Joan Fuster offers us in Poetry, Aphorisms, Diary, Vignettes and Drawings a collection of maxims, apothegms, and aphorisms that constitute a series of philosophical reflections on a variety of topics. The author purposely rejects a fully-developed narrative style as well as a more methodical and comprehensive philosophical approach to the presentation of his ideas. Instead, he chooses the seemingly innocuous and more humble style of the laconic and brief note to offer us what could be termed as his inconsequential musings on life. But Fuster is not alone in this way of approaching the essay and the philosophical genre. In fact, he belongs to a long list of philosophers who have prioritized this form and style in their writings, from the classical Greek and Roman periods to the writings of Montaigne, one of his main sources, and the encyclopedists. The author of Nosaltres, els valencians (1965) and coiner of the successful term països catalans is here at his best ruminating on a multiplicity of ideas, surprising the reader with his acute perceptions, and suggesting myriad possibilities of thought and reflection.

Translated by: Antonio Cortijo-Rodgers