Nothing is more courteous than writing about politeness.
In this troubled period, marked by the invasive culture of "clash" and invective, Jean Pruvost has that elegance.
His book,
La Politesse.
Au fil des mots et de l'histoire
(Tallandier), constitutes a powerful remedy for the ambient gloom at the same time as a delicate manual of knowing how to live together.
With a precise sense of nuance, the author also has the civility (even the urbanity!) to be funny in the analysis of his subject.
Humor?
An essential ingredient in the rich cocktail of good manners.
With an alert pen, this lexicologist by profession multiplies historical and literary references through the ages to X-ray all the refinements of French education (often very different from that of our neighbours…).
In this lively essay, good words and witticisms follow one another as in the salons of past centuries.
Jean-Loup Chiflet, known for his love of our language, remarkably…
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