000			01266nam a2200193 4500
010			_a73163802
020			_a9780140442816
024			_a2722523
050			_aPQ2011
082			_a843.5
100	1		_aCharles-Louis de Secondat Montesquieu
245	1		_aPersian Letters
260			_bPenguin
300			_a352 pages
520			_aThis richly evocative novel-in-letters tells the story of two Persian noblemen who have left their country - the modern Iran - to journey to Europe in search of wisdom. As they travel, they write home to wives and eunuchs in the harem and to friends in France and elsewhere. Their colourful observations on the culture differences between West and East culture conjure up Eastern sensuality, repression and cruelty in contrast to the freer, more civilized West - but here also unworthy nobles and bishops, frivolous women of fashion and conceited people of all kinds are satirized. Storytellers as well as letter-writers, Montesquieu's Usbek and Rica are disrespectful and witty, but also serious moralists. "Persian Letters" was a succes de scandale in Paris society, and encapsulates the libertarian, critical spirit of the early eighteenth century.
650			_aJournals/Diaries
650			_aGeography & Travel
999			_c209 _d209