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A review by mickbordet
Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides by James Boswell
3.0
After the first quarter of the book, where Boswell delights in introducing Dr Johnson to just about everyone in Edinburgh, this becomes an essential accompaniment to the Doctor's own book about the trip. There is, especially in the first half, an excess of pandering to Johnson's fame and retelling of every witticism and anecdote from each meeting with this lord or that lady. Once the pair leave their social world behind them, Boswell starts to write about the places and people they meet and the book takes off.
He takes a very different approach to the journey from his companion, filling in the gaps and providing background and detail, though his focus is really on Dr Johnson's reactions to people and places rather than the people and places themselves. If anything, he gave me a better handle on Johnson's personality and sense of humour than Johnson did. On its own this would be a mildly interesting read, made more so by the detailing of the story of Charles Stuart and Flora MacDonald, as recounted by Flora herself during a meeting with Boswell and Johnson. Taken together with Johnson's book, I would give the pair an extra star, as they provide a fascinating view of 18th Century life both in the cities and villages of Scotland. In fact, I originally read the individual books as free e-books from Project Gutenberg, but on a recent trip to Scotland actually picked up an old copy of both books bound as one, because together they are a much more complete book.
He takes a very different approach to the journey from his companion, filling in the gaps and providing background and detail, though his focus is really on Dr Johnson's reactions to people and places rather than the people and places themselves. If anything, he gave me a better handle on Johnson's personality and sense of humour than Johnson did. On its own this would be a mildly interesting read, made more so by the detailing of the story of Charles Stuart and Flora MacDonald, as recounted by Flora herself during a meeting with Boswell and Johnson. Taken together with Johnson's book, I would give the pair an extra star, as they provide a fascinating view of 18th Century life both in the cities and villages of Scotland. In fact, I originally read the individual books as free e-books from Project Gutenberg, but on a recent trip to Scotland actually picked up an old copy of both books bound as one, because together they are a much more complete book.