The Philosopher's Kiss

The Philosopher's Kiss (#180) by Peter Prange is a translation from the German of a novel that explores the relationship between Denis Diderot, the French philosopher and editor of the Encyclopedia in pre-revolutionary France and Sophie Volland, a shadowy figure in his life.  This book turns on the idea that Sophie is the one true love of Diderot's life, and influential in the production and publication of his ground-breaking Encyclopedia. 

I'll admit that I didn't know a great deal about the French philosophers of the Enlightenment - Diderot, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, D'Alembert or Jaucourt -  and had only the vaguest idea of why they were so important, or how their ideas brought about the French Revolution in a relatively short span of time.  In the modern era, we tend to think of an Encylopedia as something gathering dust on shelves in the library, or an electronic version that is always available only a few clicks away when we need to look up something or someone.  The Philosopher's Kiss chronicles the amazing struggle the writers, editors and publishers faced to create a readily accessible compendium of human knowledge.   To do such a thing posed an incindiary threat to the monarchy and the established doctrine of the church by using reason instead of faith as the basis for this collection of writing.  The very subscription proposal was an affront and the authors literally risked life and limb to publish.

Using the device of a life-long love between Diderot and Sophie kept the narrative focused, and allowed Prange to create some plot twists and turns that kept the reader glued to the page to find out what happened next.  None of the characters led particularly happy lives, but many strove to improve the lot of their fellow humans; what they contributed mattered to the next generation and beyond.  A most provocative read.

On a note of personal interest:  Madame Pompadour plays a role in the events in The Philosopher's Kiss.  Mention is made of La Tour's partially completed portrait of the marquise.  In one of my early posts, La Tour's portrait is used as cover art on Peter Carey's Parrot and Olivier in America, the only thing I liked about the book.  In following the on-line links on La Tour, I came across one of my all time favorite websites: the Louvre's Closer Look at the La Tour portrait of Madame Pompadour.  It was also a revolutionary portrait.  In it, the marquise is holding Volume IV of the Encyclopedia, as she was largely responsible for persuading Louis XV the allow its publication when the clergy and Parliment were in favor of capital punishment for those involved.  Interesting, n'est pas?  Here's the link if you want to check out the website yourself:  La Tour's portrait of Madame Pompadour