It's obvious I'm obsessed with essays and really want to make all of you love them too. I've studied essays as long as I've been in college (almost three years!) and read them before I came here, but in 2011 I would like to take a few steps back. My Awesome Essays posts typically focus on newer essays, or at least essays from the 1960's to present. I like that focus because I think it's easier for people to read those essays and discuss them. But for those of you who are up to a bit of a challenge, you might like to join me in the 2011 Montaigne Readalong. This isn't a challenge, you can participate as much or as little as you like.
This really my own self challenge. I want to read all of Montaigne's essays in one year, no small feat. Michel de Montaigne is a 16th Century writer, so obviously the writing style is very different from what we read today. The edition I plan to read is 1,344 pages long! Now you understand why I want to read it over the course of a year. Break that huge number down, and you're reading about 25 pages a week, which probably about as much Montaigne as I can take every week.
So where do you fit into all of this?
You don't really even need to sign-up, although it'd be nice to let me know if you want to participate in any way by leaving a comment. I'm going to post a schedule for what essays I'm going to read each week on a page underneath my header. If you're struck to join in for any particular week, you can go there and find out what essays I'm reading so you can discuss them on my blog post that week. Basically you can follow along as much as you want, joining in on conversations a few time over the year or every week (if you dare).
How do I find the essays?
The great thing about Montaigne is that he is in the public domain! That means you don't even have to buy a book to participate in this. One option is to subscribe to Montaigne's Essais on Daily Lit. This way you'll get essays emailed to your account as often as you like, although I'll tell you there are 459 parts to the Daily Lit subscription, meaning that if you got an email every day it would still take you over a year to read. I think these should line up with my book, although I'm not entirely certain yet. You can also check out some of the essays on Oregon State's website. If you're really excited you can read the same book I am, the Penguin edition called The Complete Essays.
I'll provide more information about all of this later, but I wanted you all to know I am hosting this next year!
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