Will Self on Montaigne

Had the pleasure of listening to Will Self talk about Montaigne last Thursday at the Institut Français. A fascinating man, very modest for all his eruditeness, with a 'bad-boy' glint in his eye.
I spent a really interesting and highly entertaining evening in the company of two remarkable writers and thinkers: Will Self I knew as a columnist - I haven't yet explored his fiction, but bought his 'Dorian' that evening (the very first paragraph sets the tone for the whole novel, I would think; the reason why I've not ventured into his fiction before - I prefer not to linger in the realm of human existence at its most sordid if I don't have to - but now that I've met him I want to see whether he can get me on side.) Montaigne I knew from my French Literature syllabus back at college, when, aged 19, I didn't really connect with him - probably because we read the essays in the almost original 16th century French (bar the punctuation and some of the spelling, which had been updated). I'm pleased to say that I now have the recently published 'modern' French version, which makes the whole experience far more pleasurable.
Two fascinating men, two sceptics; the latter both a companion and a guru, with great insights into human nature, the former rather more of an unknown quantity to me at this stage. You see, I firmly believe that as artists, be they writers, sculptors, actors, poets, painters, musicians or dancers, we must be conscious of and take responsibility for the effect our art has on our audience and choose the way in which we convey our thoughts accordingly.
This talk last Thursday has rekindled my interest in Montaigne and I shall share some of his nuggets of wisdom and highly amusing observations on the human condition here where appropriate.