Travels With A Donkey In The Cevennes Robert Louis Stevenson 9781446521984 Books
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Travels With A Donkey In The Cevennes Robert Louis Stevenson 9781446521984 Books
Robert Lewis Stevenson was a Scottish writer most famous for works such as Treasure Island,Kidnapped (Bantam Classics), and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. In 1878, at the age of 28, he took a 12 day, 120 mile walk with a donkey, in one of the most remote areas of France. In part, it was a "reflective" journey, with the focus being on the woman he was to eventually marry, Fanny. I just read and reviewed les plus beaux trekkings en france. One of the ten most beautiful treks was the one Stevenson took. In fact, the "Grande Randonnée" (the long distance hiking trail) that follows this route is named after him. This work is Stevenson's account of his walk. He "drew me in," as the expression has it, at the beginning by saying: "Every book is, in an intimate sense, a circular letter to the friends of him who writes it. They alones take his meaning; they find private messages, assurances of love, and expressions of gratitude dropped for them in every corner. The public is but a generous patron who defrays the postage."He commenced his journey in Le Puy en Velay, in the heart of the Auvergne. He notes the raucous "natives," members of the different political parties of the newly formed Third Republic, arguing their political perspectives. Long before the days of REI, he must outfit himself for a journey into the "wilderness." He debates the merits of a tent (yes, extremely cumbersome in those days), decides against, and has a very thick, heavy sleeping bag made especially for the trip. He can't possibly backpack his possessions, so he buys a donkey, who he names "Modestine." And he decides to carry a gun, (and a bottle of Beaujolais) since he is going into "the wild," where there are robbers, and the legend of a wolf that ate many an animal, as well as small children.
There are numerous facets to his story. Certainly there is his relationship with Modestine, each with a will of their own. I thought of Dervla Murphy's book on a similar venture In Ethiopia with a Mule. There are the helpful and gracious folks along the road, as well as the surly and misleading. For being in "the wilds," he is exposed to various religious struggles and doctrines. He stays at the Trappist monastery at Notre Dame des Neiges (Our Lady of the Snows) which still exists. Later, at Pont de Montvert, on the Tarn River, he relates a fair amount of history involving the revolt of the Protestant "Camisards" in 1702, and the ugly fanaticism of religious wars. He also notes that it is this town that serves as the first indicator that Provence will soon commence, since the people are more open and friendlier.
Consider the following in praise of experience the natural world, and the nighttime skies: "Night is a dead monotonous period under a roof; but in the open world it passes lightly, with its stars and dews and perfumes, and the hours are marked by changes in the face of Nature. What seems a kind of temporal death to people choked between walls and curtains, is only a light and living slumber to the man who sleeps afield."
And then in terms of sharing that experience, ah: "And yet even while I was exulting in my solitude I became aware of a strange lack. I wished a companion to lie near me in the starlight, silent and not moving, but ever within touch. For there is a fellowship more quiet even than solitude, and which, rightly understood, is solitude made perfect. And to live out of doors with the woman a man loves is of all lives the most complete and free."
He ended his journey in Alès, and wept when he sold his donkey. 5-stars.
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Travels With A Donkey In The Cevennes Robert Louis Stevenson 9781446521984 Books Reviews
In the late 1870s, Robert Louis Stevenson needed cash to break dependence on his parents so he could go to the woman he loved (and they did not). A chronic invalid, he also needed adventure. He decided to do some travel writing and one such trip is recounted in TRAVELS WITH A DONKEY. He headed off to the remote Cevennes mountain range of south central France and got himself kitted out nicely, so nicely, he needed assistance in carrying everything. Enter Modestine, a donkey. He might as well have attempted to harness and pack up a cat. Thus, to a deft narrative that works in powerful landscape description, sketches of country folk met along the way, and a revisiting of the region's dramatic history, he adds the self-deprecating wit that would become a model for his 20th century counterparts like Peter Fleming, Eric Newby, and Bill Bryson. Though his commentary moves along at a swift but casual gait, it builds a tension on the upside, beginning with the age-old legend of the murderous Beast of Gevaudan that haunts a neighborhood where he finds the peasantry by turns hostile and friendly and accommodations primitive. Near the summit, a visit to a monastery introduces the religious theme that will attend his descent into the beautiful land of the Camisards, the friction between Protestants and Catholics that erupted into a tragic civil war in the first decade of the 18th century. Stevenson does a fine job of sorting out the history and evoking the awe that comes with visiting the deceptively bucolic scene. No wonder this book has continued to inspire it often appears on recommended lists and it prompted Romantic biographer Richard Holmes to retrace the journey early in his career, a century later, complete with a donkey of his own (see his book FOOTSTEPS). The critical introduction to this edition is worthwhile.
First, I'm biased RLS is someone I connect with. He is able to create a mood and very companionable spirit when he writes of his travels that I find hard to define but which I return to year after year. I can tell you that I am THERE with him as I read and that even after a few pages, I feel as though I am travelling with a friend. If you've read Treasure Island and felt a connection with the main character, Jack Hawkins, then you'll get some idea of what you'll feel when you read Travels with a Donkey. But don't squandor this book, this experience. If you know you may have illness or anxious times in the future, this is a book to save for those times... or to come back to. I hope you love it as much as I do.
And if you would like to augment your experience, I'd suggest also reading Richard Holmes' Footsteps Adventures of a Romantic Biographer (Apr 30, 1996) wherein he traces RLS' footsteps as well as fills in some supplementary bio info on RLS that enhances Travels.
A different face for Robert Louis Stevenson here, in these two spirited travelogues, packaged together into one edition. "Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes" is the more delightful, every bit as witty and picturesque as his pirate tales. Stevenson's love/hate relationship with his donkey is reason enough to enjoy this frolic through the French countryside.
"The Amateur Emigrant" is more somber, partly because RLS's health is ebbing during much of his travels. Sailing from the British Isles to Sandy Hook, and then by long train ride through the vast, American plains, the author's critical eye gives readers of the 21st century a glimpse at what Nebraska and Wyoming looked like from the window of a train nearly a hundred and fifty years ago. It wasn't I-90.
Both of these books are premier Stevenson, removed but not lesser than "The Black Arrow" in entertainment.
Robert Lewis Stevenson was a Scottish writer most famous for works such as Treasure Island,Kidnapped (Bantam Classics), and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. In 1878, at the age of 28, he took a 12 day, 120 mile walk with a donkey, in one of the most remote areas of France. In part, it was a "reflective" journey, with the focus being on the woman he was to eventually marry, Fanny. I just read and reviewed les plus beaux trekkings en france. One of the ten most beautiful treks was the one Stevenson took. In fact, the "Grande Randonnée" (the long distance hiking trail) that follows this route is named after him. This work is Stevenson's account of his walk. He "drew me in," as the expression has it, at the beginning by saying "Every book is, in an intimate sense, a circular letter to the friends of him who writes it. They alones take his meaning; they find private messages, assurances of love, and expressions of gratitude dropped for them in every corner. The public is but a generous patron who defrays the postage."
He commenced his journey in Le Puy en Velay, in the heart of the Auvergne. He notes the raucous "natives," members of the different political parties of the newly formed Third Republic, arguing their political perspectives. Long before the days of REI, he must outfit himself for a journey into the "wilderness." He debates the merits of a tent (yes, extremely cumbersome in those days), decides against, and has a very thick, heavy sleeping bag made especially for the trip. He can't possibly backpack his possessions, so he buys a donkey, who he names "Modestine." And he decides to carry a gun, (and a bottle of Beaujolais) since he is going into "the wild," where there are robbers, and the legend of a wolf that ate many an animal, as well as small children.
There are numerous facets to his story. Certainly there is his relationship with Modestine, each with a will of their own. I thought of Dervla Murphy's book on a similar venture In Ethiopia with a Mule. There are the helpful and gracious folks along the road, as well as the surly and misleading. For being in "the wilds," he is exposed to various religious struggles and doctrines. He stays at the Trappist monastery at Notre Dame des Neiges (Our Lady of the Snows) which still exists. Later, at Pont de Montvert, on the Tarn River, he relates a fair amount of history involving the revolt of the Protestant "Camisards" in 1702, and the ugly fanaticism of religious wars. He also notes that it is this town that serves as the first indicator that Provence will soon commence, since the people are more open and friendlier.
Consider the following in praise of experience the natural world, and the nighttime skies "Night is a dead monotonous period under a roof; but in the open world it passes lightly, with its stars and dews and perfumes, and the hours are marked by changes in the face of Nature. What seems a kind of temporal death to people choked between walls and curtains, is only a light and living slumber to the man who sleeps afield."
And then in terms of sharing that experience, ah "And yet even while I was exulting in my solitude I became aware of a strange lack. I wished a companion to lie near me in the starlight, silent and not moving, but ever within touch. For there is a fellowship more quiet even than solitude, and which, rightly understood, is solitude made perfect. And to live out of doors with the woman a man loves is of all lives the most complete and free."
He ended his journey in Alès, and wept when he sold his donkey. 5-stars.
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