Bibliograph

Jacques the fatalist and his master, Denis Diderot ; translated with an introduction and notes by David Coward

Type

Label

Jacques the fatalist and his master, Denis Diderot ; translated with an introduction and notes by David Coward

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 241-258)

Index

no index present

Literary Form

fiction

Main title

Jacques the fatalist and his master

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

39812354

Responsibility statement

Denis Diderot ; translated with an introduction and notes by David Coward

Review

"Jacques the Fatalist is Diderot's answer to the problem of existence. If human beings are determined by their genes and their environment, how can they claim to be free to want or do anything? Where are Jacques and his Master going? Are they simply occupying space, living mechanically until they die, believing erroneously that they are in charge of their Destiny? Diderot intervenes to cheat our expectations of what fiction should be and do, and behaves like a provocative, ironic, and unfailingly entertaining master of revels which finally show why Fate is not to be equated with doom." "In the introduction to this new translation, David Coward explains the philosophical basis of Diderot's fascination with Fate and shows why Jacques the Fatalist pioneers techniques of action which, two centuries on, novelists still regard as experimental."--Jacket

Series statement

Oxford world's classics

Classification