The Diary of Samuel Pepys (Modern Library)

Book Description

The diary which Samuel Pepys kept from January 1660 to May 1669 ...is one of our greatest historical records and... a major work of English literature, writes the renowned historian Paul Johnson. A witness to the coronation of Charles II, the Great Plague of 1665, and the Great Fire of 1666, Pepys chronicled the events of his day. Originally written in a cryptic shorthand, Pepys's diary provides an astonishingly frank and diverting account of political intrigues and naval, church, and cultural affairs, as well as a quotidian journal of daily life in London during the Restoration.

In 1825, when Pepys's memoirs were first published, Francis Jeffrey of The Edinburgh Review declared, "We can scarcely say that we wish it a page shorter... it is very entertaining thus to be transported into the very heart of a time so long gone by; and to be admitted into the domestic intimacy, as well as the public councils of a man of great activity and circulation in the reign of Charles II." Edited and abridged by literary critic and author Richard Le Gallienne, this edition features an Introduction by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Customer Reviews:

A real inside look at history!.......2007-01-14

When I started reading the diary, I expected it to be extremely boring and very old fashioned (seeing how it was written in the 1600's) - how wrong I was!!!
Samuel Pepys (pronounced 'peeps') is a human, funny, moody man who has his ups and downs like the rest of us. His narrative during the plague records his concern about neighbors, and his real sorrow when people he knows succumb to it. He also records his experiences during the great fire of London in 1666 and his first mention of it strikes me as entirely human - he says that his maids wake him as they have heard of the fire and as it is not near his doorstep he simply goes back to bed as he's tired. He has arguments with his wife, and has cast a lusty eye upon the kings mistress for years! He also has, what I call 'mini affairs' where he kisses and fondles women quite regularly, (including his own maids) and seems to have no guilt about this whatsoever. Most mornings he 'drinks' his breakfast and at one point is outraged that his new wig is teeming with nits! An historical and very human read. Makes me realise that after 450 years we are all no different at all........

Diary of Samuel Pepys-Vol. X - Companion.......2006-07-02

It is kind of hard to match up these reviews of the Pepys' Diary with specific volumes, probably due to the nature of ISBN numbers. However, this review is about Volume 10, the Companion to the 10 vol. set of paperbacks (complete edition) by the University of California Press. IT IS a valuable book indeed, being 1700 entries, alphabetically arranged, on the details about the people and places mentioned in the Diary. It has 626 numbered pages and genealogical tables and maps.

A few words about Pepys and the diary of the soul .......2005-02-07

There are on the Amazon site two excellent, informative reviews of the Pepys' diaries. They say far more than my own contribution.
I have read in and out of the Pepys' diary more than once. I did this in part because I have read many times that they are the ' best diaries' ever written. Without contending with that I found that they were not for me the most interesting. This probably shows more about my own shortcomings than it does about the work of Pepys.
Pepys' work is filled with description of the life of the time. It is rich in perception of the great city of London in Restoration times. It is filled with personal anecdote, gossip including that relating to his prodigious sexual appetite and activity. It is a busy, businesslike work. And it tells more about a world outside than a world in.
In the diaries I most love there is the quest of the soul to deeply understand itself and its relation to other people, and God. I find that the flurry of activity in the life of Pepys does not lead to this kind of reflectiveness. And thus for me the 'diary' is not a highly significant work personally.

The World Upside Down.......2004-04-27

I've long been a student and a collector of information on the personalities of Restoration England, growing out of a desire to know more about the background in literature classes. The Restoration crowd loved life, and in this volume (and presumably the next) you see how tenuous their lives were -- 5000 a week in the City of London dying of plague, two fleets of 100 ships each at war in a narrow sea, everyone so intent on feathering their nest and getting their next place, and an honest man rarest commodity of all. I love all these diaries. I've learned to ignore a lot of the textural (not text) notes that tell you if there was a blot on the page, or the symbol was not quite clear, but the footnotes are amazing and so is the information. Love Sam; he could have done pretty much as he pleased with me, I fear. But in his daily strolls of 5 miles and more I fear I could never have kept up as he went up and down the town, up and down the river. I've been to London and took the boat tour on the Thames from the houses of Parliament down to Greenwich to see the naval museum and Queen's house -- and he would walk, day or night, from London to Depworth, to Woolwich, to Greenwich (though he'd borrow the boat if he could) and pay attention to all he passed. What a companion!

Unfortunately for my budget's sake I started buying these in 3s and am now having trouble filling up 1666-1669. I will persevere, though, and anticipate a re-read of all or part probably every summer (while TV takes a dive and there's good light to read by until long into the evening). The only thing I have wished for is more portraits of the people he is speaking of--and the portraits by Huysmans and Lely that he reports having seen fresh painted. However, financially that may not have been doable. Will have to keep searching for a companion Restoration Portraits volume to keep me happy.

Great reading - do start from the beginning to get into the swing of things. A random paragraph doesn't put you "in the life" like the unrolling panorama does. A better map of London at your elbow (though there is one in the back of each volume) will also increase your pleasure.

A Blend of Chronicle, Confession, and Tabloid Gossip.......2003-02-11

Pepys' secret diary, kept in cryptic shorthand to shield it from prying eyes, covers the years 1660 to 1669, starting with the return of Charles II from exile and ending when the writer's failing eyesight made writing difficult. He was 27 years old when he began this work, and quite impecunious. Through the patronage of his kin, Edward Montagu (later Earl of Sandwich) he rose from humble beginnings to a respected position (Clerk of the Acts in the navy office). Educated at Cambridge, he was ill prepared for the job: while he read Latin and French, he did not know the multiplication tables and had to be taught basic mechanics. However, he seems to have applied himself to his work with diligence and persistence. During the naval war with Holland (1665-67) he was surveyor of victualling. In this capacity, he gained the confidence of the lord high admiral, the Duke of York (later King James II). After the war, he defended the navy office in Parliament against charges of mismanagement with a speech that seems to have been the high point of his career.

His eyewitness accounts of the Plague (1665) and the Great Fire (1666) in London are riveting. But it is the description of quotidian events that sheds light on how the people lived. Moving easily among different social classes, he recorded their moods and diversions. He attended public executions of regicides (complete with display of heads and organs to a cheering crowd), and noted when initial enthusiasm for the restoration of the monarchy gave way to disillusionment; when anger at the King's debauchery and neglect of state business bred nostalgia for the reign of Oliver Cromwell.

While critical of the King's and the Court's incessant "gambling and whoring", Pepys himself was no paragon of virtue. His dalliances with maidservants and accommodating ladies of his acquaintance caused bitter quarrels with his wife. He seems to have lusted after every pretty girl who crossed his path. Repeated vows to mend his ways generally came to naught. Some of the racier passages in his diary are written in fractured French or Latin.

Pepys was an avid theater-goer: he loved Macbeth and Henry IV, but thought Midsummer Night's Dream silly and inane. There was a lot of music in his life: he played the lute, the flageolet, and the violin, and missed no opportunity to join in singing, dancing, drinking and merry-making. He carefully noted, however, how much these diversions cost him. He also conscientiously recorded the bribes and kickbacks paid him by suppliers. Forever curious, he attended lectures and observed experiments, read voraciously and enjoyed a good discourse.

If he often appears vain and foolish, it is because he portrays himself as vain and foolish. His naive enjoyment of even the most mundane things ("this pleased me mightily" is an oft-repeated phrase) cannot fail to strike a sympathetic chord in the reader. He comments on fashion trends (powdered wigs, beauty spots, wearing of masks and male riding habit by court ladies, etc.). When he yielded to fashion and had a periwig made for himself, it was delivered full of nits. New servants had to be deloused and fitted with clean garments, but once domesticated, they were part of the household; they received music lessons and, in some cases, lessons in Latin and Greek. When they misbehaved, he beat them until his arm hurt.

The parallel career of his wife deserves some reflection: the "poor wretch" who, early in their marriage, used to wash his dirty clothes by hand, graduated to lace gowns, powdered wigs and a coach of her own; but discontent increased in proportion to luxury. "I have to find her something to do", mused Sam. Dancing and painting lessons, theater visits and parties filled the void. The couple had no children.

The Modern Library Edition is, of course, a greatly abridged version of the six-volume original. One may quibble with the selection or deplore the lack of notes; but the hefty original is available to all who want to know more.

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Pepys is the best!
A Truly fascinating Man
Peeping at the unpleasant side of Pepys
The unequalled biography
As good as they come

Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self
Claire Tomalin
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0375411437
Release Date: 2002-11-12

Book Description

The seventeenth century saw a revolution in man’s thought, as Isaac Newton and others began the scientific study of the universe around them. At the same time a shrewd young civil servant in London began to observe, with something of the same dispassionate curiosity, the strange object around which, for him, the universe revolved–himself. For ten years, beginning in 1660, Samuel Pepys secretly kept one of the most remarkable records ever made of a human life.

With astounding candor and perceptiveness he described his ambitions and peculations, his professional successes and failures, his pettinesses and meannesses, his tenderness toward his wife and the irritations and jealousies she provoked, his extramarital longings and fumblings, his coolly critical attitude toward the king he served and his watchful adaptation to the corrupt and treacherous life of the court. Pepys’s diary is a magnificent creation.

But there is more to Samuel Pepys than his diary, as Claire Tomalin makes clear in this profoundly original biography. Buttressing it with less familiar sources and other contemporary material, she is able to illuminate his entire life–as a poor London tailor’s son, as a schoolboy rejoicing at the execution of Charles I, as an aspiring clerk with good connections who transforms himself into a royalist, escorting Charles II to England for the Restoration. Then there is the bureaucrat heroically working against the odds to create a modern navy, finding his way through the dangerous years of political and religious conflict (even, at one point, being charged with treason and jailed), peacefully retiring at last with his books and his music and his friends.

It is Claire Tomalin’s unique skill as a biographer to achieve extraordinary intimacy with her subject, and Pepys is no exception. To the endlessly fascinating question of his relations with women, for example, she brings the same insight and freshness of approach that distinguished such highly praised books as Jane Austen and The Invisible Woman. At the same time, the historical context is never less than brilliantly evoked. The result is exemplary, by far the most revealing–and readable–portrait of the greatest diarist in the English language, a man of unmatched interest and importance.

Customer Reviews:

Pepys is the best! .......2007-01-09

I loved this book. I still love this book. On a recent trip to London I found myself thinking about Pepys around the city, seeing things, going places, meeting people. He is so interesting to himself, and to Tomalin, and now to me! She does a superb job telling the story with no intrusions from her self--it's all Pepys all the time. If you can read, you'll love it!

A Truly fascinating Man.......2006-07-22

This is another fascinating historical biography that reads more like a novel than a stuffy factual book. Virtually everyone knows the name of Samuel Pepys. Ah yes, he's the man who wrote the diary. This is of course true, but do they actually know anything about the man behind the name of Samuel Pepys. What for instance were his feelings on the politicians of the day. What were his own ambitions and aspirations.

Pepys was a naval administrator and friend and confidant of some of the most famous and powerful people in London . Sex, the plague, music, marital conflict, naval life, public executions and incarcerations in the Tower of London. These are just some of the colourful events in the life of a man famous for his writing of a diary.

The book contains a wealth of interesting material about the life of a man who's name goes before him. Everyone knows his name, but few know of the life of the man himself.

Peeping at the unpleasant side of Pepys .......2005-04-20

This overpraised biography of Pepys tends to underplay his character flaws. Tomalin is over-forgiving of Pepys betrayals of friends and family, of his frequent physical and sexual abuse of women including his own wife. Pepys betrayal of his brother and sister his frequent cruelty to those members of his family who could not serve his social climbing goals make very questionable the heroic image Tomalin provides of him. She surely overrates his greatness as a writer and explorer of the self.
Pepys is a diarist of tremendous curiosity who is capable of recording his own intimate acts with a certain kind of objective impersonality.
Since Pepys is famous for his sexual antics I expected this biography would make some effort at real analysis of his character. It does not do this but contents itself but relating and celebrating his exploits. Reading this work we thus know much about what Pepys did without necessarily understanding who he really is.
Pepys unpleasant side was also revealed in his greatest career year, the Plague Year . While one of every six people in London were falling victim to the Plague Pepys was happily recording his advances in career. A very hard worker, and a masterful
bureaucrat he nonetheless does not show a broad and humane sympathy for others.
For those who love English social history , for those who want to know a great deal about Restoration England, for those interested in understanding how bureaucracy works, and how people get on and by in the world, this biography is outstanding. But for those who wish to understand human character in depth, including that of Samuel Pepys this book it seems to me is as lacking as Pepys himself was.

The unequalled biography.......2004-12-13

Pepys is lucky to have Claire Tomalin as his biographer. She is objective but sympathetic, thoughtful, analytic, and writes with an easy, fluid style. At times she lets Pepys speak for himself, through excerpts from his diary and letters, while at other times she recounts events in a seamless narrative fashion that, from reading the diary alone, would be more opaque and even somewhat choppy. In other words, she fills in the gaps, explaining who's who and providing background information about selected people and events that Pepys naturally felt no need to describe.

Pepys led a colorful life, which Tomalin does her best to illuminate. The core of her book is, of course, the years 1660-1669, during which he wrote his famously candid diary. Given that he also left behind volumes of letters in the more than 30 years more that he lived, it's a bit surprising that she doesn't present more information from those letters. Without the rich detail of the diary, the second half of his life is presented in a more perfunctory manner, including his three arrests and one brief imprisonment in the Tower. Her quotes from the diary are more sparse than they might have been, too. I assume she was willing to let the diary speak for itself -- and the interested reader who has not read the diary would be well advised to do so, because its rewards are only hinted at in this biography.

Tomalin made another assumption in writing her book, namely, that the reader would have at least a passing familiarity with English history, particularly the Restoration era. Many events are not fully explained, such as the reasons for the war with the Dutch, or indeed how warfare was declared, conducted, and concluded in the 17th century, which might have been helpful. And she is unable to elucidate exactly what Pepys did at the office all day and often into the night, although his contributions to improving the Navy are adequately sketched. It's curious that, once she has covered the Great Fire of 1666, she doesn't make a single reference to the rebuilding of London (aside from one very slight allusion), although reconstruction surely was a significant part of the background of everyday life for the ten years it took the city to restore itself. The diary contains a number of references. (For a full account of the disaster and recovery, see Adrian Tinniswood's By Permission of Heaven: The True Story of the Great Fire of London.)

Tomalin sticks closely to the man himself, his career and personal life. As every biographer has a right to do, she favors those aspects that most interest her: the arc of his rise from near-poverty to wealth and influence; the ups and downs of his marriage to a wife he loves but never bothers to name in the diary; his personal honesty and disclosure of his own flaws, particularly his willingness to take bribes and his wandering eye; his observations of the licentious court of Charles II; the continuing influence of a Puritan upbringing and education on his worldly career; his friendships and enmities; the things that brought him pleasure, such as books and music and chasing women, and the things that made him anxious, such as the possible exposure of his shadier dealings and the problems with his eyesight that eventually forced him to abandon the diary; and his unflagging zest for life and experience. For those who choose to read Richard Le Gallienne's admirable but bowdlerized abridgment of the diary, which is one-eighth the length of the original, Tomalin's biography fills in some gaps and also provides information about persons named in Le Gallienne's edition, which, frustratingly, contains no notes at all.

Even if you haven't read the diary, Tomalin's biography of Samuel Pepys stands alone as an intimate portrait of an intelligent, curious, flawed human being and the tumultuous times he lived in.

As good as they come.......2004-09-14

Even for those of us who have read other work by Ms Tomalin, such as her great biography of Jane Austen, the quality of this book is astounding. Pepys couldn't have asked for a better biographer. Against the magnificent backdrop of Commonwealth and Restoration England, she paints a convincing and believable portrait of her subject, warts and all. He was tremendously ambitious and not above betraying his friends and benefactors. He systematically neglected and cheated on his wife, and sexually harassed his female servants and other women not in a position to resist his advances. He was mean and unkind to his sister. And yet he was an intelligent, hardworking and capable man, and one of the first to embody the concept of meritocracy, as opposed to making a career out of one's birth and fortune. Part of the author's merit lies in showing that the fascinating world in which her man lived has more similarities to ours than we might at first imagine. Tomalin's biography, covering not only the diary years but also Pepys' subsequent career, is an absolute must for all interested in the seventeenth century and this charming, flawed diarist.

The Diary of Samuel Pepys: 1661 (Diary of Samuel Pepys, Vol 2)

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Nothing Better than More Pepys!

The Diary of Samuel Pepys: 1661 (Diary of Samuel Pepys, Vol 2)
Samuel Pepys
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Customer Reviews:

Nothing Better than More Pepys!.......2003-01-21

Having only read "excerpts" before -- and the "shorter" Pepys is massive -- I supposed the short version was the exciting and interesting parts and the complete diary was the boring version that put everything in.
Well it turns out all PEPYS IS EQUALLY GOOD. The reason? This man loved life and said so, with great enthusiasm, and at the same time was a conscientious and effective(not always right or wise) public servant. This startling mix, in the end makes him seem a completely modern person. Fascinating.

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Great for long car rides for those who love Pepy's
Peeps
An outstanding classic which comes to life in audio cd format
it's an audio confidante
CALLING ALL HISTORY BUFFS...

Pepys' Diary (Classic, HighBridge)
Samuel Pepys , and Kenneth Branagh
Manufacturer: Highbridge Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

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Sony WMFX479 Walkman

ASIN: 1565111346

Customer Reviews:

Great for long car rides for those who love Pepy's.......2007-07-23

Of course it is not the complete Pepy's diary but is wonderful to listen to while on long drives. Kenneth Brannagh as the reader brings life into the English language of yesterday. I wonder if a movie is in the offing.

Peeps.......2006-11-06

Entertaining and informative of a time and place few could experience, then or now. From "too poor" to afford the price of a lump of coal to personal conversasions with the King of England. Lurid tails of infidelity amongst the people of that time and all levels of society, makes for an interesting and provocative story. Great listening when you have an hour or more to spend with someone telling you their deepest feelings. And all of this during the Plague.

An outstanding classic which comes to life in audio cd format.......2006-08-06

Samuel Pepys' Pepys' Diary is an outstanding classic which comes to life in audio cd format, narrated by Kenneth Branagh whose background in film and direction lend to a vivid narrative indeed. Pepys' classic has lasted centuries because it records in vivid descriptions the bygone world of 17th-century London life: this vivid written word in turn translates well into audio and brings a rich history to life.

it's an audio confidante.......2006-05-25

I loved these tapes. I concur with the reviews that they are addictive - better for a long country ride than a harried rush hour. Then let Pepys (Branagh) be your witty and engrossing travel companion.

It obviously helps to be familar with the Restoration to enhance your enjoyment of these diaries; though many with even a general background will still find them entertaining. Highly recommended.

CALLING ALL HISTORY BUFFS..........2004-07-11

This is a remarkably entertaining audio book for those who wish to have a birds-eye view of life in seventeenth century London. Samuel Pepys began keeping an extensive diary in 1660, which he religiously kept for nine years. He finally stopped writing it in 1669 due to his failing eyesight. Samuel Pepys personally lived through the restoration of the Crown to Charles Stuart after the fall of Cromwell, the Plague, and the Great Fire of London. So, it is remarkable to be able to hear Samuel Pepys' vibrant, eye witness narrative of these historical events. Read by the great British actor, Kenneth Branagh, whose beautifully nuanced reading of this abridgement is one that the discerning listener will find compelling, the diary of Samuel Pepys is one book that history buffs of the period will surely love.

In his diary, Samuel Pepys recorded not only events that had historical significance but also those day to day details of his own life that shed light upon the way that people actually lived and worked in seventeenth century Restoration London. The diary chronicles all those mundane little details about which life is made. His meetings with friends and colleagues, his desire for social and professional advancement, his treatment of his servants, his spats with his wife, and his brief extra-marital affairs and bawdy romps, all this and more is contained in his diary. In detailing his affairs of the heart, he often used a code which appears to be a combination of English, Spanish, Latin, and possibly French. It was understandable to me, as it would be to anyone with some knowledge of these languages, and, consequently, understandable as to why he would write it in code. He obviously would not want his wife to know what he was up to!

His is a unique voice that should be heard by all those who would wish to know more about seventeenth century life in Restoration London. Suffused with period detail and written in the linguistic style of the day, this book is a must for all those history buffs who are interested in Restoration England. Bravo!

The Diary of Samuel Pepys (Penguin Classics)

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The Diary of Samuel Pepys (Penguin Classics)
Samuel Pepys
Manufacturer: Penguin Books Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Everybody's Pepys: The Diary of Samuel Pepys 1660-1669

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Everybody's Pepys: The Diary of Samuel Pepys 1660-1669

Manufacturer: G. Bell and Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000E174OK

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The Diary of Samuel Pepys 1665
Samuel Pepys
Manufacturer: Paperbackshop.Co.UK Ltd - Echo Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Diary of Samuel Pepys: 1664 (Diary of Samuel Pepys, Vol 5)

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Honest, vivid account of 17th Century London
This is the definitive edition of Pepys' Diary!

The Diary of Samuel Pepys: 1664 (Diary of Samuel Pepys, Vol 5)
Samuel Pepys
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0004990250

Book Description

Samuel Pepys is as much a paragon of literature as Chaucer and Shakespeare. His Diary is one of the principal sources for many aspects of the history of its period. In spite of its significance, all previous editions were inadequately edited and suffered from a number of omissions--until Robert Latham and William Matthews went back to the 300-year-old original manuscript and deciphered each passage and phrase, no matter how obscure or indiscreet.
The Diary deals with some of the most dramatic events in English history. Pepys witnessed the London Fire, the Great Plague, the Restoration of Charles II, and the Dutch Wars. He was a patron of the arts, having himself composed many delightful songs and participated in the artistic life of London. His flair for gossip and detail reveals a portrait of the times that rivals the most swashbuckling and romantic historical novels. In none of the earlier versions was there a reliable, full text, with commentary and notation with any claim to completeness. This edition, first published in 1970, is the first in which the entire diary is printed with systematic comment. This is the only complete edition available; it is as close to Pepys's original as possible.

Customer Reviews:

Honest, vivid account of 17th Century London.......2001-07-09

Samuel Pepys must certainly be the most candid of diarists, and the most aware of his time and place. He makes no effort to hide his flaws, nor his accomplishments. We learn about court intrigue, food, household management, plays, the foibles of kings, taverns, music, the navy, architecture, preachers, marriage, family relationships...the man was open to the world around him in an unbelievable way, and conveys it all with zest. It is absolutely enthralling.

This is the definitive edition of Pepys' Diary!.......1999-09-24

This is the best edition of Samuel Pepy's Diary and is hugely enjoyable to read. It takes you into the world of a 17th century yuppie par excellance with all his faults and virtues. The scholarship is first rate, meticulous and rigorous and the footnotes add enormously to the interest of the diary. The introductory essays are also first rate and I want the whole set of all 12 volumes!

Crime and Punishment, The Diary of Samuel pepys, The confessions of Saint Augustine, Paradise Lost, A Passion in the Desert, Letter Challenging Alexander Hamilton to a Duel, Argues Against the Writs of Assistance

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Crime and Punishment, The Diary of Samuel pepys, The confessions of Saint Augustine, Paradise Lost, A Passion in the Desert, Letter Challenging Alexander Hamilton to a Duel, Argues Against the Writs of Assistance

Manufacturer: Classics Appreciation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000E5RI38

Product Description

Part of the Classics Appreciation Society Condensations series with Home Course.

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This book is a source of rich, intense pleasure throughout.
If you won't read the complete diary, this is the next best.

The Shorter Pepys

Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

Generations of readers have found Pepys' diaries one of the best ways to vicariously experience the tumultuous world of seventeenth century London, the time of Restoration, the Plague, and the Great Fire. The short Pepys recreates this world for readers daunted by the complete multi-volume set of diaries. Containing about one-third of the original, the abridgment is full enough to give us just the essence but the detail of Pepys' daily life.

Customer Reviews:

This book is a source of rich, intense pleasure throughout........1998-04-28

This diary in this abridged version, has given me more sheer pleasure than any other book I have ever read. Writing for himself alone, Pepys selected things for inclusion in the diary purely on the basis of how they struck him. This grand subjectivity would be fatal in a dull or passive or insensitive writer, but in Pepys it makes the work fresh and vibrant, constantly surprising, unlike anything else in literature. Even when describing an "important" scene, he is still his natural self and gives touches of his own behaviour, like this at the King's coronation: "But so great a noise, that I could make but little of the Musique; and endeed, it was lost to everybody. But I had so great a list to pissse, that I went out a little while before the King had done all his ceremonies...." Not just his behavior, but also his reactions: "As it grew darker, [the fire] appeared more and more, and in Corners and upon steeples and between churches and houses, as far as we could see up the hill of the City, in a most horrid malicious bloody flame, not like the fine flame of an ordinary fire." That is from Pepys's stunning account of the first day of the great fire of London. It has no conscious artifice: Pepys's descriptions owe their power to his uncanny knack for expressing how the events struck him. So he gives details which a more "responsible" writer would have overlooked: "Among other things, the poor pigeons I perceive were loath to leave their houses, but hovered about the windows and balconies till they were some of them burned, their wings, and fell down." The diary gives us the texture of Pepys's daily life - what he wore, what he ate, what skirts he lifted, and what he paid in hard cash for all this; the plays he saw, how the audiences behaved, the doorman who swindled him out of a shilling; his book collection, his musical instruments, the improvements to his apartment; his growing wealth, from sources bright and shady; his bowels and his testicles; the list is endless. Along with stories that are variously amusing, touching, shocking, there are episodes like this: "Before going to bed, I stood writing of this day its passages - while a drum came by, beating of a strange manner of beat, now and then a single stroke; which my wife and I wondered at, what the meaning of it should be." And this: "I sat up till the bell-man came by with his bell, just under my window as I was writing of this very line, and cried 'Past one of the clock, and a cold, frosty, windy morning.' One of the topics is Pepys himself - his thoughts, feelings and actions, and his thoughts and feelings about these. He had a lively inner life, was intimately in touch with it, and had the ability to know at any given moment how he felt and to write about it clearly and purely. We get Pepys warts and all. He does not pose for his self-portrait. When a stranger importunes his wife, he records, "I did give him a good cuff or two on the chops; and seeing him not oppose me, I did give him another". This is not the writing of someone who wants to be a hero to his diary! He freely criticizes himself, particularly for his capacity - amazing in one so able and successful - for neglecting work and career in the pursuit of pleasure. After a bout with one of his mistresses, he went to see another but found that she was away: "So I back again to my office, where I did with great content faire a vow to mind my business and laisser aller les femmes for a month; and am with all my heart glad to find myself able to come to so good a resolution, that thereby I may follow my business, which, and my honour thereby, lies a-bleeding." (Where sex is the topic, Pepys usually scatters French and Spanish words through his text.) Sometimes he scolds himself for his feelings. After appearing before a tribunal of inquiry, and concluding that he is not in much trouble, he writes: "And yet though this be all, yet I do find so poor a spirit within me, that it makes me almost out of my wits, and puts me to so much pain that I...vex and fret and imagine myself undone - so that I am ashamed of myself to myself, and do fear what would become of me if any real affliction should come upon me." He later remarks that the tribunal had treated him "as a Criminall", kept him waiting and made him stand; but he seems not to have reflected that that is why he was so depressed. He is always interested in his inner life and willing to respond to it, judge it, lament it, rejoice in it; but as a child of his times he is not challenged to try to understand it. The Navy Board, and therefore Pepys himself, were potentially in much greater trouble only a month later. He did not collapse. His three-hour speech to Parliament was a triumph, though he describes it in less than a sentence: "I begin our defence most acceptably and smoothly, and continued at it without any hesitation or losse but with full scope and all my reason free about me, as if it had been at my own table...". Pepys was able to enjoy HIMSELF, to take his triumphs without vainglory and his reverses without self-deception. He had, as Robert Latham puts it, "a gift for happiness that amounts to genius".

If you won't read the complete diary, this is the next best........1997-08-02

Pepys's complete diaries are probably the closest thing to time travel that I will ever experience. This condensed edition takes the meat off the bones and serves it up with most of the flavor of the full Latham-edited version.

The passion for women and for books, the details noticed at the Whitehall court of Charles II -- like the king's mistress's freshly-washed underwear hanging on a hedge in the privy garden to dry in the sun! -- and the layered record of the daily routine of a London man living in a time of immense change are fascinating.

Note that this is a fine book for those who enjoy the Patrick O'Brian Aubry and Maturin series too. Pepys was instrumental in taking the British Navy from a ragged mix of merchant ships mixed in with war ships, haphazardly provisioned and manned by politically appointed (i.e. unexamined) officers to the fleet that brought Nelson to victory.

This book is an excellent introduction to Pepys; I recommend it

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