This was a hit. I have earned a
reputation in my family that I pick up the most ancient and abstruse work available
(Dante’s Inferno for instance, or Silas Marner). Unsurprisingly for me –
and surprisingly for those who haven’t read anything about or by Voltaire or
Dante – their work is far more liberating than most present day writings. And they
managed in far fewer pages too. Alphabet
of Wit is 62 pages long – blank pages included. It is a collection of very
short essays by Voltaire on various topics ranging from Adam to Zeal, and oh,
the topics are listed alphabetically. Voltaire’s outlook is refreshingly
practical, considering his generation. Even considering our own, actually.
Also, his sense of wry humour –
at first a bit stodgy – is very appealing, once you get used to it. Since the
essays are short, it is easy to stick it out for pages and get acquainted to
his style of writing. Though admittedly, it is a short book and it is hard to say
if the style could have survived an entire novella-length. And besides, I did
face a bit of a trouble reading it on the bus while on my way to work – there were
consecutive pieces on Impotence, Incubi and Kissing (the page between Incubi and
Kissing was separated by a paragraph on Justice).
You can’t go about the booklet,
looking for entertainment or too much of insight. You just get to know a bit of
how Voltaire was (he was pretty cool, it turns out) and take away a few
meaningful learnings such as…
“The most moderate, the least worrisome, the most keenly perceptive is
the most happy; but unfortunately the most keenly perceptive is often the least
moderate. It is not our position, but our disposition which renders us happy.
Our disposition depends upon the functioning of our organs, over which we have
no control.”
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