5 h 5 minAudiobook6 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What can a worldly priest teach you about doubt, pleasure, and being kind to human weakness?
In eighteenth-century France, Abbé Jérôme Coignard loves books, wine, and good company. Learned, greedy, and tender, he admits his weaknesses without shame. His young pupil, Jacques Tournebroche, records his opinions, inviting you into a conversation where a sharp mind meets a forgiving heart.
In The Opinions of Monsieur Jérôme Coignard, Anatole France explores religion, morals, learning, love, and society through the abbé’s talk. Powerful families, class divisions, and the habits of scholars come under his amused gaze. This is a novel of ideas rather than fast action, offering laughter without turning away from injustice.
What you’ll discover
- A skeptic with warmth Meet a priest whose doubts leave room for tenderness toward the weaknesses he shares.
- The pleasures of learning Follow Coignard among old books and ancient authors, enjoying knowledge without expecting final answers.
- Society under a gentle gaze See the church, powerful families, and class divisions through the abbé’s quietly questioning eyes.
- Wisdom without a sermon Explore morals and love through talk that invites reflection with a smile rather than a lecture.
- Pleasure joined with pity Consider a modest way of living: enjoy good things and be kind to those who suffer.
Who will love it
For readers who love sharp conversation, ironic wit and old Paris, and for anyone who enjoys watching a gentle mind take apart big ideas about power, progress and justice.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Ministers matter less than people believe
- Governments fit a nation like old clothes
- Popular rule would weaken ministers further
- Science and history cannot give certain knowledge
- War is old animal nature dressed as honor
- Justice follows usefulness, not what is right
- Pride is the root of evil and kindness is the cure
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Die Meinungen des Monsieur Jérôme Coignard
by Anatole France · 1893
A penniless priest punctures the glory of ministers in a Paris bookshop.
Challenging5–10 hours to readDeutsch
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In short
What if kings, ministers and judges matter far less than we think? In The Opinions of Monsieur Jérôme Coignard, Anatole France gathers the table talk of a penniless priest in Paris, as noted down by his young pupil Jacques Tournebroche.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Ministers matter less than people believe
Abbé Coignard holds that the great men of state are carried along by forces they do not see. A nation lives by the work of millions of ordinary people, and ministers only seem to steer.
The idea comes alive in the Image of Saint Catherine, the bookshop where he argues with the political writer Monsieur Roman. Roman says a Caesar or a Richelieu shapes a people as a potter shapes clay. The abbé answers that he has watched the government change several times in fifty years while the people stayed the same, so that ministers matter mostly for their clothes and carriages. Later he adds that laws against prostitutes fill more paper than all other decrees, yet nothing changes.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 6 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1893
- Language
- Deutsch
- Reading time
- 3 h 20 min
- Level
- Challenging
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What is The Opinions of Monsieur Jérôme Coignard about?
It collects dialogues in which a witty, penniless priest in 1720s Paris talks about government, war, science, history, taste and the law, while his young pupil Tournebroche listens and asks questions.
Who is Abbé Coignard?
He is a scholar and priest who has been a teacher of rhetoric, a bishop's librarian and a public letter writer. He is poor and fond of wine, and he is tolerant of everyone.
Do I need to read The Queen Pédauque Rotisserie first?
No. These dialogues stand on their own, with short chapters. The earlier novel tells the abbé's life and adds background, but you can enjoy this one first.
The author
Anatole France
1844–1924 · French novelist
Anatole France (1844–1924) was a French novelist, poet and essayist. He was born in Paris and died in Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire, France. His novels include The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard (1881), Thaïs (1890), The Red Lily (1894), Penguin Island (1908) and The Revolt of the Angels (1914).
More by Anatole France
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