{"product_id":"pensees-1","title":"Pensées","description":"Blaise Pascal, the precociously brilliant contemporary of Descartes, was a gifted mathematician and physicist, but it is his unfinished apologia for the Christian religion upon which his reputation now rests. The \u003ci\u003ePense?s\u003c\/i\u003e is a collection of philosohical fragments, notes and essays in which Pascal explores the contradictions of human nature in pscyhological, social, metaphysical and - above all - theological terms. Mankind emerges from Pascal's analysis as a wretched and desolate creature within an impersonal universe, but who can be transformed through faith in God's grace. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFor more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBlaise Pascal\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Clermont in 1623, the son of a government official. During his short life he left his mark on mathematics, physics, religious controversy and literature. A convert to Jansenism, he engaged with gusto in a controversy with the Jesuits, which gave rise to his \u003ci\u003eLettres Provinciales\u003c\/i\u003eon which, with the \u003ci\u003ePensées\u003c\/i\u003e, his literary fame chiefly rests. A remarkable stylist, he is regarded by many as the greatest of French prose artists. He died, after a long illness, in 1662.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDr. A.J. Krailsheimer\u003c\/b\u003e was born in 1921 and was Tutor in French at Christ Church, Oxford, from 1957 until his retirement in 1988. His publications are \u003ci\u003eStudies in Self-Interest \u003c\/i\u003e(1963), \u003ci\u003eRabelais and the Franciscans \u003c\/i\u003e(1965), \u003ci\u003eThree Conteurs of the Sixteenth Century\u003c\/i\u003e (1966), \u003ci\u003eRabelais (1967)\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eA. J. de Rancé, Abbot of La Trappe\u003c\/i\u003e (1974), \u003ci\u003ePascal\u003c\/i\u003e (1980), \u003ci\u003eConversion\u003c\/i\u003e (1980), \u003ci\u003e Letters of A. J. de Rancé\u003c\/i\u003e (1984), \u003ci\u003eRancé and the Trappist Legacy\u003c\/i\u003e (1985) and \u003ci\u003eCorrespondance de Rancé\u003c\/i\u003e (1993). He has also translated Flaubert's \u003ci\u003eBouvard and Pécuchet\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eSalammbo\u003c\/i\u003e and Pascal's \u003ci\u003eThe Provincial Letters\u003c\/i\u003e for the Penguin Classics.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Penguin Classics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50625981284626,"sku":"9780140446456","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_7250543f-81e3-458b-bc43-66b448c08e90.jpg?v=1732646258","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/pensees-1","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}