Boswell’s Enlightenment

by Robert Zaretsky

Throughout his life, James Boswell struggled to fashion a clear account of himself, but try as he might, he could not reconcile the truths of his era with those of his religious upbringing. Boswell’s Enlightenment examines the conflicting credos of reason and faith, progress and tradition that pulled Boswell, like so many eighteenth-century Europeans, in opposing directions. In the end, the life of the man best known for writing Samuel Johnson’s biography was something of a patchwork affair. As Johnson himself “That creature was its own tormentor, and I believe its name was BOSWELL.”Few periods in Boswell’s life better crystallize this internal turmoil than 1763–1765, the years of his Grand Tour and the focus of Robert Zaretsky’s thrilling intellectual adventure. From the moment Boswell sailed for Holland from the port of Harwich, leaving behind on the beach his newly made friend Dr. Johnson, to his return to Dover from Calais a year and a half later, the young Scot was intent on not just touring historic and religious sites but also canvassing the views of the greatest thinkers of the age. In his relentless quizzing of Voltaire and Rousseau, Hume and Johnson, Paoli and Wilkes on topics concerning faith, the soul, and death, he was not merely a celebrity-seeker but—for want of a better term—a truth-seeker. Zaretsky reveals a life more complex and compelling than suggested by the label “Johnson’s biographer,” and one that 250 years later registers our own variations of mind.

Genres: History, Biography

289 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 23, 2015

About the author

Robert Zaretsky is a literary biographer and historian of France. He is Professor of Humanities at the Honors College, University of Houston, and the author of many books, including A Life Worth Living: Albert Camus and the Quest for Meaning and Boswell’s Enlightenment. Zaretsky is the history editor for the Los Angeles Review of Books, a regular columnist for The Forward, and a frequent contributor to The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Foreign Policy.

Reviews

[Justin Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zaretsky is charming; Boswell is charming; this is a somewhat aimless but very enjoyable, essayistic biography. The point, insofar as there is one, is to detail Boswell's relationships with or thoughts about other enlightenment bigwigs, including Smith, Rousseau, and of course Johnson. An ideal weekend read... if it hadn't been published by Harvard.

I'm not sure what's going on, but I can't remember reading a book published by Harvard that wasn't, apparently, edited by machines or perhaps ill-trained monkeys. Aside from general typos (really? you can spend thousands giving a book fancy end-papers, but can't pay a graduate student somewhere fifty bucks to get rid of typos?), we also have:

* the same anecdote about Hume repeated, I think, three times;
* Adam Smith called 'Author of the Theory of Moral Sentiments' multiple times within two pages;
* a joke about Mrs. Cowper before Mrs. Cowper has even entered the narrative;
* the story about Boswell getting into bed with Erskine repeated at least three times;
* Esse est percipi spelled Essi est percipi

That's a sample of cock-ups, not an exhaustive list. And this in a 'Balknap' book, supposedly the high-end of the press. Harvard, I edit books. Hire me.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 10th Laird of Auchinleck is best known for his comprehensive biography of Samuel Johnson; but James Boswell was an important and interesting figure in his own right. This book is essentially an account of how Boswell becomes The Boswell we are more familiar with–the writer, the biographer, the lawyer. This book reveals to us a Boswell who thought deeply about religion, the afterlife and the immortality of the soul and who sought out the greatest thinkers of his days and questioned them relentlessly about these topics. Zaretsky’s brief biography is an account of Boswell’s Grand Tour of Europe from 1763-1765 as he interviews great men in an attempt to probe the depths of his own soul.

Zaretsky first describes Boswell’s Calvinist roots which laid the foundation for his struggle with religion, worship and the immortality of the soul. Boswell was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland where his parents were very traditional followers of this Christian sect which believed in a harsh and vengeful God. The long Sundays spent in devotion to such an ever-watchful deity had a lasting influence on Boswell’s psyche. When he graduates from university and his father expects him to study law, Boswell wants first to travel around Europe and have conversations with the world’s leading Enlightenment thinkers. Boswell actively pursues and interrogates the likes of Johnson, Rosseau, Voltaire, Wilke and Paoli.

There are some interesting themes that Zaretsky notes about Boswell’s life during this period, the most important of which is his constant battle with melancholy. When Boswell meets Johnson in London, the two men bond over their respective bouts of depression. Boswell is constantly plagued by a type of pensive sadness concerning his life and the course which it ought to take. During these low periods he indulges in two forms of “medication”: drinking and sex. The self-medication and depression become a cyclical pattern because the more depressed he feels the more he drinks and has sex; after a night of extreme debauchery Boswell has feelings of dread and guilt which further launch him into a depression. Zaretsky points out that even much later in life, when he is settled down with a wonderful wife and five children he continues to wrestle with these demons.

The most entertaining encounters that Boswell has during his travels are with Rosseau and Voltaire. At this point, both writers are carrying out reclusive lives as feeble, crusty old men when Boswell overtakes them. And overtakes them he does as he shows up on both men’s doorsteps and insinuates himself into their homes. He questions both men about religion, life, and most importantly the immortality of the soul. Zaretsky provides us with a general overview of Rosseau’s and Voltaire’s important ideas and how these ideas have an impact on young Boswell. Rosseau is a bit more affable with Boswell and is entertained by Boswell’s gregarious and affable personality. But neither philosopher is able to give Boswell satisfactory answers about the role of God in this life or what will happen to his soul in the next.

Boswell then moves on to Italy and eventually Corsica where he meets two very different types of men. John Wilkes, the libertine politician, is a free-spirited thinker who embraces life for all it is worth; he, too, loves to drink and whore around but he is unapologetic about his behavior. Wilkes dismisses Boswell’s questions about religion and mortality and tells Boswell to stop being so serious and to embrace life. While Boswell is with Wilkes he lets loose with wild abandon as his days and nights are taken up with talking to his friend, drinking and sexual promiscuity.

Sometimes funny, sometimes serious, but always well-written, Boswell’s Enlightenment has given me a much greater appreciation for Johnson’s biographer. Boswell is plagued with self-doubt and depression yet through all of his low points he continues to contemplate the importance of this life and his possible annihilation in the next. This book covers only a brief span in Boswell’s life, but I enjoyed it so much that I purchased a copy of Boswell’s diaries so I can learn more about this fascinating, Scottish laird.

For more of my reviews visit: www.thebookbindersdaughter.com

[Lauren Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would say to read a general biography first but then I don't know if this book would tell you anything different if it was a solid biography. Zaretsky focuses mostly on Boswell's intellectual biography--which thinkers he admired, read, visited. It was an amazing number. But I would think that a general biography would cover those things. He did give me a good feeling for Boswell as a person--his likability, his enthusiasms.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh - stick with Peter Gay