Blaise Pascal "The Provincial Letters" - GBWW Gathering

The Great Books Reading Group will convene again July 11, 2010 at 5:00 pm in the Paneras Cafe in East Altamonte. The reading assignment is "The Provincial Letters" by Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) Great Books of the Western World - Volume 33, pages 1 through 167.

This coment is from Wikipedia, "Aside from their religious influence, the Provincial Letters were popular as a literary work. Pascal's use of humor, mockery, and vicious satire in his arguments made the letters ripe for public consumption, and influenced the prose of later French writers like Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
Wide praise has been given to the Provincial Letters. Voltaire called the Letters "the best-written book that has yet appeared in France." And when Bossuet was asked what book he would rather have written had he not written his own, he answered, the Provincial Letters of Pascal."

Below is an excerpt from the Rossellini film "Blaise Pascal," in the last 60 seconds of this clip there is a reference to 'The Provincial Letters.'

This is a very interesting read. Looking forward to discussing it with you on Sunday!