The Temple of Gnidus

Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat, baron de, 1689-1Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 69K words
Chapters: 7

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Le temple de Gnide by baron de Charles de Secondat MontesquieuAuthor: Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat, baron de, 1689-1755,Language: French, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Jan 12, 2008

Editor's review

The Temple of Gnide is a short, stylistically distinctive work by Montesquieu, often classed among his literary writings. It does not aim at rigorous argument but is closer to a prose narrative with classical taste, unfolding around a temple, love, and imagination; its language is refined and its imagery light, revealing another side of an Enlightenment author beyond philosophy. For readers familiar with The Spirit of the Laws, it offers a window onto Montesquieu's literary taste and rhetorical technique; for lovers of French literature, it is a classical text that can be read in a short time and savored repeatedly. Read it without the expectations of a philosophical work, and attend instead to its description, rhythm, and emotional tone. The public-domain e-book is convenient to carry and read, a lightweight entry point for understanding eighteenth-century French prose style.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Montesquieu and his literary writing
Scholars and students of eighteenth-century French prose and classical taste
Literature lovers who want close reading of a short work and classical rhetoric
Learners needing a public-domain French text for language and style analysis

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting Montesquieu's philosophical argument or political commentary
Readers who prefer the plot density and character development of modern fiction
Beginners with limited French reading ability who struggle with classical syntax

Reading tips

Read it first as a literary work, not with the expectations of a philosophical treatise.
It is short: read it through once, then return to the descriptions and imagery to feel the rhetorical rhythm.
Compare it with Montesquieu's other works and note the differences between his literary manner and his intellectual writing.
After reading, note two or three descriptions that struck you most, as practice in close reading of classical texts.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What is the relationship between this book and Montesquieu's philosophical works?

It leans toward literary writing rather than systematic philosophical argument. Read it for its prose style, imagery, and emotional tone rather than for political views. For readers familiar with Montesquieu's intellectual works, it helps reveal another side of the same author in literary rhetoric and classical taste.

It is short; how should I arrange my reading?

Read it through once first to grasp the overall atmosphere and narrative direction, then go back to the descriptions and rhetoric. Because the text is short, it also suits close reading in two or three sessions, each focusing on one aspect, such as imagery, emotion, or language rhythm, with brief notes afterward.

Can I read this book with only a general grounding in French?

Some French reading ability is needed. The syntax and vocabulary of eighteenth-century French prose are difficult for beginners; intermediate level or above is recommended, or begin with an introduction, annotations, and background materials. If you only want to understand the content, you may consult a reliable translation and then return to the original to appreciate the style.

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About the author

Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat, baron de, 1689-1 Author

Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat, baron de (1689–1), is the French Enlightenment thinker known in Chinese as Mengdesijiu. Public information about his life is limited, so personal details should not be guessed here, but the five works held in the collection give a clear sense of his writing. The representative Lettres persanes (Persian Letters), in two volumes, uses the correspondence of two Persians travelling in Europe to examine French customs and political institutions through foreign eyes, in a witty and satirical tone. Esprit des lois (The Spirit of the Laws) is a systematic discussion of law, forms of government and freedom, and proved widely influential. There is also a shorter work such as Le temple de Gnide (The Temple of Gnidus), more literary and imaginative in style. On the whole, his writing spans epistolary fiction and political and legal argument, drawing thought out of narrative and observation, and has inspired later political thought and literature alike.