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Jun. 26th, 2009 11:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsI had such success in my last experiment with historical LJs that I decided to pick up The Diary of Samuel Pepys, a rising figure in Restoration politics who is most famous for, well, his diary! Before picking it up all I knew about Pepys is that he was one of the first men to survive a kidney stone operation and carried the stone around with him much of the time afterwards to show off, and that fact came from Neal Stephenson so I was not sure how accurate it was. But it was enough to intrigue me anyways.
The version I read turned out to be seriously abridged, which normally I would be sheepish about, but on the other hand it began with a hilarious essay by Robert Louis Stephenson in which the thesis is basically 'Pepys is so awesomely immature, he is like a ten-year-old, I love it!' No, seriously, I quote: "So, to come rightly at the spirit in which the Diary was written, we must recall a class of sentiments with which most of us are over and done before the age of twelve."
Stephenson is maybe exaggerating a little, but . . . he's not hugely wrong. The Diary is not a Great Work of Deep Literature; it's survived because it's an incredible eyewitness account of a lot of what was going on at the time, including the Dutch Wars, the Black Plague of 1666, and the Great Fire of London, all of which Pepys was there for and involved in. As far as Pepys himself, he spends most of his time bitching about those morons at the office, worrying about the state of his periwig ("is it too much? will the guys at the office talk about it? oh crap, now it has nits!") and making resolves to do less partying and more work, without much success - Pepys was clearly a smart guy, but he was also a total frat-boy. My favorite entry is probably the one where he cheerily writes about the months of the plague that it has been an awesome time for parties! Also, he is totally allowed to drink wine as much as he wants, even though he promised his doctor that he wouldn't, because hey, his doctor is dead of the plague now so his promise doesn't count anymore and IT'S ALL GOOD.
Also, about a third of the diary is Pepys being super sketchy and molesting random women. To be fair, he is very honest with himself about this! But, I mean, I'm just going to quote here: "I walked towards White Hall, but, being wearied, turned into St. Dunstan's Church, where I heard an able sermon of the minister of the place; and stood by a pretty, modest maid, whom I did labour to take by the hand and the body; but she would not, but got further and further from me; and, at last, I could perceive her to take pins out of her pocket to prick me if I should touch her again--which seeing I did forbear, and was glad I did spy her design."
IN CHURCH, guys. Not only is Pepys That Guy - the one who won't leave you alone until you are like, 'dude, I will kick you in the FACE' - but he does not even stop the molesting in church! I am not even anything approaching Christian or religious, and I am thoroughly scandalized! Which makes it even more hilarious when Pepys himself is scandalized by everything going on at Court and all of Charles' mistresses.
In conclusion, I have come away with this read with the general impression that the Restoration was a time full of sketchitude.
The version I read turned out to be seriously abridged, which normally I would be sheepish about, but on the other hand it began with a hilarious essay by Robert Louis Stephenson in which the thesis is basically 'Pepys is so awesomely immature, he is like a ten-year-old, I love it!' No, seriously, I quote: "So, to come rightly at the spirit in which the Diary was written, we must recall a class of sentiments with which most of us are over and done before the age of twelve."
Stephenson is maybe exaggerating a little, but . . . he's not hugely wrong. The Diary is not a Great Work of Deep Literature; it's survived because it's an incredible eyewitness account of a lot of what was going on at the time, including the Dutch Wars, the Black Plague of 1666, and the Great Fire of London, all of which Pepys was there for and involved in. As far as Pepys himself, he spends most of his time bitching about those morons at the office, worrying about the state of his periwig ("is it too much? will the guys at the office talk about it? oh crap, now it has nits!") and making resolves to do less partying and more work, without much success - Pepys was clearly a smart guy, but he was also a total frat-boy. My favorite entry is probably the one where he cheerily writes about the months of the plague that it has been an awesome time for parties! Also, he is totally allowed to drink wine as much as he wants, even though he promised his doctor that he wouldn't, because hey, his doctor is dead of the plague now so his promise doesn't count anymore and IT'S ALL GOOD.
Also, about a third of the diary is Pepys being super sketchy and molesting random women. To be fair, he is very honest with himself about this! But, I mean, I'm just going to quote here: "I walked towards White Hall, but, being wearied, turned into St. Dunstan's Church, where I heard an able sermon of the minister of the place; and stood by a pretty, modest maid, whom I did labour to take by the hand and the body; but she would not, but got further and further from me; and, at last, I could perceive her to take pins out of her pocket to prick me if I should touch her again--which seeing I did forbear, and was glad I did spy her design."
IN CHURCH, guys. Not only is Pepys That Guy - the one who won't leave you alone until you are like, 'dude, I will kick you in the FACE' - but he does not even stop the molesting in church! I am not even anything approaching Christian or religious, and I am thoroughly scandalized! Which makes it even more hilarious when Pepys himself is scandalized by everything going on at Court and all of Charles' mistresses.
In conclusion, I have come away with this read with the general impression that the Restoration was a time full of sketchitude.
