Poor Richard

by James Daugherty

A biography of Benjamin Franklin from his birth in Boston in 1706 through his years as printer,statesman, inventor, author, and reformer.

Genres: History, Biography, American History, School, Childrens, Nonfiction, Historical

175 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1941

About the author

aka http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...

Reviews

[Marisol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esta reseña toma en consideración que es una de las obras tempranas de Henry James, también considera a esta historia más una obra de teatro que una novela.

Aquí solo existen 4 personajes, 3 o 4 locaciones, y un enredo no amoroso demasiado anudado.

Richard es un joven desdibujado, sin fortuna, ni aspiraciones reales, de lo único que está seguro es de su amor por una joven rica llamada Gertrude, pero tiene 2 rivales, un oficial idealista llamado Edmund, y el mayor Luttrel, el típico hombre con muchas medallas, cero billetes y a la caza de una mujer con recursos.

Tres hombres tras Gertrude, pero lo realmente irónico en esta historia es que nunca llega a verse un enfrentamiento o una lucha entre ellos, más bien la nulidad de uno y la timidez de otro hacen que el amor nunca aparezca, se evade y pasa de largo sin tocar a la puerta de ninguno de los personajes.

Realmente es extraña y a la vez compleja la manera en cómo se dan los acontecimientos.

Me gusta como el estilo de James ya va delineando aunque de una manera burda, esa obsesión por darles el toque inglés a los americanos a veces los vuelve de cartón pero aún así, James hace que funcione y refleja esa misma obsesión que fue muy real, de ser o copiar ese halo inglés tan educado y seductor.

La sociedad norteamericana fue tan falsamente inglesa como lo plasman las buenas historias de Henry James.

[Brit Chhangur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pre-read for AO year 4! I like James Daughtery and enjoyed this book a lot!

Read again with Lu in 2025. It's quite a challenging book, so while I pre-read it, I ended up reading it aloud to all my kids in year 4, so this is my 4th time to read it!

[Lindsay B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard read. Didn't like it much. It was also hard to understand.

[Gina Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pre-read for Zeke, AOy4.

[Kelsie Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buddy read with my 7th grader for History. Great bio on Ben Franklin and we loved the illustrations.

[Amy Bare · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought the writing was clunky and confusing. None of us were really understanding or getting much out of it. We stopped halfway through.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely beyond the capabilities of most every child - there are subtleties that would likely go over the heads of high schoolers. This is still a juvenile biography, however.

[Lauren Fee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pre-read this book so I can better enjoy narrations and engage in conversations with my son this year as I am passing off this book to him. I really appreciated this read and it intersected so nicely with another historical work I am currently reading about John Adams. I enjoyed contrasting the two perspectives of Franklin’s work in Paris. This book also whet my appetite to read Franklin’s personal autobiography. James Daughtery’s lithograph illustrations were so enjoyable as well.

[Sofi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Muy Jamesiano lo de el "cuadrado" amoroso. Me saca que los personajes tengan esa forma de no hablarse y la comunicacion no fluye entonces todos suponen erroneamente o deciden por los demas. Clasico tema de porblemas de comunicacion y de amores no correspondidos.

[Bella Rowell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for school. It was pretty interesting. A book on the life of "Poor Richard" or Benjamin Franklin. It was intriguing and very factual. One of the better books I've read for school.

[Maria Wyse]

Really enjoyed this. Ben Franklin was so fascinating!

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

We enjoyed reading this biography of Ben Franklin and were touched by the epitaph at the end. It seemed disjointed and hard to follow at times and I don't know how much we would have liked it without the context of the other books we are reading about that time period. We enjoyed the quotes directly from Mr Franklin but were disappointed by some of the details that were lacking-for example how he became a Doctor. An interesting and enjoyable read nonetheless.

[Sara Pernas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Para ser James no me ha parecido extraordinaria, quizás porque es de sus primeras novelas. Aunque ya está todo lo que se repetirá después: puntos de vista, triángulos (en este caso cuadrado) amorosos, análisis de los personajes, evolución, finales abiertos, etc. Pero vaya, que habiendo cosas mucho mejores de James...

[Mary Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 10 year old son just rated this for me after we finished reading it together.

[Felipe Álvarez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buena novela corta de James. Un rectángulo amoroso cuyo desenlace resulta caótico y, de alguna u otra manera, miserable para las partes involucradas. Divertida y se lee muy rapido

[Nathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trata la historia de Getrude whittaker dama adinerada y de Richard hermano de la amiga de Gertrude que se enamora de ella, ella lo rechaza lo manda a la friendzone, pero quiere ayudarlo a que deje el alcohol y trabaje para eso quiere presentarle al capitan Severn que tambien ama a Gertrude, este capitán llegó herido de guerra y ella lo había estado ayudando, fue super penca todo porque Gertrude lo amaba era mutuo y el no se atreve a contárselo y termina muerto en la guerra tiempo después. Aparece otro personaje el mayor Luttrel que estaba buscabdo people para reclutar tambien le gusta ella pero por su dinero. Richard y el le mienten a Gertrude para que no se despidda del capitan Severn antes de irse a la guerra, cuático que ella perdona a Richard cuando le cuenta y decide que se enamoró de él pero nadie dice nada y quedó en nada si que Richard se va a la guerra y ella a vivir a Europa y sin pareja. El mismo dinero que decía que la ataba terminó sirviéndole en Europa

Falta indecoro como es eso que la historia termine sin parejas que shipear

[Abbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this slightly ahead of my AO Y4 son. The writing was interesting and yet simultaneously hard to follow. You really have to have a solid grasp of the details of political life during the last half of the 1700s. There are many allusions to events and people referenced once briefly only to pop up again later with no reminding details.

I like to think that I'm a decent reader, but this was a hard one for me. My son asked for me to read it to him because he was having a hard time narrating well afterwards, and he typically has excellent comprehension and retention.

Often I had to pause at the beginning of a chapter to try to figure out what the setting was--"Is Ben in London or Boston or France this time?"--and what's going on. The chapters tended to just plunge in without any framework. The illustrations don't particularly add to the text, but they are attractive from an artistic viewpoint.

It's not a bad book by any means, and but it's certainly written in an unusual style.

[Rachel Feeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This biography has been lurking on my shelf for some time now. I first became acquainted with the author in the middle school library, where I read his work on the Magna Carta and was struck by the anecdotes of Prince John throwing temper tantrums and chewing on rugs. Daugherty brings his same perspective of viewing the colorful side of history to the life of Benjamin Franklin. Each chapter highlights a formative moment, and could probably stand alone as a short article. There's a fair bit of interpretation of the facts, perhaps more so than in other histories, but it's an accessible introduction to Ben Franklin for anyone acquainted with the major events of colonial American history.

[Melissa Grice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this over the term with my AO year 4 student. Benjamin Franklin lived such a full and fascinating life, it’s impossible for it to be a dull read. The language in this book is quite advanced, and Daugherty assumes the reader knows more than they might, considering it’s written for juveniles. I always appreciate when a writer doesn’t condescend to his audience, but the language in parts felt needlessly complex and flowery, and quite clumsy to read aloud. Otherwise, we really enjoyed it.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Works best if you already have a firm understanding of American history during this time period. If you don't, find a companion piece to read alongside that will provide a solid historical survey, like A Little History of the United States (Davidson).

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

History read aloud with the kids. A more panegyric style biography, and the writing style was sometimes hard for them to follow along, but we all enjoyed it and learned so much about his fascinating life and era.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

preread for Ambleside Online year 4.

[Aleatha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always a pleasure to read about Ben Franklin's life.

[Jordan Carlson]

Another great book that AO introduced us to! AO year 4

[Natalie Grubb cheek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engaging, made me laugh, brought a tear. All the things a good book should do.

[Lily Stoddard · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a interesting book about Benjamin Franklin

[Zachary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliantly written, made a man who has been dead for 200 years come alive.

[Malory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good biography on Benjamin Franklin. Loved the illustrations. Y4 AO.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book with my sons for an AO Year 4 History book. I enjoy James Daugherty’s writing style. My boys didn’t love the “long” chapters but warmed up to the story!

[Amy Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun twist on Franklin's autobiography. I enjoyed Daugherty's writing style and the illustrations were beautiful. This was a very engaging read for AO year 4.