Scan barcode
A review by grubstlodger
Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides by James Boswell
3.0
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.