This is Not a Story and Other Stories (The World's Classics) by Denis Diderot

This is Not a Story and Other Stories (The World's Classics) Reviews

• 
  Jim

  These are not short stories in the current sense of the word, but rather philosophical tales and dialogs. The first three are on the subject of sexual ethics, taking a position opposed to the church and the state. The final "story" is a dialog in which
  Denis Diderot, his father, brother and sister are participants.
  
  I enjoyed
  This Is Not a Story and Other Stories, but more as a work of moral philosophy than as a work of fiction. It's worth reading as the product of one of the great philosophes whose work predated the French Revolution.
• 
  Ángel Agudo

  Antología de tres cuentos [o no cuentos] de Diderot, "Esto no es un cuento", "Los dos amigos de Bourbonne" y "La señora de la Carlière", y un fragmento ensayístico llamado "Autores y críticos", que es un capítulo de su "Discurso sobre la poesía dramática".
  
  A excepción de "La señora de Carlière", que le daría un 2/5, el resto de cuentos y el ensayo breve se mantendrían en un sólido 3/5.
  
  Me gusta la narrativa dialogal de Diderot, los cuentos se interrumpen constantemente y las interacciones son extrañas, y más lo fueron para la época, pero le dan un toque único a los escritos. Por lo que tengo entendido, Diderot trasteaba con los límites de la narrativa, y esto fue lo que lo llevo a escribir "Jacques el fatalista", una obra póstuma considerada impublicable por el autor por ser tan antinovelistica.
  
  Habiendo leído "Jacques el fatalista", su novela más sonada, estos cuentos se me han quedado un poco cojos. Supongo que los "Esto no es un cuento" y compañía fueron unos relatos previos y un tonteo con nuevas formas narrativas. Al ser algo, a mí parecer, previo, hace que se queden a la sombra de "Jacques el fatalista" si ya se ha leído la novela, pues esta supera a los cuentos en todos los ámbitos.
  
  Los relatos están bien escritos, pero se hacen pesados a momentos y tampoco son demasiado brillantes.
• 
  Siina

  Tämä ei ole tarina is an interesting collection of short stories by Diderot. We don't know if the stories are real or fiction, but even still - they amaze by being so thoughtful. I love philosophy and the points Diderot makes are deep and profound and still light in manner. It's interesting how he's surely an atheist, but looks at God and religion very wisely and makes the reader question their own believes. The women in his stories are bound by their time of course, but Diderot keeps his own opinions out of the picture and yet the text seems fresh. His women have their own thoughts and mind and they are righteous and if they aren't, they've decided so by themselves.
  
  The book consists of four short stories and mostly they are dialogues between Diderot and someone else (or least we can assume it's him). It's like reading stories when someone else is telling them at the same time and the interaction is very humane. This style is nowadays slightly outdated and perhaps hard to read and follow, but I enjoyed it. The profound thoughtfulness is the key element in Diderot's texts and it would've been awesome to have discussions with him during his time. The stories themselves are like little life lessons from time gone by and very much worth your time.
• 
  Suketus

  Luin, koska halusin saada jotain (ohutta) luettua Helmet-haasteen 1700-luvulla kirjoitettu kirja -kohtaan. Neljän tarinan kokoelma kertonee naisista ja sovinnaisten tapojen problemaattisuudesta lähinnä dialogimuodossa. Jotenkin hankala sisäistää, ehkä luin huolimattomasti.
• 
  João Moura

  Dois bons contos de Diderot, com um deles contado em diálogo a um interlocutor, como um conto oral. Contudo, não ficarão na memória.
• 
  Ostap Bender

  These five stories (non-stories? :-) were written between 1770 and 1772, prior to Diderot pulling off an identity scam worthy of today’s catfishing. Even though it’s completely tangential, I can’t help but starting there. The story goes that knowing that his friend the Marquis de Croismare had a personal interest in a nun who was hoping she could be released from her vows, he and his friends wrote to him as if they were the nun, informing him that she had escaped and needed his help. The letters back and forth between the two intensified so much that, glee aside, Diderot and his friends felt obliged out of mercy to “kill” the nun off. This of course led to his somewhat salacious novel, The Nun finished in 1780, and then published after his death in 1796.
  
  I have to say, The Nun is probably of more interest than these stories, which were originally published in a periodical with very low readership, and in which Diderot, the 18th century French free-thinker, questions conventional morality, and condemns the fickleness of gossip and public opinion. They are reflective of the Enlightenment, and use the interesting literary device of being framed as parts of conversations. Diderot is particularly hard on sexual morality, saying that marital laws binding a man and woman together sexually for life are inherently against human nature, as are the vows of abstinence taken by the clergy. He also asks the philosophical question, when is it better to “do the right thing” even if it’s not lawful, seeming to advocate it, and yet knowing the limits, and dangers of individuals making this determination.
  
  Of the five stories, ‘Supplement to Bougainville’s Voyage’ was the most interesting, as Diderot used utopian reports from explorers of Tahitian free love and what practically amounted to communism (all over-idealized) to point out ways in which ‘superior’ European culture was actually at odds with man’s true nature, and therefore inferior. It’s hard to imagine that 250 years ago entirely new worlds of people, flora, and fauna could be discovered on the planet! And I imagined myself in an intellectual at the time, sitting in a mahogany study, reading this ‘supplement’ to the explorer’s reports, and pondering the moral and ethical implications. These stories are not about plot, but they’re not dry and stuffy either, and are worth reading.
  
  Quotes:
  On freedom:
  “But do you want man to be happy and free? Then do not interfere in his affairs; there are enough unexpected chances in the world to lead him to enlightenment or vice; and always remember that it was not for your sake but for theirs that cunning legislators molded and misshaped you as they have done. Look at all political, civil, and religious institutions; study them with care; and I’m much mistaken or you will find Man, century after century, the yoke-ox of a handful of knaves. Mistrust the man who comes to you praising ‘order’; creating order always means bullying others to their own discomfort.”
  
  On native people; these words inserted into the mouth of an old Tahitian chief:
  “This country yours! Why? Because you set foot in it? If one day a Tahitian were to land on your shores and carve on one of your stones, or the bark of one of your trees, ’This country belongs to Tahiti’, what would you think? You are the stronger? Well, and what if so? When one of the wretched trifles your boat is full of was stolen, you made an outcry and took revenge; and in the very same moment, in the depths of your heart, you were planning to steal a whole country! You are not slaves, you would suffer death rather than be one, and you want to enslave us! … Leave us our own customs; they are wiser and more honorable than yours.”
• 
  Fernando Mota

  Quick reading for a lazy afternoon. Considering when it was written (XVIII), I found the idea of a narrator being interrupted by a reader/listener quite modern. There’s not much happening in terms of a story, it feels more like an assemble of thoughts and a random conversation between two people - but a good one, just the right size, like a coffee chatting. Language is simple and has some quirky moments.
• 
  Blair

  Impressive stories from the great intellectual that operate largely in dialogic mode. There are elements of metafiction as he plays with real and invented characters and existing texts such as Bougainville's Voyage. He's largely concerned with getting readers to examine received notions of morality and does this very successfully.
• 
  Dilek

  Diderot hikâyesinde, ara ara okuyucu oluyor ve yorum yapıyor. İlk hikâye basit gibi dursa da felsefik bakış açısı ve özgün anlatımıyla klasik sanata dönüşmüş. İkincisi ise dostluk üzerine yazılmış ve yine felsefi düşüncelerle harmanlanmış.
• 
  Janice Feng

  But what is it?
• 
  Laia

  Esto no es un cuento
  Los dos amigos de Bourbonne
  La señora de La Carlière
• 
  suso

  muy sorprendido de diderot
• 
  Daniela

  Estrutura dialógica interessante. Duas histórias contadas para criticar o comportamento masculino, achei questionável quão bom era o homem virtuoso, mas o que me incomodou e muito foram os pressupostos de virtude feminina.
  
  Virtude é associada a nascer em boa família e ter bens. Uma boa mulher se sacrifica pelo homem de todos os jeitos (larga família, bens, saúde, devota emoções e intelecto ao amante etc.). Se ela morrer na pobreza melhor ainda. Mas tem que ser fiel em seu amor ao cafajeste.
  
  Uma mulher pobre que depois de abandonada na pobreza se vira arrajando amantes ricos (único jeito de sobreviver, até incentivada pelo "bom homem" que a deixou sozinha na miséria). Esta que se desilude do amor e valoriza os bens materiais que a impedirão de morrer de fome é uma vilã. Uma mulher racional e que cuida de si é malvada nesse mundo.
  
  Conto misógino demais para eu gostar dele. Tem seu interesse histórico.
• 
  Heli

  Olisin kovin halunnut pitää tästä enemmän. Pikkukirja sisältää neljä Diderotin kirjoittamaa vuoropuhelua, jotka ovat pahimmillaan tolkuttoman pitkäpiimäisiä ja parhaimmillaan ihan hauskan teräviä. Vuoropuheluitten aiheena ja toisinaan myös osallistujina ovat naiset, ja laajempina teemoina voi havaita ainakin valistuksen ja yhteiskunnan muutoksen. Erityisesti jäi mieleen sivistynyt rouva, joka opetteli useita kieliä ja käänsi aina vain vaikeampia teoksia (ilmeisesti salaa).
  
  Tällaisia teoksia löytää, kun lainaa kirjastosta mitä tahansa alle sentin paksuista.
• 
  Rowena

  it was okay, i liked the first two stories ("stories") the most. "conversation" reminded me a little too much of plato, which is not a bad thing in general, but makes it unfavorable to me
  
  also i'm going to say i didn't read "supplement" because i didn't read and do not intend to read the original/source work/whatever you call it, which means i didn't read like half the book
• 
  Marinho Lopes

  Livro interessante. Fiquei com vontade de ler mais do Diderot. (O livro que li continha também o conto “Os dois amigos de Bourbonne”.)
• 
  Jaakko Koivula

  Very well preserved humorous thinking from the 18th century. Most enjoyable.
• 
  Luís Nuno Barbosa

  worth reading.
• 
  Pau

  -- Je crains bien que sa douleur et sa présence n'y fassent que de l'eau claire. Le dégoût c'est une terrible chose que le eégoût en amour, te d'une femme!...
• 
  Raghad

  Je me suis bien amusée en lisant ce petit non-conte.
  
  "S'il y a des femmes méchantes et des hommes bons, il y a aussi des femmes très bonnes et des hommes très méchants".