What do you think?
Rate this book
Boswell's Journals #7
Diario di un viaggio alle Ebridi
«Da anni, ormai, il dottor Johnson mi aveva dato la speranza che saremmo andati a visitare insieme le Ebridi. Il Resoconto di Martin relativo a quelle isole ci aveva trasmesso l’impressione che lì avremmo potuto contemplare un sistema di vita quasi del tutto diverso da quello che eravamo abituati a vedere; e il trovare semplicità di costumi e uno stato selvaggio, nonché tutte le circostanze legate a un tempo o a un luogo remoti, rappresentava un obiettivo nei limiti di una ragionevole curiosità. Il dottor Johnson nel suo Viaggio ha detto che a stento si ricordava “come fosse nato in lui il desiderio di visitare le Ebridi”; ma nell’estate del 1763 mi confidò che, quand’era giovanissimo, suo padre gli aveva messo in mano il Resoconto di Martin, dalla cui lettura era rimasto assai soddisfatto».
Questa curiosa avventura di viaggio del dottor Johnson con il suo biografo Boswell (che una ventina d’anni dopo lo avrebbe immortalato nel celebre Vita di Samuel Johnson, di cui questo Viaggio alle Ebridi è una sorta di prova generale) si svolse tra l’agosto e il novembre del 1773. Il dotto letterato era nel suo sessantaquattresimo anno e dunque la faticosa escursione si caricava di molti significati, soprattutto la prospettiva di «godere gli aspetti selvaggi» di una terra ancora circondata di mistero. Ma come il Dottore guarda al paesaggio e si fa antropologo, così il giovane Boswell si sofferma di più sul venerato maestro («qualunque cosa riguardi un uomo così grande merita di essere osservata»). Sicché il diario giornaliero di una esplorazione diventa anche il ritratto di un genio in viaggio che giudica dei contemporanei e uno specchio della vita britannica settecentesca.
Questa curiosa avventura di viaggio del dottor Johnson con il suo biografo Boswell (che una ventina d’anni dopo lo avrebbe immortalato nel celebre Vita di Samuel Johnson, di cui questo Viaggio alle Ebridi è una sorta di prova generale) si svolse tra l’agosto e il novembre del 1773. Il dotto letterato era nel suo sessantaquattresimo anno e dunque la faticosa escursione si caricava di molti significati, soprattutto la prospettiva di «godere gli aspetti selvaggi» di una terra ancora circondata di mistero. Ma come il Dottore guarda al paesaggio e si fa antropologo, così il giovane Boswell si sofferma di più sul venerato maestro («qualunque cosa riguardi un uomo così grande merita di essere osservata»). Sicché il diario giornaliero di una esplorazione diventa anche il ritratto di un genio in viaggio che giudica dei contemporanei e uno specchio della vita britannica settecentesca.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1785
57 people are currently reading
442 people want to read
About the author
James Boswell
1,582 books106 followersJames Boswell, 10th Laird of Auchinleck and 1st Baronet was a lawyer, diarist, and author born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was the eldest son of a judge, Alexander Boswell, 8th Laird of Auchinleck and his wife Euphemia Erskine, Lady Auchinleck. Boswell's mother was a strict Calvinist, and he felt that his father was cold to him. Boswell, who is best known as Samuel Johnson’s biographer, inherited his father’s estate Auchinleck in Ayrshire. His name has passed into the English language as a term (Boswell, Boswellian, Boswellism) for a constant companion and observer.
Boswell is also known for the detailed and frank journals that he wrote for long periods of his life, which remained undiscovered until the 1920s. These included voluminous notes on the grand tour of Europe that he took as a young nobleman and, subsequently, of his tour of Scotland with Johnson. His journals also record meetings and conversations with eminent individuals belonging to The Club, including Lord Monboddo, David Garrick, Edmund Burke, Joshua Reynolds and Oliver Goldsmith. His written works focus chiefly on others, but he was admitted as a good companion and accomplished conversationalist in his own right.
Boswell is also known for the detailed and frank journals that he wrote for long periods of his life, which remained undiscovered until the 1920s. These included voluminous notes on the grand tour of Europe that he took as a young nobleman and, subsequently, of his tour of Scotland with Johnson. His journals also record meetings and conversations with eminent individuals belonging to The Club, including Lord Monboddo, David Garrick, Edmund Burke, Joshua Reynolds and Oliver Goldsmith. His written works focus chiefly on others, but he was admitted as a good companion and accomplished conversationalist in his own right.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
June 11, 2016
I read this years ago and I need to get back into this filthy uncomfortable rowdy dowdy how did people cope for even a single day world of the 18th century, because it's so much fun.
Johnson was famous, he'd written (singlehandedly almost) the first proper dictionary of English, he'd edited Shakespeare, and he was notorious also also for his serio-comic chauvinist-English detestation of Scotland, so naturally, Scotsman Boswell, the all time Johnson groupie, wished to persuade SJ to partake of the delights of Scotland and to demonstrate how lovely and refined it really was.
So that was a major fail, but in the end, what we got out of the slightly bonkers enterprise was two excellent books, this one, and Johnson's own account, which is much more high falutin and pompous, yes, but also great stuff. Bozzy's own version is hilarious, stuffed full of verbatim 18th century conversations and rampant snobbery, uneatable meals and miles of horrible unpaved roads.
Being a bit obsessive about these things, I was more than a little shocked that I had forgotten to list this wonderful book here, so I make amends now. Welcome to Scotland, 1773. You'll think you're there, and you'll be glad you aren't.
Johnson was famous, he'd written (singlehandedly almost) the first proper dictionary of English, he'd edited Shakespeare, and he was notorious also also for his serio-comic chauvinist-English detestation of Scotland, so naturally, Scotsman Boswell, the all time Johnson groupie, wished to persuade SJ to partake of the delights of Scotland and to demonstrate how lovely and refined it really was.
So that was a major fail, but in the end, what we got out of the slightly bonkers enterprise was two excellent books, this one, and Johnson's own account, which is much more high falutin and pompous, yes, but also great stuff. Bozzy's own version is hilarious, stuffed full of verbatim 18th century conversations and rampant snobbery, uneatable meals and miles of horrible unpaved roads.
Being a bit obsessive about these things, I was more than a little shocked that I had forgotten to list this wonderful book here, so I make amends now. Welcome to Scotland, 1773. You'll think you're there, and you'll be glad you aren't.
October 6, 2017
Dal mio personale diario di viaggio alle Ebridi
Sono a pagina 180 e delle Ebridi nemmeno l'ombra (nemmeno l'ombra delle Ebridi nel Diario di un viaggio alle Ebridi).
Del resto le discussioni certosinamente riportate da Boswell ben avrebbero potuto svolgersi in Scozia come a Londra, come a Mumbay.
Staremo a vedere.
In compenso la pedanteria del Dr. Samuel Johnson, il suo spirito di contestazione ad ogni battuta e su qualsiasi tema, l'ego smisurato, solo in parte mitigati dal suo lignaggio di gentleman e dall'arguzia di alcune argomentazioni (alcune), sono profusi a iosa sin dalla prima pagina; anche i suoi paradossi (che negli interlocutori tanto mal sopportava) e le facezie mi risultano a tratti irritanti.
Inaccettabile la riduzione dell'edizione italiana rispetto all'originale (mi chiedo se del taglio operato non siano proprio le Ebridi ad aver fatto le spese).
Postilla
Mi correggo, al termine del viaggio si intravedono anche le Ebridi
Ulteriore postilla
Per il prossimo viaggio ricordarsi di raddoppiare le scorte di grog
Sono a pagina 180 e delle Ebridi nemmeno l'ombra (nemmeno l'ombra delle Ebridi nel Diario di un viaggio alle Ebridi).
Del resto le discussioni certosinamente riportate da Boswell ben avrebbero potuto svolgersi in Scozia come a Londra, come a Mumbay.
Staremo a vedere.
In compenso la pedanteria del Dr. Samuel Johnson, il suo spirito di contestazione ad ogni battuta e su qualsiasi tema, l'ego smisurato, solo in parte mitigati dal suo lignaggio di gentleman e dall'arguzia di alcune argomentazioni (alcune), sono profusi a iosa sin dalla prima pagina; anche i suoi paradossi (che negli interlocutori tanto mal sopportava) e le facezie mi risultano a tratti irritanti.
Inaccettabile la riduzione dell'edizione italiana rispetto all'originale (mi chiedo se del taglio operato non siano proprio le Ebridi ad aver fatto le spese).
Postilla
Mi correggo, al termine del viaggio si intravedono anche le Ebridi
Ulteriore postilla
Per il prossimo viaggio ricordarsi di raddoppiare le scorte di grog
Read
November 17, 2023Much praise, and little criticism, of Scotland has recently met my attention from a most venerated source. I thought it then appropriate to dwell further upon this fair land, and what better way to begin than with this book, as fine an example of respected source material as any, I suppose. As with Mr. Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson, I much enjoyed this account, this time taken as an audiobook.
The pair venture on their road trip about Scotland from August to November 1773. Mr. Boswell was the tour manager, ensuring that the great Dr. Johnson was met with appropriate enthusiasm, and open doors, on all their major stops. Fortunately for us all, Dr. Johnson, who turned sixty-four while under way, agreed to the peripatetic enterprise despite his age. They travelled through the major cities in Scotland and several islands in the Hebrides, Mr. Boswell assiduously recording Dr. Johnson’s occasional wit and casual criticisms.
It is well worth repeating a few passages; I caught the following as especially noteworthy:
How many times have I felt the same? Dr. Johnson said it best, though, for his thoughts are remembered where mine easily escape notice. And how felicitous the following passage, an endorsement of my earnest efforts of late, represented in the lines you now read:
Ah, now here are words to live by, written nearly 250 years ago. Thank you, Mr. Boswell for validating my undertaking.
The pair venture on their road trip about Scotland from August to November 1773. Mr. Boswell was the tour manager, ensuring that the great Dr. Johnson was met with appropriate enthusiasm, and open doors, on all their major stops. Fortunately for us all, Dr. Johnson, who turned sixty-four while under way, agreed to the peripatetic enterprise despite his age. They travelled through the major cities in Scotland and several islands in the Hebrides, Mr. Boswell assiduously recording Dr. Johnson’s occasional wit and casual criticisms.
It is well worth repeating a few passages; I caught the following as especially noteworthy:
Dr M'Pherson's Dissertations on Scottish Antiquities which he [Johnson] had looked at when at Corrichatachin, being mentioned, he remarked, that “you might read half an hour, and ask yourself what you had been reading: there were so many words to so little matter, that there was no getting through the book”.
How many times have I felt the same? Dr. Johnson said it best, though, for his thoughts are remembered where mine easily escape notice. And how felicitous the following passage, an endorsement of my earnest efforts of late, represented in the lines you now read:
Every man should keep minutes of whatever he reads. Every circumstance of his studies should be recorded; what books he has consulted; how much of them he has read; at what times; how often the same authors; and what opinions he formed of them, at different periods of his life. Such an account would much illustrate the history of his mind.
Ah, now here are words to live by, written nearly 250 years ago. Thank you, Mr. Boswell for validating my undertaking.
October 9, 2014
I had a conversation with a friend at University: I was deeply into the Romantics; he pooh-poohed them and asserted that the 18th century was far more balanced; in turn I pooh-poohed him. We agreed to differ. Now that I am over sixty, I have come round to his opinion. I'm not unsympathetic to my younger self's difficulty with the Augustans: I was emotionally volatile and lacked tolerance for those whose feelings were better controlled, and, frankly, unable to understand the grammatical and lexical difficulty of Augustan prose or the density of the poetical diction. (Mind you, why I thought the Romantics were any easier, I do not now know: now, I often haven't the foggiest about what they are taking such a long time to witter their way towards.)
So, I enjoyed Boswell's account of his tour to the Hebrides, and what I most enjoyed was the realisation that my younger self completely missed in the 18th century the nicety of feeling that Boswell and Johnson manifest towards each other and their acquaintances - and vice versa. My view of the age was one that spent its time sniping at each other. Doubtless there was plenty of that: one rare instance in the Journal is in a late footnote where Boswell complains of 'A contemptible scribbler' who 'impudently and falsely asserted that the passages omitted were defamatory, and that the omission was not voluntary, but compulsory.' Boswell puts said 'scribbler' (said to be 'Peter Pindar') in his place and upbraids himself for having been guilty in the first place of lacking the 'delicacy of politeness' that should have prompted him to omit the said passages in the first place. The Journal as a whole constantly records examples of occasions when a hasty word was withdrawn with finely phrased apologies showing sensitivity to the nuances of offence that may have been caused, and easing social relations so carefully.
Nevertheless, Johnson in full spate must have been both intellectually and physically intimidating, and I rather admired the fortitude of his interlocutors. Boswell's account is, one supposes, pretty eulogistical, but in that he seeks both to draw the portrait of a great man of his age and to draw, from both Johnson and others, examples of behaviour and thinking that allow him and his readers to lead a better life, one may forgive his partisanship. The Journal is not, of course, the Consolation of Philosophy, but in its own way it has the same effect: it is consoling. In particular, it offers, at least implicitly, advice on how to conduct oneself when confined by weather with a small number of other people, the importance of conscientious hospitality, and how to manage one's fears when afflicted by storms and sea-sickness in an open boat or one's discomfort when travelling through marshy terrain in a treeless environment before the days of Goretex.
The frequency of Latin tags and extended Latin verse was at first irritating; but after a while, since there was no chance that I would understand them after forsaking Latin aged 18, I let them ride by. Mind you, the occasional translations offered from Dryden have led me to consider taking up his version of 'The Aenead' for the first time.
So, I enjoyed Boswell's account of his tour to the Hebrides, and what I most enjoyed was the realisation that my younger self completely missed in the 18th century the nicety of feeling that Boswell and Johnson manifest towards each other and their acquaintances - and vice versa. My view of the age was one that spent its time sniping at each other. Doubtless there was plenty of that: one rare instance in the Journal is in a late footnote where Boswell complains of 'A contemptible scribbler' who 'impudently and falsely asserted that the passages omitted were defamatory, and that the omission was not voluntary, but compulsory.' Boswell puts said 'scribbler' (said to be 'Peter Pindar') in his place and upbraids himself for having been guilty in the first place of lacking the 'delicacy of politeness' that should have prompted him to omit the said passages in the first place. The Journal as a whole constantly records examples of occasions when a hasty word was withdrawn with finely phrased apologies showing sensitivity to the nuances of offence that may have been caused, and easing social relations so carefully.
Nevertheless, Johnson in full spate must have been both intellectually and physically intimidating, and I rather admired the fortitude of his interlocutors. Boswell's account is, one supposes, pretty eulogistical, but in that he seeks both to draw the portrait of a great man of his age and to draw, from both Johnson and others, examples of behaviour and thinking that allow him and his readers to lead a better life, one may forgive his partisanship. The Journal is not, of course, the Consolation of Philosophy, but in its own way it has the same effect: it is consoling. In particular, it offers, at least implicitly, advice on how to conduct oneself when confined by weather with a small number of other people, the importance of conscientious hospitality, and how to manage one's fears when afflicted by storms and sea-sickness in an open boat or one's discomfort when travelling through marshy terrain in a treeless environment before the days of Goretex.
The frequency of Latin tags and extended Latin verse was at first irritating; but after a while, since there was no chance that I would understand them after forsaking Latin aged 18, I let them ride by. Mind you, the occasional translations offered from Dryden have led me to consider taking up his version of 'The Aenead' for the first time.
September 17, 2017
A younger man (hero worshipping, showing off his famous acquaintance) and an old fart (intellectual, with razor sharp wit and fairly rude) experience eighteenth century Scotland with all its fleas, midges, horse shit, mud, rain and smells. And lots and lots of rain. And did I mention the crap food... Glorious!
PS. I went to Scotland some years ago, doing geological mapping, and stayed in a caravan on the west coast. It was muddy, wet, filled with midges, rain etc. My motorcycle hit a pile of cow-sh*t and I had a crash. And the food was bad. So I'm very sorry to say that, despite its incredible beauty (Sanna Bay), not a lot has changed in some rural areas in 200 years!
PPS. they've just filmed the aborted Eden: Paradise Lost survival series within a mile of where I was!
PS. I went to Scotland some years ago, doing geological mapping, and stayed in a caravan on the west coast. It was muddy, wet, filled with midges, rain etc. My motorcycle hit a pile of cow-sh*t and I had a crash. And the food was bad. So I'm very sorry to say that, despite its incredible beauty (Sanna Bay), not a lot has changed in some rural areas in 200 years!
PPS. they've just filmed the aborted Eden: Paradise Lost survival series within a mile of where I was!
December 11, 2014
Boswell's "Life of Samuel Johnson" is considered the greatest biography ever written. This may be the greatest travelogue ever written, particularly when read in accompaniment with Johnson's "Journey to the Western Isles". This is the precursor to his biography of Johnson and, in my opinion, a more enjoyable work. It adds context, depth and a "behind the scenes" look at Johnson's "Journey...". Having traveled in Scotland or wanting to travel to Scotland adds another dimension of enjoyment to the book.
January 11, 2020
Two friends went on a tour of Scotland in the 1770s. One of them was the Englishman Samuel Johnson, the compiler of the first great dictionary of the English language. The other was the Scotchman James Boswell, good friend and later biographer of Johnson. Both kept a record of their trip. It has been said that their journals differ because Johnson studied Scotland, and Boswell studied Johnson.
So far I’ve only read Boswell’s account, and it’s true it mostly serves as a vehicle for describing Johnson’s conversation. There’s a whole lot of 18th-century name-dropping, most of which didn’t mean much to me. But I learned a few things, and found the occasional humorous passage. Check out my Kindle highlights for examples.
This was my second pick for Georgianuary 2020.
So far I’ve only read Boswell’s account, and it’s true it mostly serves as a vehicle for describing Johnson’s conversation. There’s a whole lot of 18th-century name-dropping, most of which didn’t mean much to me. But I learned a few things, and found the occasional humorous passage. Check out my Kindle highlights for examples.
This was my second pick for Georgianuary 2020.
February 16, 2025
This read was motivated by guilt; I assigned this book as an undergraduate many years ago, and I never finished it. It was a mildly interesting book, as long as the reader has some interest in Scotland, which I do. I like the combination of Boswell's calm narrative voice and the bombastic direct quotations reported from the mouth of Dr. Johnson. Johnson relents a little in his antipathy for the Highlands during the trip, but he is an older man by the time he took this journey, and well, you know, a leopard and its spots. I did enjoy hearing of Johnson's strong contemporary opinion that James Macpherson's purported translations of the poems of Ossian were fakes or at best the creative writing of Macpherson himself.
April 25, 2020
a jolly read
October 12, 2013
My 3rd go-round for this. Always fresh and entertaining. On the wordy side though, unlike his Life of Johnson.
note: I read the 1984 Penguin copy, notes by Peter Levi.
Don't see this on the alternate editions list.
companion to Johnson's Journey to the Hebrides, which is the first part of the book.
notes:
advert to 3rd edition: kindness of friends or the scrutiny of adversaries
164..J was somewhat susceptible of flattery
184..a gentleman who could stay with us only long enough to make us know how much we lost by his leaving us
195..Sir, I do not wish to be thought that feeble man who cannot do without any thing. Sir, it is very bad manners to carry provisions to any man's house, as if he could not entertain you. To an inferior, it is oppressive; to a superior, it is insolent. comick.
..Rev Spooner
200..I am like the Romans: Happy to come...happy to depart
211...gorge...horrid to move along....
231..the old woman who lived in a hole hut in the side of a hill, was afraid that Johnson would ravish her! FUNNY****
234...Hay...guide...left navy
SJ: no man will be a sailor, who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail; for, being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned.
235..sleep with or w/out clothes?
238..J grumbling about rough terrain
Hay, guide, with a very Highland accent, "See such pretty goats!"
Little did he conceive what Dr Johnson was. Here now was a common ignorant Highland clown imagining that he could divert, as one does a child, DR SAMUEL JOHNSON! The ludicrousness, absurdity, and extraordinary contrast between what the fellow fancied, and the reality, was truly comick.
283..a man grows better humoured as he grows older...cf to child
305..Mrs Montague...[of bluestocking fame?]
318..woman good humouredly sat down on J's knee, and kissed him.
"Do it again,' said he, 'and let us see who will tire first."
325..every man should keep minutes of whatever he reads. Every circumstance of his studies should be recorded: what books he has consulted: how much of them he has read: at what times: how often the same authors:: and what opinions he formed of them, at different periods of his life. Such an account would much illustrate the history of his mind.
335..J did not practice the art of accommodating himself to different sorts of people...a lofty oak will not bend like a supple willow.
..how to serve a cucumber
339..I want to be on the main land, and go on with existence. This is a waste of life.
353..he knew a drum from a trumpet, and a bagpipe from a guitar, which was about the extent of his knowledge of musick.
note: I read the 1984 Penguin copy, notes by Peter Levi.
Don't see this on the alternate editions list.
companion to Johnson's Journey to the Hebrides, which is the first part of the book.
notes:
advert to 3rd edition: kindness of friends or the scrutiny of adversaries
164..J was somewhat susceptible of flattery
184..a gentleman who could stay with us only long enough to make us know how much we lost by his leaving us
195..Sir, I do not wish to be thought that feeble man who cannot do without any thing. Sir, it is very bad manners to carry provisions to any man's house, as if he could not entertain you. To an inferior, it is oppressive; to a superior, it is insolent. comick.
..Rev Spooner
200..I am like the Romans: Happy to come...happy to depart
211...gorge...horrid to move along....
231..the old woman who lived in a hole hut in the side of a hill, was afraid that Johnson would ravish her! FUNNY****
234...Hay...guide...left navy
SJ: no man will be a sailor, who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail; for, being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned.
235..sleep with or w/out clothes?
238..J grumbling about rough terrain
Hay, guide, with a very Highland accent, "See such pretty goats!"
Little did he conceive what Dr Johnson was. Here now was a common ignorant Highland clown imagining that he could divert, as one does a child, DR SAMUEL JOHNSON! The ludicrousness, absurdity, and extraordinary contrast between what the fellow fancied, and the reality, was truly comick.
283..a man grows better humoured as he grows older...cf to child
305..Mrs Montague...[of bluestocking fame?]
318..woman good humouredly sat down on J's knee, and kissed him.
"Do it again,' said he, 'and let us see who will tire first."
325..every man should keep minutes of whatever he reads. Every circumstance of his studies should be recorded: what books he has consulted: how much of them he has read: at what times: how often the same authors:: and what opinions he formed of them, at different periods of his life. Such an account would much illustrate the history of his mind.
335..J did not practice the art of accommodating himself to different sorts of people...a lofty oak will not bend like a supple willow.
..how to serve a cucumber
339..I want to be on the main land, and go on with existence. This is a waste of life.
353..he knew a drum from a trumpet, and a bagpipe from a guitar, which was about the extent of his knowledge of musick.
July 19, 2024
A larger-than-life duo in a rugged, idyllic setting; Boswell’s account is humous, exciting and surprisingly moving.
In 1773, after years of attempts, the Scotsman James Boswell finally persuaded his older friend Samuel Johnson to accompany him on a tour of his native land. This was not the ‘easy’ endeavour it might be today as the noted philosopher Voltaire made clear:
‘I mentioned our design to Voltaire. He looked at me as if I had talked of going to the North Pole, and said, ‘you do not insist on my accompanying you?’ – ‘No, sir’ – ‘Then I am very willing you should go.”
This occurs on the opening page, introducing us to the first of the myriad of strange characters that we meet from London, through the Hebrides to Edinburgh. Some appear briefly, others for a while, but all are so well described that, as is the case with Voltaire, we can picture them with ease. Their interactions with the protagonists – two of the most colourful people to have ever lived in Britain – provide the impetus of the account, as well as a lot of drama and humour, as is the case when they meet Highland goatherd Mrs Fraser:
‘Dr Johnson was curious to know where she slept. I asked one of the guides, who questioned her in Erse. She answered in a tone of emotion saying (as he told us,) she was afraid we wanted to go to bed with her. This coquetry…of so wretched a being was truly ludicrous.’
The two would joke about the incident; they would also gossip and discuss politics, philosophy and the weather, conversations that are not only amusing and informative but made me think of the adventures I’ve had exploring wild places with my own friends. Indeed, though the account is driven by the people they meet, it is the camaraderie between these two immensely charming individuals that gives the journal its heart. They have a natural rapport – most comically on the morning after a thoroughly drunken evening on Boswell’s part:
‘I awaked at noon, with a severe head-ach. I was much vexed that I should have been guilty of such a riot, and afraid of a reproof from Dr Johnson…About one he came into my room and accosted me, ‘What, drunk yet?’ – his tone of voice was not that of severe upbraiding; so I was relieved a little.’
On the other hand, the strength of their friendship also, unexpectedly some might say, emotionally moves the reader in particular whenever Boswell – who published this after his friend’s death – cites with pride how the good doctor termed his experience:
‘The pleasantest part of his life.’
Boswell is an accomplished writer to say the least, conveying not only the personalities with ease but the setting as well. His style is minimalist, only including the dialogue and events that he deemed memorable, which makes the narrative fast paced, so much so that they seem to race around the map of the Hebrides included at the start of my version. Thus, it is never boring and though this could have left us without the build-up of character and descriptions we need to feel involved in the journey, it does not.
Johnson and Boswell are gregarious and confident, and their personalities shine off the page, while it always feels as if we are in the wind-swept highlands. Never has the term Jacobean seemed so apt, and the idea of the overweight Johnson being carried and hauled over these mud paths and hills is entertaining to say the least.
Of course, when recommending this journal, it should come with the warning that it is written in an eighteenth-century style, which can be challenging to modern readers and even for those of us who have read Pope and Swift, it takes a few pages to get into. Even so, it is not dense like other travelogues or books from this period; in fact, it’s to the point and certainly one of the more accessible Georgian books I’ve read. As such, it makes for rather a good introduction to literature in the 1700s, especially as the main duo are so recognisable and have likely influenced a variety of characters, from Holmes and Watson to Batman and Robin.
This was one of my favourite pre-Victorian books ever and, as long as you’re willing to grow accustomed to the language, it’s definitely a must; it’s funny, exciting, profound and sad all at once.
In 1773, after years of attempts, the Scotsman James Boswell finally persuaded his older friend Samuel Johnson to accompany him on a tour of his native land. This was not the ‘easy’ endeavour it might be today as the noted philosopher Voltaire made clear:
‘I mentioned our design to Voltaire. He looked at me as if I had talked of going to the North Pole, and said, ‘you do not insist on my accompanying you?’ – ‘No, sir’ – ‘Then I am very willing you should go.”
This occurs on the opening page, introducing us to the first of the myriad of strange characters that we meet from London, through the Hebrides to Edinburgh. Some appear briefly, others for a while, but all are so well described that, as is the case with Voltaire, we can picture them with ease. Their interactions with the protagonists – two of the most colourful people to have ever lived in Britain – provide the impetus of the account, as well as a lot of drama and humour, as is the case when they meet Highland goatherd Mrs Fraser:
‘Dr Johnson was curious to know where she slept. I asked one of the guides, who questioned her in Erse. She answered in a tone of emotion saying (as he told us,) she was afraid we wanted to go to bed with her. This coquetry…of so wretched a being was truly ludicrous.’
The two would joke about the incident; they would also gossip and discuss politics, philosophy and the weather, conversations that are not only amusing and informative but made me think of the adventures I’ve had exploring wild places with my own friends. Indeed, though the account is driven by the people they meet, it is the camaraderie between these two immensely charming individuals that gives the journal its heart. They have a natural rapport – most comically on the morning after a thoroughly drunken evening on Boswell’s part:
‘I awaked at noon, with a severe head-ach. I was much vexed that I should have been guilty of such a riot, and afraid of a reproof from Dr Johnson…About one he came into my room and accosted me, ‘What, drunk yet?’ – his tone of voice was not that of severe upbraiding; so I was relieved a little.’
On the other hand, the strength of their friendship also, unexpectedly some might say, emotionally moves the reader in particular whenever Boswell – who published this after his friend’s death – cites with pride how the good doctor termed his experience:
‘The pleasantest part of his life.’
Boswell is an accomplished writer to say the least, conveying not only the personalities with ease but the setting as well. His style is minimalist, only including the dialogue and events that he deemed memorable, which makes the narrative fast paced, so much so that they seem to race around the map of the Hebrides included at the start of my version. Thus, it is never boring and though this could have left us without the build-up of character and descriptions we need to feel involved in the journey, it does not.
Johnson and Boswell are gregarious and confident, and their personalities shine off the page, while it always feels as if we are in the wind-swept highlands. Never has the term Jacobean seemed so apt, and the idea of the overweight Johnson being carried and hauled over these mud paths and hills is entertaining to say the least.
Of course, when recommending this journal, it should come with the warning that it is written in an eighteenth-century style, which can be challenging to modern readers and even for those of us who have read Pope and Swift, it takes a few pages to get into. Even so, it is not dense like other travelogues or books from this period; in fact, it’s to the point and certainly one of the more accessible Georgian books I’ve read. As such, it makes for rather a good introduction to literature in the 1700s, especially as the main duo are so recognisable and have likely influenced a variety of characters, from Holmes and Watson to Batman and Robin.
This was one of my favourite pre-Victorian books ever and, as long as you’re willing to grow accustomed to the language, it’s definitely a must; it’s funny, exciting, profound and sad all at once.
September 27, 2018
Whereas Johnson talked about Scotland, Boswell talked about Johnson.
Written up from his journal of the trip, Bozzy published the book to test the waters and try out the style of his proposed Johnson biography, there’s lots of conversation and little details that would have been lost to time otherwise.
This book is arranged by date and is far less interested in what they saw in Scotland as much as it is about Johnson’s reactions to it. Partly this is because of Boswell’s admitted inability to describe how things look in much detail - he is, however, an expert in relating how people chat. Johnson talks to Boswell, to Lairds, to Ladies, to judges, to soldiers, to reverends, to old women living in mud huts - to all sorts of people. There is a lot of talk.
Among other things, we learn that Johnson had read Castiglione’s ‘The Courtier’, that Johnson had ‘often’ imagined what sort of seraglio he might run and had considered how would fight a big dog, that Boswell had once been encored for making a cow noise in Drury Lane, and that Johnson was pretty good on a horse - if it was a decent size.
I also enjoyed the amount of teasing in the book. Boswell teased Johnson on the old lady who thought Johnson’s question of ‘where do you sleep?’ was a come on. Johnson teased Boswell for staying up to drink one or six bowl of punch. They take turns teasing each other over which of them is the wenching ‘young buck’ and which the civilising influence and at night, often share a room and have private conversations in Latin so their discussion wouldn’t be understood through thin walls.
Boswell presents everything as a fun, jolly, adventure - and I’m sure, when it was over, it was. There are times of fear though, when they took the boat to Col in particular. There is also the sense that Boswell has to go before Johnson, smoothing his way and palliating his rudeness to others, all without him noticing. Johnson prides himself on being adaptable and self-sufficient, and the idea that he needs Boswell to do this would have been of great injury to his pride.
There is also the sense that Boswell sees himself as made greater by this adventure tying him closer to Johnson’s ‘brand’. There are moments in the book that are painfully, toe-curlingly, embarrassingly, Boswellian. Especially the footnotes from the third edition which he uses to namedrop and argue little points against other Johnsonians.
I found the book took longer to read than I expected, and there was some repetition in the structure of ‘go somewhere, talk’. That said, I found out things about the two of them I hadn’t known, also, of it were not for this journey and this book then Boswell’s ‘Life of Johnson’ may never have been. So it’s worth celebrating for that alone.
Written up from his journal of the trip, Bozzy published the book to test the waters and try out the style of his proposed Johnson biography, there’s lots of conversation and little details that would have been lost to time otherwise.
This book is arranged by date and is far less interested in what they saw in Scotland as much as it is about Johnson’s reactions to it. Partly this is because of Boswell’s admitted inability to describe how things look in much detail - he is, however, an expert in relating how people chat. Johnson talks to Boswell, to Lairds, to Ladies, to judges, to soldiers, to reverends, to old women living in mud huts - to all sorts of people. There is a lot of talk.
Among other things, we learn that Johnson had read Castiglione’s ‘The Courtier’, that Johnson had ‘often’ imagined what sort of seraglio he might run and had considered how would fight a big dog, that Boswell had once been encored for making a cow noise in Drury Lane, and that Johnson was pretty good on a horse - if it was a decent size.
I also enjoyed the amount of teasing in the book. Boswell teased Johnson on the old lady who thought Johnson’s question of ‘where do you sleep?’ was a come on. Johnson teased Boswell for staying up to drink one or six bowl of punch. They take turns teasing each other over which of them is the wenching ‘young buck’ and which the civilising influence and at night, often share a room and have private conversations in Latin so their discussion wouldn’t be understood through thin walls.
Boswell presents everything as a fun, jolly, adventure - and I’m sure, when it was over, it was. There are times of fear though, when they took the boat to Col in particular. There is also the sense that Boswell has to go before Johnson, smoothing his way and palliating his rudeness to others, all without him noticing. Johnson prides himself on being adaptable and self-sufficient, and the idea that he needs Boswell to do this would have been of great injury to his pride.
There is also the sense that Boswell sees himself as made greater by this adventure tying him closer to Johnson’s ‘brand’. There are moments in the book that are painfully, toe-curlingly, embarrassingly, Boswellian. Especially the footnotes from the third edition which he uses to namedrop and argue little points against other Johnsonians.
I found the book took longer to read than I expected, and there was some repetition in the structure of ‘go somewhere, talk’. That said, I found out things about the two of them I hadn’t known, also, of it were not for this journey and this book then Boswell’s ‘Life of Johnson’ may never have been. So it’s worth celebrating for that alone.
March 19, 2025
1773 machten James Boswell und Samuel Johnson eine Reise durch Schottland, hauptsächlich zu den Inseln an der Westküste. Trotz des Altersunterschieds von 30 Jahren konnten die beiden auf eine langjährige Freundschaft zurückblicken. Beide führten während der Reise Tagebuch und schrieben ihre oft recht unterschiedlichen Eindrücke auf.
Zur Zeit der Reise wurde Schottland als ein wildes Land, in das man sich nicht unbedingt freiwillig begab, angesehen. Die Orte an der Küste lebten in ständiger Bedrohung der sogenannten "Press Gangs", die Männer in die britische Armee zwangsverpflichteten. Kurz nach der Schlacht von Culloden waren weite Landstriche wie ausgestorben. Samuel Johnson kam nach Schottland um genau das zu finden, er wollte das "wilde" Schottland erleben und fürchtete, dafür schon zu spät zu sein. Und tatsächlich schien er anfangs auch enttäuscht zu sein. Er sah keine Highlander oder dramatische Schwertkämpfe. Natürlich traf er auf den einen oder anderen Mann im Kilt, aber insgesamt kamen ihm die Menschen, auf die er traf zu zivilisiert vor. Auf der anderen Seite beklagte er sich aber auch über die primitiven Lebensumstände als die beiden während der Reise entlang des Loch Ness in einer kleinen Hütte Unterkunft suchen mussten. Ohnehin kam mir Johnson eher wie jemand vor, der am liebsten über Reisen liest anstatt sie selbst zu erleben. Der Gedanke mach romantisch sein, die Ausführung ist es dagegen selten.
In James Boswells Aufzeichnungen kann man öfter den Unmut über seinen deutlich älteren Reisepartner lesen. Dessen Klagen gingen ihm mehr als einmal gehörig auf die Nerven. Konkret erinnere ich mich noch an eine Begebenheit auf der Insel Raasay, als der Dun Caan, die mit ungefähr 300 Meter höchste Erhebung bestiegen wurde. Bei Johnson klang die Beschreibung dieses Erlebnisses mehr wie die Besteigung der Cuillins während Boswell darüber eher amüsiert war.
Auf der Isle of Skye dagegen wurde endlich der Hunger Johnsons nach der Romantik der Highlands gestillt. Aber auch hier hatte ich sehr oft das Gefühl, als ob er und auch Boswell eher auf die Highlander herab sahen. Auch wenn die Lektüre schon mehrere Jahre zurück liegt kann ich mich noch daran erinnern, dass ich große Teile der Erzählungen beider Herren als arrogant empfand.
Zur Zeit der Reise wurde Schottland als ein wildes Land, in das man sich nicht unbedingt freiwillig begab, angesehen. Die Orte an der Küste lebten in ständiger Bedrohung der sogenannten "Press Gangs", die Männer in die britische Armee zwangsverpflichteten. Kurz nach der Schlacht von Culloden waren weite Landstriche wie ausgestorben. Samuel Johnson kam nach Schottland um genau das zu finden, er wollte das "wilde" Schottland erleben und fürchtete, dafür schon zu spät zu sein. Und tatsächlich schien er anfangs auch enttäuscht zu sein. Er sah keine Highlander oder dramatische Schwertkämpfe. Natürlich traf er auf den einen oder anderen Mann im Kilt, aber insgesamt kamen ihm die Menschen, auf die er traf zu zivilisiert vor. Auf der anderen Seite beklagte er sich aber auch über die primitiven Lebensumstände als die beiden während der Reise entlang des Loch Ness in einer kleinen Hütte Unterkunft suchen mussten. Ohnehin kam mir Johnson eher wie jemand vor, der am liebsten über Reisen liest anstatt sie selbst zu erleben. Der Gedanke mach romantisch sein, die Ausführung ist es dagegen selten.
In James Boswells Aufzeichnungen kann man öfter den Unmut über seinen deutlich älteren Reisepartner lesen. Dessen Klagen gingen ihm mehr als einmal gehörig auf die Nerven. Konkret erinnere ich mich noch an eine Begebenheit auf der Insel Raasay, als der Dun Caan, die mit ungefähr 300 Meter höchste Erhebung bestiegen wurde. Bei Johnson klang die Beschreibung dieses Erlebnisses mehr wie die Besteigung der Cuillins während Boswell darüber eher amüsiert war.
Auf der Isle of Skye dagegen wurde endlich der Hunger Johnsons nach der Romantik der Highlands gestillt. Aber auch hier hatte ich sehr oft das Gefühl, als ob er und auch Boswell eher auf die Highlander herab sahen. Auch wenn die Lektüre schon mehrere Jahre zurück liegt kann ich mich noch daran erinnern, dass ich große Teile der Erzählungen beider Herren als arrogant empfand.
August 28, 2025
I asked a friend to recommend me a book to read on a trip to Scotland. He sent me Journal of a Tour of the Hebrides. Yes, this is the kind of friends I have. He added: “But I haven’t read it.”
Challenge accepted!
Little did I know that, rather than an adventurous travelogue of a boys’ trip through Scotland, it was mostly Boswell fanboying over Dr. Johnson, a figure I had never heard of before. Turns out that was my ignorance, as Johnson was a literary celebrity of his time, still beloved by bookish types today. Since reading this, I feel like I spot his name everywhere and there’s even a Johnson museum in London, which I now definitely need to visit next time I happen to be there. Oh, and he wrote one of the first major dictionaries. Basically, the Umberto Eco of his century.
The book itself is less about Scotland and more about Johnson’s reactions to it, along with endless pseudo-philosophical conversations and a (un)healthy dose of Londoner smugness toward anyone not from London. It’s long, sometimes repetitive, and definitely niche — but still fascinating in its own eccentric way.
Worth it even just for gems like this: “[...] he had a great deal of that quality called humour, which gives an oiliness and a gloss to every other quality.”
I challenge you to find a better description of humour. Only in Boswell!
Challenge accepted!
Little did I know that, rather than an adventurous travelogue of a boys’ trip through Scotland, it was mostly Boswell fanboying over Dr. Johnson, a figure I had never heard of before. Turns out that was my ignorance, as Johnson was a literary celebrity of his time, still beloved by bookish types today. Since reading this, I feel like I spot his name everywhere and there’s even a Johnson museum in London, which I now definitely need to visit next time I happen to be there. Oh, and he wrote one of the first major dictionaries. Basically, the Umberto Eco of his century.
The book itself is less about Scotland and more about Johnson’s reactions to it, along with endless pseudo-philosophical conversations and a (un)healthy dose of Londoner smugness toward anyone not from London. It’s long, sometimes repetitive, and definitely niche — but still fascinating in its own eccentric way.
Worth it even just for gems like this: “[...] he had a great deal of that quality called humour, which gives an oiliness and a gloss to every other quality.”
I challenge you to find a better description of humour. Only in Boswell!
November 19, 2020
Enjoyable, readable (mostly - some of the long accounts of conversations and witticisms can be a bit tedious) - he takes you with him and you can imagine yourself on the journey. Quite a venture for someone of Dr. Johnson's age, and weight, at the time, as the more remote places involved riding, sometimes on small Shetland ponies, and open boats in what is even now an environment to be treated with caution. Dr. Johnson comes across as the archetypal grumpy old man, and we feel Boswell is always on edge ready to try to head off potential embarrassment if the conversation strays onto dangerous ground. The eye witness accounts of the aftermath of the'45 and the escape of the Prince are particularly memorable (they met Flora Macdonald, heard her story, and indeed stayed with her and Dr. Johnson slept in the bed used by the Prince). There are also many passing references to the mass emigration then taking place. The account of the storm and the abandoned attempt to reach Mull is hair-raising (I have been in an old sailing ship on a much shorter journey at the same time of year in this area, and there were one or two uncomfortable moments then too, despite the advantages of modern communications). I must say I felt rather relieved once Dr. Johnson was in the coach going home!
January 7, 2024
The Journal is a fast read but you do have to pay attention, for the 18th century English is both formal and erudite, consisting of many long sentences. There can be so many clauses that one forgets what the subject was! Then there are the things Boswell assumes you know so does not explain, and I found I had to do a spot of research here and there. But if you're interested in British social history, this journal is rich with fascinating detail - and fragments of an even older past. I would have liked to hear more about the foods eaten (i.e. more than "We supped very well that night"). And I'd have liked to know how - given many miles of outdoor travel in all weathers - the two men kept themselves and their clothes clean enough for the dining rooms (and beds!) of the many middle-class houses they visited. Scattered throughout the journal are gems of humour, sardonic wit and beautifully-crafted insult easily discernible even after 250 years. If you fancy it, it's available on Librivox.
I read the book with a view to eventually reading Boswell's famous biography 'The Life of Samuel Johnson'. But we shall see. That volume certainly is (to quote the late Duke of Gloucester) "[A] damn'd thick, square book".
I read the book with a view to eventually reading Boswell's famous biography 'The Life of Samuel Johnson'. But we shall see. That volume certainly is (to quote the late Duke of Gloucester) "[A] damn'd thick, square book".
February 21, 2021
Curiosos libro de viaje que describe cómo eran la parte norte de Escocia (Highlands) y las islas Hébridas o islas occidentales. El autor se centra en su compañero de viaje, Samuel Johnson, al que admira profundamente por su cultura. A lo largo de la obra se esfuerza en describir las conversaciones y las anécdotas que les suceden. Hay muchas referencias a obras del SXVIII que no he leído, por lo que pierdo las referencias culturales más importantes. Aún así me ha sorprendido la importancia que se le daba al latín como lengua de cultura, tanto en Escocia como en Inglaterra. También me ha sorprendido que hubiera en ese momento, 1773, mucha gente en Escocia que sólo hablara gaélico, aunque es verdad que se trataba de gente no considerada culta y en lugares remotos.
A lo largo de la obra se deja sentir el problema de la emigración a América, que deja zonas remotas de Escocia con problemas de despoblación.
Sería necesario leer las propias obras de Samuel Johnson para dotar de mayor sentido esta lectura.
A lo largo de la obra se deja sentir el problema de la emigración a América, que deja zonas remotas de Escocia con problemas de despoblación.
Sería necesario leer las propias obras de Samuel Johnson para dotar de mayor sentido esta lectura.
July 2, 2020
Many years ago, on Long Beach Island, New Jersey, I saw a copy of a book that contained both Johnson's and Boswell's account of their tour of Scotland. Returning to the bookstore an hour or so later, I found the book had already been purchased. He who hesitates is lost, but perhaps not forever. Having toured Scotland myself, and read three books by four authors who purport to "follow in the footsteps" of Johnson and Boswell, I have finally finished their own accounts.
It was difficult reading at times due to the 18th century prose, but very interesting in the historical and linguistic senses. I was finally able to finish Boswell by switching to an e-book version (late in my reading), which I was able to read more easily, although I am generally not a fan of the electronic versions. The advantage here being that instead of a book with small print, and miniscule foot and end notes, not to mention yellowed paper, I could enlarge the print and take advantage of backlighting. The e-book had the added bonus of including etching-style illustrations.
So I did it, I finished the two challenging books. Mission accomplished.
It was difficult reading at times due to the 18th century prose, but very interesting in the historical and linguistic senses. I was finally able to finish Boswell by switching to an e-book version (late in my reading), which I was able to read more easily, although I am generally not a fan of the electronic versions. The advantage here being that instead of a book with small print, and miniscule foot and end notes, not to mention yellowed paper, I could enlarge the print and take advantage of backlighting. The e-book had the added bonus of including etching-style illustrations.
So I did it, I finished the two challenging books. Mission accomplished.
March 25, 2020
If you are a fan of Boswell and Johnson, you should read this book. Boswell is such an oddly charming narrator: he is intelligent, aristocratic and devoted to his hero, but he can also show restraint (not wishing to share the details, for example, of an argument between his father and his hero, out of respect for both) and doesn't take himself too seriously (at a performance where things were going wrong he MOOed like a cow and the people cried for more - Encore the cow! - but he failed at other barnyard sounds, only to have his hero suggest he stick to his strength). If you're stuck in the Augustan period and fond of Scotland, do read it.
August 7, 2020
This is a good book about a strange vacation that Boswell and Johnson took together. I say strange because their accommodations in many cases were incredibly primitive. These two men were city dwellers and yet they don't seem put out by the difficulties of travel in that age. I guess you should call the journey one of adventure and discovery rather than a modern vacation, taken for rest and relaxation. Both men kept their own journals during the trip and both wrote books about it afterward. Boswell was a more colorful character so I suspect his version is a little more exciting. But I have not yet read Johnson's so this is simple conjecture on my part.
October 21, 2023
An excellent but somewhat difficult read as the book was originally written in the 1700's and although it was written in English, it was the English language of the day. In reading the book, you will learn a great deal about James Boswell, the author and 9th Laird of Auchinleck, Scotland and Dr. Samuel Johnson, an English writer who is often called "the most distinguished man of letters in English history" whom Boswell takes on a tour of his native land 'Scotland'.
I found it more enjoyable while reading the book to maintain ready access to 'Google' to look up the people and places mentioned.
I found it more enjoyable while reading the book to maintain ready access to 'Google' to look up the people and places mentioned.
August 8, 2024
While Boswell's "Life of Samuel Johnson" is a great biography.. This may be the best travel piece ever written. This preceded his biography of Johnson and it is an enjoyable work.
Boswell and Johnson traveled about northern Scotland from August to November 1773. Boswell managed the trip, attempting to see that Dr. Johnson was met with grace and enthusiasm. They traveled through the major cities in Scotland and several islands in the Hebrides, while Mr. Boswell assiduously recorded Dr. Johnson’s sardonic wit and sarcasm.
This book should not be disregarded by Scots or tourists,
Boswell and Johnson traveled about northern Scotland from August to November 1773. Boswell managed the trip, attempting to see that Dr. Johnson was met with grace and enthusiasm. They traveled through the major cities in Scotland and several islands in the Hebrides, while Mr. Boswell assiduously recorded Dr. Johnson’s sardonic wit and sarcasm.
This book should not be disregarded by Scots or tourists,
August 19, 2025
Fun romp through Scotland with eminent literary figures of the time
Anthony Ogus’ narration is perfect, he has an amazing voice for Samuel Johnson
Great for getting brief introductions through conversational mentions of the relevant writers and events of the day.
Cool elongated story about the young pretender fleeing the uprising of 1745.
The wit of Johnson is just fun, also cool to get a better understanding of what Scotland was like in the period basically right before the American Revolution. You get a glimpse of it through the mention of “emigrants” leaving Scotland for America.
Anthony Ogus’ narration is perfect, he has an amazing voice for Samuel Johnson
Great for getting brief introductions through conversational mentions of the relevant writers and events of the day.
Cool elongated story about the young pretender fleeing the uprising of 1745.
The wit of Johnson is just fun, also cool to get a better understanding of what Scotland was like in the period basically right before the American Revolution. You get a glimpse of it through the mention of “emigrants” leaving Scotland for America.
December 3, 2017
Anyone reading Samuel Johnson's account of his journey through the Scottish Highlands should also read this book. They are often published in a single volume. Boswell was born in Scotland and educated in Edinburgh, though he often apologized for his heritage. Still, he often manages to clarify Johnson's observations and, while often as chauvinistic as Johnson himself, does occasionally come down on the side of the Highlanders.
January 28, 2021
Great fun. A very personalised account by Boswell of his tour of the Western Isles with Samuel Johnson. It's a very good description of the trip and all of their experiences. Boswell's style is gossipy and excited. He never misses an opportunity to name check a Duke or a Lord. For all that it's a very personal journal of their trip and a tribute to Johnson. Second only to the life that followed later.
July 30, 2022
Very enjoyable travelogue, loved the bit about crowd funding Dr Campbell's Britannia Elucidata, which was taking so long to be written that 20 of subscribers were already dead time at Boswell's book was written. Also fun was Boswell's worries about clash between his father and Johnson. Interesting also for meetings with 45'ers and hearing their stories and exiles, as well as general description of Hebridien life and social structure.
dnf
March 28, 2023Initially I listened to this because the LibriVox narrator has a very soporific voice which put me to sleep quite quickly. But after a while I got sick of James Boswell”s worship of Samuel Johnson. The book had no sense of place or movement, just endless quoting of what people (mostly Johnson) said. I have no interest in hearing about Samuel Johnson, and even less now that I’ve been introduced to him.
December 6, 2022
An interesting account of Boswell's trip to Scotland with Samuel Johnson. It may challenge any reader not particularly familiar with the issues of the 18th century, but it is still interesting reading. Strictly for the more serious historian.
November 10, 2019
A fascinating look at the people, landscape and social mores of Scotland in the 18th century. An informative and entertaining read.
May 3, 2016
BRINGING WORLDS TOGETHER
In the Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, Boswell successfully brought together his two worlds—that of Scotland and that of London. Samuel Johnson is a microcosm of London—with its sophistication, its mental energy, its style, and its prejudices. Boswell was able to bridge, reconcile, and even merge the two worlds by his unwavering reverence for Johnson, and his unshakable belief in the essential goodness of his native Scotland and its inhabitants. Boswell did not try to explain away Johnson’s idiosyncrasies (or even his faults) as somehow the result of some misunderstanding on the part of their Scottish interlocutors, and he did not try to disguise the nature of the Scots to Johnson. Boswell also was not embarrassed by the impression Johnson made on the Scots, nor the Scots on Johnson. He simply let everyone be who they were, and assumed the best on everyone’s part. Boswell clearly embodies the best of both worlds.
The book is charming in the anecdotes and the reported conversations. I did have much difficulty in distinguishing many of the Scots from one another, as they almost all seemed to be named Mr. M’Leod. However, that probably could not much be helped as the clan name was (is?) so prevalent in the Western islands of Scotland. It was of much interest to see how important the concept of hospitality was in those days before instant communication. The travelers could expect to have meals and lodging provided by their social peers wherever they happened to travel. This book does not provide many descriptions of the geography or scenery of the Hebrides, but is more a memorandum of those with whom Boswell and Johnson dined, and stayed, and conversed. It would be fun while traveling in Scotland in the twenty first century to have a companion book setting out the route and the stopping places mentioned in the Journal, with references to the particular passages referring to each place, annotated for what has happened to any landmarks that are no longer there, or are substantially modified.
In the Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, Boswell successfully brought together his two worlds—that of Scotland and that of London. Samuel Johnson is a microcosm of London—with its sophistication, its mental energy, its style, and its prejudices. Boswell was able to bridge, reconcile, and even merge the two worlds by his unwavering reverence for Johnson, and his unshakable belief in the essential goodness of his native Scotland and its inhabitants. Boswell did not try to explain away Johnson’s idiosyncrasies (or even his faults) as somehow the result of some misunderstanding on the part of their Scottish interlocutors, and he did not try to disguise the nature of the Scots to Johnson. Boswell also was not embarrassed by the impression Johnson made on the Scots, nor the Scots on Johnson. He simply let everyone be who they were, and assumed the best on everyone’s part. Boswell clearly embodies the best of both worlds.
The book is charming in the anecdotes and the reported conversations. I did have much difficulty in distinguishing many of the Scots from one another, as they almost all seemed to be named Mr. M’Leod. However, that probably could not much be helped as the clan name was (is?) so prevalent in the Western islands of Scotland. It was of much interest to see how important the concept of hospitality was in those days before instant communication. The travelers could expect to have meals and lodging provided by their social peers wherever they happened to travel. This book does not provide many descriptions of the geography or scenery of the Hebrides, but is more a memorandum of those with whom Boswell and Johnson dined, and stayed, and conversed. It would be fun while traveling in Scotland in the twenty first century to have a companion book setting out the route and the stopping places mentioned in the Journal, with references to the particular passages referring to each place, annotated for what has happened to any landmarks that are no longer there, or are substantially modified.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews