François-René de Chateaubriand (1768–1848)

I picked this up because I read about how well-written it is. And wow, is that true. You could create a pretty good book of quotes from this volume alone--and this is only about 1/4 of Chateaubriand's whole memoirs, which I hope will follow this one. I am not a student of French history, but after reading this book, the French Revolution, which Chateaubriand strongly opposed, comes across as one of the most depraved periods in history. Indeed, as Chateaubriand loses friends and family to the show more guillotine, it is a wonder he can continue to chronicle his life story, although he is doing it at some remove, years afterwards when his own fortune had reversed to the point that he was no longer in exile, but serving as French ambassador to Great Britain.

This book is notable for Chateaubriand's excursion to America, where he claims to have met George Washington and to have traveled through much of the Eastern part of North America and met lots of traders and Indian tribes. It is all a bit hard to believe (and later readers tend to agree), but it is beautifully written, and North America does serve as the setting for some of Chateaubriand's later novels, so maybe we should give him the benefit of the doubt.

The tone throughout is of a man ready to die and content to do so. He takes solace in his religious belief, although he never goes into much depth about it. I think in his case it is necessary to believe that there must be something bigger, something greater, something somehow more human than the pitiless world he portrays in these memoirs.

This is a must read. show less

A powdered wig apologist for Napoleon ([207]; "the giant enchained at St. Helena") whose embassies he served. The translator offers a very brief sketch of his 80-year life. These Memoirs were his greatest contribution. They are almost "otherworldly".

I should be more impressed by the unity of voice, considering it was composed over such a long and colorful epoch in so many dire places. Traversing Europe and America, he took part in feudal sports, hunted with Louis XVI, camped with Iroquois, show more lunched with Washington, was an eyewitness to the fall of the Bastille and the loss of most of his peers' heads, fainted from hunger, survived the Terror and Napoleon, entertained lavishly as an ambassador, fought to restore the monarchy, and started the Spanish War of 1823.

He was an eyewitness to the wholesale destruction of French "Nobility" and Clergy by revolutionaries and idiots [they burned religious books and attacked Churches]. And then he saw the restoration of the Church by utterly hypocritical power-mongers and thieves.

A model of courtesy, and very likely gay ([xi; 211 platonic love for Mm Beaumont; "I never looked at a woman without blushing" (!)). Entirely ignorant of the arguments of Voltaire and rectitude of the oppressed. However, he observed timidly, but widely, and seems to record actual events and accurate sequences with his independent views. He did seek, fecklessly, to defend Liberty. [300] I always end up loving the sweet-heart. His inerrant kindness always comes through. show less

I was expecting to find this book interesting as a historical source, but was surprised to love it as literature. Even in translation two centuries later, Chateaubriand has a felicity with language that oozes through the page — belying his early disclaimer that he is not one for wit. These memoirs are full of well-turned phrases and surprisingly self-aware observations from Chateaubriand's full life, which included a childhood growing up in a castle with a distant father, an irresolute show more young adulthood that included a sojourn exploring America (a sort of 18th Century "gap year"), fame as a best-selling author and a denouement as a statesman and diplomat. Even the less exciting bits, such as Chateaubriand's childhood, are highly readable, while his character study of Napoleon is incisive (if not wholly reliable).

My only complaints have to do with the apparent abridgment of this Penguin translation (not advertised at all on the physical copy). There are obvious gaps in the narrative — his pilgrimage to the Holy Land is constantly referenced but never actually described; the treatment of his diplomatic service under the Restoration is frustratingly vague; even his coverage of Napoleon, the meaty center of the book, covers only three major incidents from Bonaparte's reign in depth. I'm sure the original version would seem interminably long today, so some abridgment was surely necessary, but it's best to go in with an understanding of the Penguin edition as a snapshot of a larger work. It's a testament to Chateaubriand's sparkling prose that I wanted more. show less

Fascinating stuff; it's easy to see the influence Chateaubriand has had on later French writing; it's also just damn enjoyable to spend time in his company. I read this too quickly, but I'm very excited to re-read with pencil in hand, because the bon mots come thick and fast. His description of listening to shovelsful of dirt being dropped on a coffin might be the most affecting thing I've read this year. It would be wonderful to have the rest of the Memoirs translated in a modern edition, show more but I suspect that's not really a good business proposition. show less