka remember you are mortal
Audiences are invited to think of every day as being the last and thus every hour will be a boon, this is a quote (more or less, if phenomenal Montaigne is accurate, well, I do not remember the line, which you could search for, if keen to know the exact words) and we also have Socrates and his attitude in the face of the death sentence – when asked about burial, he does not care – he says when told ‘the judges have condemned you to die…and Nature them’ Socrates was puzzled by the Oracle of Delphi
This Oracle had declared him the wisest man of ancient times, and when considering why, Socrates came to the conclusion that he does not say he knows what he does not know (Michel de Montaigne has lines on the subject, with amateurs talking about what they do not know) and this refers to death as well, for Socrates explains that he cannot (and the rest of us) fear death, because nobody knows about it, to be afraid of it would be the old mistake of pretending to know what we do not know, nobody came back from the other side
We should think of death as liberating, Montaigne muses on pain as well, for if it is intense, then the end is near and quick, with the reverse, if less excruciating, then there would be more time…we must judge the life after death, and there are references (always the case) to different sages, and how this story developed, one saying I lived one day more than I should, the end comes unexpectedly- his own brother is hit by a ball and dies
Fyodor Dostoyevsky is in the same elite, crème de la crème society of the best writers, with The Idiot http://realini.blogspot.com/2014/06/t... The Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment, Notes From the Underground acclaimed as classics, and he has had a real life experience of death and life, which we can read about in his magnum opera, where we have the hero facing the other side
Dostoyevsky was condemned to death, and he was in front of the firing squad, when he had three minutes left, which he divided into…three, one minute to say goodbye to friends, another to pass his life in front of him, and the last to admire a ray of sunshine that was falling on the top of a church nearby, when he is pardoned, or else the czar had had a sort of trick in mind from the beginning, to scare the revolutionary
We thus read in the chefs d’oeuvre how one feels when one knows there are only days, hours, minutes left to live, how we would trade that short timespan for a life in the middle of the ocean, on a bare rock, anything is preferable, life is so precious, unique, we have this chance and must use it…paradoxically, I had thought for quite some time, even reading Fyodor Dostoevsky, that he was an atheist, when in fact he was so deeply religious, when he said ‘I would rather be a sausage maker, who believes in God without fail, goes to church daily and prays…’, alas, when looking on the net for the lines, I did not get them, so it might be that the words are not close enough, or maybe I just made this up…however, for some time, I thought this is the atheist, wishing to be a faithful person, without doubts, but the truth was that, in reality, the writer was deeply immersed in the dogmas of the church…
Now for my standard closing with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Heritage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
‚parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’
“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”
December 9, 2015
Michel de Montaigne: Of Cannibals was an interesting piece to read, definitely not something I can relate to when it comes to my personal life but educational as towards other people's cultural norms.
It is mindblowing how the Native Brazilians lived their lives in comparison to us individuals in the present, by treasuring, honoring and finally killing the prisoner and have it as their dinner. I now respect the was Native Brazilians lived even though at the beginning I thought that they were just savages who ate other peoples bodies because I would also like other people to respect my way of living even if they thought it was not appropriate. Montaigne really emphasized and portrayed with a strong effect of vivid imagery of how if a friend could not show up they would send them an arm. In comparison to Richard and Virgil, people of higher status in the Cannibals trated each other with equality,no matter if they were of higher or lower class.
Montaigne outdid himself in this non-fictional essay in which people could agree and disagree when it comes to cultural norms. Also, extremely interesting to compare and contrast how people in the past generation made an every day living with one another. (204)
12/09/15
It is mindblowing how the Native Brazilians lived their lives in comparison to us individuals in the present, by treasuring, honoring and finally killing the prisoner and have it as their dinner. I now respect the was Native Brazilians lived even though at the beginning I thought that they were just savages who ate other peoples bodies because I would also like other people to respect my way of living even if they thought it was not appropriate. Montaigne really emphasized and portrayed with a strong effect of vivid imagery of how if a friend could not show up they would send them an arm. In comparison to Richard and Virgil, people of higher status in the Cannibals trated each other with equality,no matter if they were of higher or lower class.
Montaigne outdid himself in this non-fictional essay in which people could agree and disagree when it comes to cultural norms. Also, extremely interesting to compare and contrast how people in the past generation made an every day living with one another. (204)
12/09/15
December 9, 2015
Cannibalism is definitely not a topic I had ever expected to read about, especially for a class. Montaigne’s essay on a Brazilian tribe and the culture that they followed was initially quite off putting to me for one very obvious reason, they saw the act of cannibalism to be an honorable thing for the victim, and how they could perceive it as that completely escaped me and seemed so wrong to me. Yet in reading this I realized that just like they proudly practice something I find to be quite barbaric, we must certainly do and practice things in our own culture that others would find bizarre or repugnant all the same. For example, every man in this tribe was on equal footing, so to them our class based society would definitely appear backwards, especially if they were to see the staggering number of homeless among our streets. That was what led me to my takeaway, just because they do something they see as right doesn’t mean I have to agree, and just because I don’t agree with one specific aspect of their lives doesn’t prevent me from still appreciating the rest of their culture to some degree as an outsider.
December 2, 2015
This read was particularly interesting to me. I typically enjoy writings that are non fictional and this one caught my attention.
The cannibalism for honor described by the author made me think of how the Aztec people would sacrifice humans many years ago. Although not the same but it just made me think of how different cultures are. While reading this essay I could confirm that although the people of Tupinamba in Brazil would eat humans and their men had many wives, which in our culture is unacceptable, they were very noble and peaceful people. I began to imagine if our world would live so much violence and tragedies if we practiced their culture today, just a thought.
The text was well written and it was very informative about the culture of the Brazilians many years ago. It made me think about how we are so quick to judge other cultures but we do not realize our culture also has its bad aspects.
The cannibalism for honor described by the author made me think of how the Aztec people would sacrifice humans many years ago. Although not the same but it just made me think of how different cultures are. While reading this essay I could confirm that although the people of Tupinamba in Brazil would eat humans and their men had many wives, which in our culture is unacceptable, they were very noble and peaceful people. I began to imagine if our world would live so much violence and tragedies if we practiced their culture today, just a thought.
The text was well written and it was very informative about the culture of the Brazilians many years ago. It made me think about how we are so quick to judge other cultures but we do not realize our culture also has its bad aspects.
December 8, 2015
This read was particularly interesting in how… cannibalism is a ritual of some sort for these group of people. The cannibalism for honor described by the author made me visualize how certain tribes would sacrifice humans as an honor of strength. While reading this essay I could like to think that the people of Tupinamba in Brazil were eating humans because of their cultural differences. They had their noble and spiritual aspects about them too. I think that people from different parts of the world do things for different ways about themselves. In our time we kill people to but it’s not for honor only, for pain, happiness, greed and everything else that the heart determines of that individual.
December 9, 2015
I'm not sure any of us can comprehend how advanced Montaigne's thinking was for his time as it pertains to this (and certainly other) essays of his.
December 5, 2018
Read it for school it was okay
February 28, 2024
...Every one gives the title of barbarism to everything that is not in use in his own country
A short, complex read that iterates the humanitarian treatment of indigenous peoples but subsequently demonizes them for having non-western ideals.
A short, complex read that iterates the humanitarian treatment of indigenous peoples but subsequently demonizes them for having non-western ideals.
February 2, 2023
pretty short, had to read it for school, had a lot of trouble understanding the story in the beginning
October 13, 2023
Je dois faire un commentaire dessus et j'ai la flemme mais il était plutôt progressiste notre petit Montaigne anti-colonialiste, that's a slay
April 4, 2025
"Toate acestea nu arată prea rău; dar ce să facem? Nu poartă ițari scurți."
He was so real for the creation of this whole essay.
He was so real for the creation of this whole essay.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 7, 2025
read for HONS 401
December 9, 2017
Testo che scosse. Pregiudizi e apri' le menti allo studio dei diversi senza preconcetti
January 2, 2024
putting academical comentaries aside, being brazilian and reading this is kinda funny
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