Read in French. I read Diderot's Le Rêve d'Alembert 20 years ago (written in 1769, but published much later), and that was a quite difficult experience, since it dealt with a number of philosophical-scientific issues of that time (mid-18th century). It wasn't the form that was the problem, because Diderot had wrapped it in dialogue form, which is always more pleasant to read than a dry argument. It wasn't the 18th century French either (I read this in the original version), because that differs relatively little from modern French, which I understand well (although it is not my mother tongue). I think it rather was the dry, topic-based treatment that did me in.

This book, Jacques the Fatalist and his Master (1785), actually also is a philosophical story in dialogue form. But Diderot wrote it in a much lighter style, with a clear ironic-picaresque slant, and that makes it much more digestible. The dialogue takes place between the servant Jacques and his unnamed boss (the master). Jacques is an inveterate chatterbox who loves to talk about his time in the army and his amorous adventures. His boss is particularly interested in the latter, but he remains dissatisfied because Jacques jumps from topic to topic, is interrupted by the master and other people. The broken storyline leads to irritation and frustration with the master, but also with the reader. And that is apparently deliberately intended by Diderot, who regularly interrupts the novel to address the reader directly and to comment on the events himself, which of course only makes matters worse. In this Diderot was inspired by [b:Tristam Shandy|40236755|Tristam Shandy|Laurence Sterne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599903901l/40236755._SY75_.jpg|2280279], the voluminous novel by the English writer Laurence Sterne, the first parts of which had been published a few years earlier. And that of course explains a few things. Because if there is one novel that tests the patience of the reader, with constant interruptions and digressions, it is this one. But Diderot was also clearly inspired by the ironic and picaresque nature of Sterne's novel. Jacques Le Fataliste also excels in his laconic, satirical and often simply absurd nature. And the entertaining stories within the story (such as the delightful one about the Marquis des Arcis and the Marquise de Pommeraye) certainly compensate for the reading difficulties.

Okay, fine, but what about the philosophy? That is certainly there, even on almost every page. Because chatterbox Jacques turns out to be a fatalist, who attributes everything he experiences to Providence, "everything good and bad that happens to us here below was written up there”. In the dialogue with the master, that providence is constantly being sounded out, and with it inevitably the question of man's free will, one of the most fundamental philosophical issues. Every adventure, every prank, every bit of luck or misfortune is weighed up and discussed in this light, by each of the three main characters (Jacques, the master ànd the writer). Not with weighty philosophical arguments, no, on the contrary, light-heartedly and with a wink, and therefore also constantly undermining (false) certainties: “It is because, for lack of knowing what is written up there, we know neither what we want nor what we do, and we follow our fantasy which we call reason, or our reason which often just is a dangerous fantasy that sometimes turns out well, sometimes badly.” (what a great quote!). I enjoyed this delicious, mischievous novel immensely. For me, this is the best thing Diderot ever put to paper.