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Loading... Journals of the Western Islandsby Samuel Johnson, James Boswell
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Johnson's journal needs no comment or critique. All the man's writings are justly classic, even those that are sorely dated. Boswell's journal, of course, is chiefly of interest as it captures Johnson. The great biographer is sometimes tempted to digress, but all in all the Journal makes an essential adjunct to The Life. ( ) I read this as part of pre-trip anticipation for a similar trip, and it was interesting to compare it with my own impressions of the highlands and islands. My overall rating of four stars is a split-vote, though. Samuel Johnson's prose reveals a scintillating intellect and original observer. Even when he is wrong, sometimes pig-headedly so, as when he insists that Gaelic (he calls it Erse) was in Scotland a purely oral language until shortly before his own time, he is interesting to read. He shares with Mark Twain an ability to build an argument throughout a long paragraph and then surprise and delight the reader at the very last with the way he turns it. Boswell's prose on the other hand made me picture him as a status-conscious, obsequious, hypocritical prig. I wondered throughout if Jane Austen used it as a model for the speech of Mr Collins, the stuffy vicar in the employ of Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Where Boswell records the same incidents as Johnson, one is struck by how well Johnson is able to select what to record. Yet I stuck with Boswell to the end because of what he records of Johnson's table talk, and this was rewarding. Highly recommended, particularly Johnson's part. no reviews | add a review
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Samuel Johnson and James Boswell spent the autumn of 1773 touring through the Lowlands and Highlands of Scotland as far west as the islands of Skye, Raasay, Coll, Mull, Inchkenneth and Iona. Both kept detailed notes of their impressions, and later published separate accounts of their journey. These works contain some of the finest pieces of travel writing ever produced: they are also magnificent historical documents as well as portraits of two extraordinary men of letters. Together they paint a vivid picture of a society which was still almost unknown to the Europe of the Enlightenment. Entertaining, profound, and marvellously readable, they are a valuable chronicle of a lost age and a fascinating people. For the first time, Ronald Black's edition brings together Johnson's and Boswell's accounts of each of the six stages of the two men's journey - Lowlands, Skye, Coll, Mull and back to the mainland. Illustrated with prints by Thomas Rowlandson, it includes a critical introduction, translations of the Latin texts and brief notes. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)914.1140473History and Geography Geography and Travel Geography of and travel in Europe British Isles, UK, Great Britain, Scotland, Ireland ScotlandLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Yale University PressAn edition of this book was published by Yale University Press. |