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dee9401's review against another edition
3.0
The Diary of Samuel Pepys is an interesting book, especially in the edited, single-volume version I had from Modern Library. If I were doing research, I would grab the full edition. But this condensed volumes provides a wonderful sampling of an upper middle class life from 1660 through mid-1669. Pepys is witness to several important events, including the Restoration of the monarchy with the coronation of Charles II, the Great Plague (1665-66), the Great Fire (1666) and the second war with the Dutch (1665-67).
His entries on the plague are haunting. His first entry that I remember was of a Dutch plague ship with 300-400 dead (9/24/1664). By mid 1665, there are plague houses popping up in London, marked with red crosses. On June 15th, 112 are reported dead for that week. By the 21st, people begin to flee London. He writes on August 31st that there were 6,102 deaths this week. Thankfully, by November 15th of 1665, the deaths were down to about 1,300 per week. By spring 1666, the plague had mostly subsided.
This was just in time for the Great Fire, which came on Sept. 2nd. Pepys, his wife and her maid all could see the fire burning the first night. The fire burned until Sept. 8th. A French shop owner was accused of the fire and hanged shortly afterward. By February 24th, 1667, Pepys still believed that man had done the fire, but modern research suggests that it was likely started accidentally by a baker’s oven.
While Pepys documents some of the greater events of his day, he also gives us an insight into the everyday life of a businessman with ties to the Admiralty, the upper class and his community. He is an avid reader, collecting books and having them bound in the same style bindings (1/18/1665). He studies Latin (6/21/1663) and music, even taking lessons on many different instruments. Many of the things that happened day to day there still go on today: getting mad at a dog pooping in the house (2/12/1660) or being awakened by your sleeping partner elbowing you in the face (1/1/1662). During the Great Fire, he buried his parmesan cheese and wine in a hole in the ground, to protect it from the flames (9/4/1666). By 1668, his vision is getting weaker, he thinks due to his constant diary keeping. For this, he takes a doctor’s cure, having 14 ounces of blood let out (7/13/1668).
Pepys is a bit of a shallow man. He covets his money, regularly making entries about how much he is worth. He regularly yells at and often strikes his few servants. He is perpetually lusting after other women, following them around, having affairs with some, and getting caught and not showing much remorse. He was supposedly a supporter of Oliver Cromwell, but eagerly gets behind Charles II when he was to come to power.
Overall, this diary provides an impressive, daily insight into one man’s life in London during the 1660s and was well worth the time to read it.
His entries on the plague are haunting. His first entry that I remember was of a Dutch plague ship with 300-400 dead (9/24/1664). By mid 1665, there are plague houses popping up in London, marked with red crosses. On June 15th, 112 are reported dead for that week. By the 21st, people begin to flee London. He writes on August 31st that there were 6,102 deaths this week. Thankfully, by November 15th of 1665, the deaths were down to about 1,300 per week. By spring 1666, the plague had mostly subsided.
This was just in time for the Great Fire, which came on Sept. 2nd. Pepys, his wife and her maid all could see the fire burning the first night. The fire burned until Sept. 8th. A French shop owner was accused of the fire and hanged shortly afterward. By February 24th, 1667, Pepys still believed that man had done the fire, but modern research suggests that it was likely started accidentally by a baker’s oven.
While Pepys documents some of the greater events of his day, he also gives us an insight into the everyday life of a businessman with ties to the Admiralty, the upper class and his community. He is an avid reader, collecting books and having them bound in the same style bindings (1/18/1665). He studies Latin (6/21/1663) and music, even taking lessons on many different instruments. Many of the things that happened day to day there still go on today: getting mad at a dog pooping in the house (2/12/1660) or being awakened by your sleeping partner elbowing you in the face (1/1/1662). During the Great Fire, he buried his parmesan cheese and wine in a hole in the ground, to protect it from the flames (9/4/1666). By 1668, his vision is getting weaker, he thinks due to his constant diary keeping. For this, he takes a doctor’s cure, having 14 ounces of blood let out (7/13/1668).
Pepys is a bit of a shallow man. He covets his money, regularly making entries about how much he is worth. He regularly yells at and often strikes his few servants. He is perpetually lusting after other women, following them around, having affairs with some, and getting caught and not showing much remorse. He was supposedly a supporter of Oliver Cromwell, but eagerly gets behind Charles II when he was to come to power.
Overall, this diary provides an impressive, daily insight into one man’s life in London during the 1660s and was well worth the time to read it.
steven_nobody's review against another edition
5.0
I only read the entries for the year of the plague, meaning all of 1665, and the entries about the fire in London in 1666 because I'm interested in how people face large catastrophes. Of course, I had to review a number of entries outside this plan to understand it better. His affair with Mrs Bagwell was one of those. OK, to be honest, the sex was my real motivation. I like to snicker. He calls his dick "a yard" but I'd have liked more details. Also, only 16 Dec 1665, did he mean to say he laid at the bottom of a boat and ejaculated with just the power of his mind? And when he beat off in a crowded church on Xmas Eve '67, how did no one notice? Was tht also just with his mind? I guess I need more details on winter clothing of the period to see how much room there is for fumbling about there is.
steven_nobody's review against another edition
5.0
My husband spent 25 years promoting Pepys diary as something to read, and I finally did it, it taking three months to do so. There was so much from this we got to talk over, and everyday as well. I listened to the audiobook, read along at times, and referred to the notes in the complete Latham and Matthews edition. Pepys blew my mind, and one thing I like about him is how every good play he sees is the best play ever he saw in all his life. That is how I feel about good books, and it is completely how I feel about this project, which when all is done is the best thing that ever I read in my life. Or, it will be so until I finish the next great book.
steven_nobody's review against another edition
5.0
My husband spent 25 years promoting Pepys diary as something to read, and I finally did it, it taking three months to do so. There was so much from this we got to talk over, and everyday as well. I listened to the audiobook, read along at times, and referred to the notes in the complete Latham and Matthews edition. Pepys blew my mind, and one thing I like about him is how every good play he sees is the best play ever he saw in all his life. That is how I feel about good books, and it is completely how I feel about this project, which when all is done is the best thing that ever I read in my life. Or, it will be so until I finish the next great book.
avrilhj's review against another edition
5.0
Samuel Pepys sexually assaulted every woman he could - and wrote about his attempts in his diary, though he did put them into a code of French, Spanish and Italian words. When his wife caught him fondling one of their servants and sent her away, Pepys wrote that he wished he could take ‘her maidenhead’ and in fact tried to arrange meetings with her, despite the fact that his wife refused to allow him to roam London alone and did her best to make sure he was always accompanied. He’s just dreadful, and yet after reading over 1000 pages of his diary I feel a great deal of affection for him. If he lived today I’d want him to be arrested and imprisoned, but I never wanted to put his diary down in disgust. I can’t explain it. Maybe it’s because reading the diary I have been forced to see the world through his eyes? At any rate, I’ve had so much fun reading it.
firerosearien's review against another edition
5.0
Lively, often humorous, wonderful depiction of Restoration London, which is extremely beneficial in an abridged version as it does begin to get fairly tedious after a while.
If you don't end up with some sympathy for his wife, well, then, you're not very human.
If you don't end up with some sympathy for his wife, well, then, you're not very human.
tronella's review
5.0
This took me a long time to finish, but was definitely worth the effort. Samuel is not always a good person, but his honesty about his own faults (and bad behaviour) kept me engrossed. Of course, his accounts of war, politics, the plague and the great fire were interesting too, but the details of his daily life (and dislike of most Shakespeare plays) were the highlight for me.