1,574 books
—
241 voters
to-read
(2097)
currently-reading (2)
read (950)
ficciones (274)
history (160)
criticism (140)
war (136)
hearts-laid-bare (127)
historiophantasmagoria (119)
men-of-letters (107)
to-read-history (105)
shouldreread (102)
currently-reading (2)
read (950)
ficciones (274)
history (160)
criticism (140)
war (136)
hearts-laid-bare (127)
historiophantasmagoria (119)
men-of-letters (107)
to-read-history (105)
shouldreread (102)
favorites
(95)
americans (93)
memoir (87)
essays (86)
slavic (78)
dandies (73)
travels (71)
poetry (62)
westward-ho (61)
massacres (60)
photography (50)
bagatelle (47)
americans (93)
memoir (87)
essays (86)
slavic (78)
dandies (73)
travels (71)
poetry (62)
westward-ho (61)
massacres (60)
photography (50)
bagatelle (47)
“Arrested and imprisoned, Madame du Barry was judged and condemned to death by the revolutionary tribunal at the end of 1793. She was the only woman, amongst the numbers of women who perished in those days, who was unable to face the scaffold; she wept, she implored mercy from the horrible crowd which surrounded her, and that crowd was so affected by her entreaties that the executioner hastened to put an end to her agony. I am convinced that had the victims of that awful time not died so courageously, the Terror would have ceased much sooner.”
― Memoirs of Madame Vigee Lebrun
― Memoirs of Madame Vigee Lebrun
“The childhood and youth of the Bakunins were passed in an atmosphere of fantasy, of tender emotions and intellectual excitement, which sounds like Turgenev or Chekhov.”
― To the Finland Station: A Study in the Writing and Acting of History
― To the Finland Station: A Study in the Writing and Acting of History
“What are masterpieces? Let us name a few...the Testament of Villon, the Essays of Montaigne, the Fables of La Fontaine, the Maxims of La Rochefoucauld and La Bruyère, the Fleurs du Mal and Intimate Journals of Baudelaire...In feeling, these masterpieces contain the maximum of emotion compatible with a classical sense of form. Observe how they are written; many are short and compressed, fruits of reflective and contemplative natures, prose or poetry of great formal beauty and economy of phrase. There are no novels, plays or biographies included on the list, and the poetry is of the kind that speculates on life. They have been chosen by one who most values the art which is distilled and crystallized out of a lucid, curious and passionate imagination. All these writers enjoy something in common, “jusqu’au sombre plaisir d’un coeur mélancolique”: a sense of perfection and a faith in human dignity, combined with a tragic apprehending of the human situation, and its nearness to the Abyss.”
―
―
“This is how I spend my time. A eight o'clock, dark or light, I get up. I have my two cups of tea. Fair weather or foul, I open my window and take the air. Then I shut myself up and read...Those writers who can charm away our boredom, who ravish us from ourselves, whom nature has endowed with a magic wand which no sooner touches us than we forget our troubles and the light enters the dark places of the soul and we are reconciled to living - they are the only true benefactors of humanity.”
― Lettres à Sophie Volland
― Lettres à Sophie Volland
“When, in the silence of abjection, no sound remains except the rattle of the slave’s chain and the informer’s voice; when everyone trembles before the tyrant and it is as dangerous to curry his favor as to incur his disapproval, the historian appears, entrusted with the wrath of nations. Nero prospers in vain, for Tacitus has already been born within the Empire.”
― Memoirs from Beyond the Grave: 1800-1815
― Memoirs from Beyond the Grave: 1800-1815
Eric’s 2024 Year in Books
Take a look at Eric’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Eric
Lists liked by Eric



































































