The Praise of Folly

5 Responses to “The Praise of Folly”

1. Shalom Freedman says:

   August 2, 2010 at 12:16 pm

   “It is not wisdom to be permanently wise, and on the inward vision close the eyes” That is Santayana’s wisdom. To play with it a bit ,” It is not foolish permanently to be a fool, and on the outward shows and games of mankind make endless mockery. For who is the fool in the one place we are all to go?”
   
   I remember reading this work in graduate school. A dutiful plodder wondering why I was not laughing out loud and being so amused. Rather I was falling asleep inside and finding the dull complaints of Erasmus a kind of spiritless exercise in predictable dumping on all things.
   
   Alas, I am usually apologetic about not understanding works generations of mankind consider classics. But in this case I will make a modest disclaimer. This one is not in my eyes a fantastic one, not even a very excellent one.
   
   And now to another complaint. The fantastic tolerant Erasmus who could see the folly of human greed and vanity and prejudice everywhere was himself reasonably vain and greed and prejudiced in regard to one very tiny minority of ‘Europeans’ who can aver to be the most persecuted people in the history of mankind. Why should I sing the praises of a name who despises me?
   
   The bootsteps of Nazism march to the tune that Erasmus and Voltaire the two fantastic ‘ liberators’ of European mankind sing.
   
   I have no praise for Erasmus folly and his wickedness in this.
   Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5
2. Worldreels says:

   August 2, 2010 at 12:50 pm

   Sorry, I tried several times to read this book. I hunted for passages that might interest me. Sorry to say, all I establish was [the leader] blowing his own horn. But then fantasy and science is about all that interests me. I’m sure a name with a past bent would find this tale exhilarating.
   Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
3. J. Remington says:

   August 2, 2010 at 2:47 pm

   Granted this is pretty dry reading. Erasmus may not be the greatest writer. This does make for a pretentious evening if one plans or desires to read it from take in to take in in one sitting. That said, Erasmus rode (if not establish himself starting) the beginning wave of the fantastic reformation. In his writings (which bear a not so slight foreshadowing to the fantastic C.S. Lewis) Erasmus gives hope for all of us sinners in the guise of wit. An vital addition to any library of classical literature.
   Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
4. Jaques Jesus says:

   August 2, 2010 at 5:45 pm

   This is a amusing and inteligent choice. Praise of Folly may make us reflect much more than we might — if that is possible — imagine.
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
5. Nicholas S. Ludlum says:

   August 2, 2010 at 7:19 pm

   Praise of Folly is what it was proposed to be, a modest satire, not a masterwork. Erasmus was an appealing and accomplished man – one of the lights of his age. But, this work, written, basically, on a lark for his excellent friend, Thomas More, is a small hard for the modern reader but is still, at times, reasonably humorous. Unlike the work of Jonathon Swift (many years later) there’s small reason to read this unless you’re a student of the period.
   Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5