WHAT HAPPENED TO CIVILITY: The Promise and Failure of Montaigne’s Modern Project, hard disagree with author

WHAT HAPPENED TO CIVILITY: The Promise and Failure of Montaigne’s Modern Project
ANN HARTLE
University of Notre Dame Press (non-affiliate Bookshop.org link)
$26.99 ebook, available now

Rating: 1* of five

What is civility, and why has it disappeared? Ann Hartle analyzes the origins of the modern project and the Essays of Michel de Montaigne to discuss why civility is failing in our own time.

In this bold book, Ann Hartle, one of the most important interpreters of sixteenth-century French philosopher Michel de Montaigne, explores the modern notion of civility—the social bond that makes it possible for individuals to live in peace in the political and social structures of the Western world—and asks, why has it disappeared? Concerned with the deepening cultural divisions in our postmodern, post-Christian world, she traces their roots back to the Reformation and Montaigne’s Essays. Montaigne’s philosophical project of drawing on ancient philosophy and Christianity to create a new social bond to reform the mores of his culture is perhaps the first act of self-conscious civility. After tracing Montaigne’s thought, Hartle returns to our modern society and argues that this framing of civility is a human, philosophical invention and that civility fails precisely because it is a human, philosophical invention. She concludes with a defense of the central importance of sacred tradition for civility and the need to protect and maintain that social bond by supporting nonpoliticized, nonideological, free institutions, including and especially universities and churches.

What Happened to Civility is written for readers concerned about the deterioration of civility in our public life and the defense of freedom of religion. The book will also interest philosophers who seek a deeper understanding of modernity and its meaning, political scientists interested in the meaning of liberalism and the causes of its failure, and scholars working on Montaigne’s Essays.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: If I ever needed an inoculation against conservatism, this under-200pp book was the full and complete spectrum version of it.

In looking for reviews of the book to see if I was crazy, reading it wrong, or simply bilious when I was reading it, I found my proof I was not here: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/review-of-politics/article/abs/ann-hartle-what-happened-to-civility-the-promise-and-failure-of-montaignes-modern-project-notre-dame-in-university-of-notre-dame-press-2022-pp-ix-178/CE68BDF228EB95F3533F945414C7E785 The Review of Politics is paywalled, as one expects from conservative-leaning publications, but an excerpt is available at the link. It contains the words that "civility is inadequate to replace traditional moral virtues" and "{c}ivility is not self-sustaining: as a merely human invention, it lacks the kind of transcendent support possessed by the traditional moral virtues, which found their grounding and stability in their orientation towards the divine."

Of course the reviewer says a lot more about the book, but for my purposes (trying to see what it is I found appalling about the read) this was a showstopper. The divine is a human invention. My bedrock reality will not accommodate the assertion that y'all's god is real; one of us is wrong, and I'm quite sure it's you.

We're so far apart, Author Hartle, that all I can say is your writing on a sentence level is clear and your arguments to my non-expert mind is completely self-consistent.

And you're wrong.

THE SILENCE OF FLESH, ambitious, interesting, flawed

THE SILENCE OF FLESH
GLENN COOPER
Lascaux Media (non-affiliate Amazon.com link)
$5.99 Kindle edition or free to read with Kindle Unlimited, available now

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: He gave everything to God—except the one truth he could never speak.

From international bestseller Glenn Cooper, known for his Vatican thrillers and historical mysteries, comes his most intimate novel yet—a literary exploration of secrecy, conscience, and spiritual burden.

Anthony Budd is a quiet, reform-minded cardinal—young, devout, and untainted by scandal. When deadlock in the papal conclave threatens to fracture the Church, his name emerges as a compromise. He accepts the will of God with humility. But buried beneath his composure is a secret he has carried for decades—a truth that could upend everything he believes, and everything the Church demands of him.

As Pope Innocent XIV, Budd must navigate the brutal realities of Vatican politics, the weight of his vows, and the quiet threat of blackmail from a voice in the shadows. Someone knows who he is. And they intend to destroy him.

The Silence of Flesh is a novel of inner war—a man at odds with the Church he loves, the body he inhabits, and the truth that may undo both.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Could Author Cooper have timed this release ant better?! Even got the regnal ordinal right! One could be forgiven for thinking permaybehaps he had some inside information...or at least a discreet nod of approval from On High.

I'm a great deal lower on the cosmic food chain, but I too offer my (qualified) nod of approval. More research into the current usages of nomenclature, Author Cooper.

Cardinal Budd is a character I think we all hope will be a truthful representation of church officialdom. As the new Pope Innocent (!) XIV, he is someone who would inflame the civil war over progressivism that Western culture is having very broadly. In fact, if you'd like to see the progress of that civil war, go look at the schism in Goodreads reviewers' ratings and opinions about this read. Goodness gracious me.

So big kudos for that service to us all! Anything that gets people stirred up and talking is, in my view, a good thing. It's not going to get resolved any time soon, this book might not change a single position, but positions can never change if they're simply unchallenged.

I found the characters in the story hard to relate to, as I expected; I've known in my core there was no god since I was five. I find people who believe in one utterly perplexing. I find people who "serve" a god I do not for a second believe they believe in reprehensible. There are good people who, for some reason, believe this guff. There are not professional administrators who do, or I'll eat your hat. Executives have the inside story, so they can by definition see through the charade of their organization's public relations. It's like lawyers; they know the law, and its execution, too well to buy the tale spun to dazzle the outsiders into accepting impartiality and fairness rule the juridical roost.

I'm all the way there supporting the conversation this story should ignite. I felt, though, distant and almost cold-shouldered by the way this story does not examine the stunningly complex battle lines it could have drawn. I understand the author's choice not to do the direct confrontation of the issue raised. I can't say I agree; an earlier, and more direct presentation of the secret issue Innocent (!)XIV was carrying would, to my mind, suit Cardinal Budd's stated personality traits better. As such I questioned whether what I was told was Budd's personal behavior pattern was accurate. I'll note here that I had he same issue with the much more disappointing Conclave, film and book.

I don't wish to leave the impression that I did not enjoy this read; I did, with all the schadenfreude I was expecting to revel in. I note the areas I felt the execution of the story did not match the author's ambitious imagination to be sure you will go into the read with the most information I can reach back to you from my readerly vantage point.

But go into the read I hope you will, and soon.