Hello, young Padawan
After years of searching for a way to talk to you about the books I’ve loved without telling you about them—that is, without killing the suspense, without revealing too much, but still giving you enough to get a feel for the subject and make you want to read it—I can’t stop doing it now. Indeed, based on your feedback, we’ve struck a nice balance, and you seem to enjoy my little presentation. That’s just as well, because I love talking about books.
I used to be very obsessive about literature, mainly focusing on history and philosophy books, probably seeking to fill a slight educational inhibition. Now that I’m feeling a little more confident, I’m reading almost everything, much to my delight, and I hope yours as well.
For this new article, we return to my first love, namely, a socio-philosophical work. The two are not so different, so this isn’t shocking. We’re on the subject of fear, which has been very much in vogue since 2020—yes, there’s a touch of sarcasm here. Whether we panicked at the arrival of a virus attacking us, or whether we were nervous about the idea of seeing repressive laws introduced in a half-China, half-USSR style, we’ve all been scared, in one way or another.
This book is a reflection on today’s society, on fear in our society, and, above all, on courage and how to move forward, despite fear.
Here we go.
Crossing Fear, the Odyssey of Reality, by Dr. Louis Fouché
The author begins with an observation of our current society and the fears that arise from it. Following this observation and a reminder that fiction and reality are increasingly intertwined, he offers a narrative unfolding in two parts: one more immersive, with stories, and the other more philosophical, with a step back in conceptual chapters. Each of these chapters is identified by a small pictogram for your convenience.
Many topics are covered, and there’s no way I’m going to spoil the content of this book. However, to whet your appetite, I’ll discuss a few themes that resonated with me very strongly.
First, it addresses love, pornography, and the way some people understand human relationships today. As if, through constantly rehashed, degrading, and violent relationships, “They become a ritual that is nothing more than a perverse grimace of true love. […] It is transformed into two juxtaposed selfishnesses.” I’ve taken the shortest excerpt possible, but honestly, this book is worth reading for this chapter alone.
It also discusses how, by rejecting fear in the education of the youngest, through tamed villains and kind monsters, we miss the essential element of building a balanced and comfortable human being.
We also revisit covid and its completely daunting, degrading, and humiliating measures, but also anxiety, OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder, ed), denial, reality, entertainment, and many other topics. Everything is very well articulated and extremely interesting to read.
We also benefit from many anecdotes about his profession as a doctor, the challenges and difficulties encountered, and some personal anecdotes that enter into the theme of this book on fears and how to overcome them.
I’ve read almost everything by this author, and I have to admit he’s outstanding when he plays with sociology, philosophy, and concepts. The guy was literally made for it. You sense a real general knowledge and, above all, a real knack for clearly explaining complex subjects. I once read somewhere that “true intelligence is knowing how to explain a complex concept to a 7-year-old,” so if that’s true, this guy is undeniably a member of the club.
When you read a lot of philosophy, you also encounter a lot of verbiage, even a great deal. So far be it from me to reject long, beautiful sentences, but you can also do both, and sometimes explain things clearly, without depriving yourself of beautiful words; it’s rather pleasant.
However, I note that I took out my dictionary twice while reading this book, which finally proves that you can be clear, but also use beautiful vocabulary at the right time. In his library, he also provides definitions for particular words that may be unfamiliar to you if you’re not used to this type of reading, so even a novice will enjoy browsing this book thanks to the author’s definitions.
So, here’s my current favorite, which I’ll enjoy rereading in a month or two to get a better grasp of its substance.
I hope I’ve inspired you to read this truly excellent essay. I wish you a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you next Friday.
XO 📘
