Persian and Chinese Letters

Published nearly three hundred years ago, in 1721, Persian Letters by Montesquieu (Charles-louis De Secondat Montesquieu) is an epistolary novel made up of the fictional correspondence between two eighteenth-century Persians and their countrymen as they travel through the occidental world for the first time, eventually settling in Paris for a decade during the last years of Louis XIV’s reign. The book illustrates what we would now call culture shock for the two main characters as they try to make sense of their new surroundings and the people they encounter in their day-to-day lives during the first few years of the Age of Enlightenment.There are more than a few witticisms and biting criticisms of the times as Montesquieu uses the fictional characters to voice his own social critiques. Much of what this Frenchman wrote would have been shocking, even scandalous to his social peers.Montesquieu muses on many topics, ranging through government, virtue, law, morality, taxation, meteorology and religion, particularly the Catholic Church. Many are quotable, this one on religion is a favourite. “I believe in the immortality of the soul periodically. My opinions depend entirely on my physical condition. According to whether I have greater or less vitality, or my digestion is functioning well or badly…I know how to prevent religion from disturbing me when I am well, but I allow it to console me when I am ill.”...Although the character development of the Persians is slight and the plot thin until the last few letters when events seem to pick up and then rush towards the finale, it is more fair to judge the book on its playful musings and witticisms than to view it as a standard, plotted novel. In all, an interesting and amusing read, and an entertaining look at early eighteenth-century France.