Thank God, I ended up reading the whole unabridged diary over roughly 6-7 months (combination of reading and listening to the audiobook version) and it's one of the best books I've ever read. There's so many beneficial nuggets that can be extracted from this man's decade-long journey to improve himself and lot in life. For example, the numerous benefits he gained from learning Latin, French, and Spanish inspired me to take language learning more seriously, and his absolutely incredible work ethic made me feel quite embarrassed of my own and lit a fire under my butt to do better. His intense scientific curiosity (attending medical experiments, trying to see comets, purchasing a microscope), his reading of so many books, and his busy social life also provided a real example of how one could work so hard for so many hours and yet still be a very well-balanced person. Not to mention it is absolutely hilarious, which helps you a lot if you're in it for the long haul. Of course, I repudiate him for his roguishness but he does seem to have been a genuinely sincere man (except when he practiced dissimulation with Penn) and his diary has many practical benefits that one can extract to help improve their own lives.
What a marvellous ‘selling’ of Pepys, your description of the diary entries and how Pepys never ceases to surprise you mirrors my experience on first reading him many years ago. It was a book entitled ‘Samuel Pepys and his World’ I borrowed from my local library, and subsequently bought years later, that started my interest in him. We’d done a class project on The Great Fire of London and a few diary entries being read out are what fired my interest. I’ve copies of the full Latham books covering the years up to and including 1667 and some day may complete the set, purely to say I own them. That Shorter Pepys is a marvellous volume to have though, as you say, and I’d fully recommend it to anyone.
I found a copy of Everybody’s Pepys with the illustrations after seeing it on one of your shelf tours last year and you enthused about it. It’s been a hilarious reading experience; one that I return to on a hard, low day.
Hello Steve, as well as a complete 10 volume illustrated set of the Diary, I have The Concise Pepys and my favourite Everybody's Pepys illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard. My favourite illustration is 'Here I taught him what to do.'
But Bean *is* a monstrous and brave hound! My goodness, you know that! And yeah, Steve; you’re breaking the old book budget here. I just got a big Penguin Dryden, btw, in addition to other volumes. Sigh. At least I already have this one.
Pepys' diary for me is classic "toilet reading" That is it lives on the shelf by the toilet To be picked up and read / re-read in short bursts. It is endlessly fascinating I have a hardback "Shorter Pepys" Not sure a Penguin Classic paperback Would last.
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I've now bought four of your recommendations just this week and I've already spent June's book budget. I love this series but it's dangerous to watch!
You are so right, I just ordered 2 also ! So many of the things that I honestly have missed and need to 'catch up'....!!!!
Same here. This, Boswell, Clarissa, Gibbon, and Herodotus have really piqued my interest. Haven’t heard of any of them prior to this channel
Thank God, I ended up reading the whole unabridged diary over roughly 6-7 months (combination of reading and listening to the audiobook version) and it's one of the best books I've ever read. There's so many beneficial nuggets that can be extracted from this man's decade-long journey to improve himself and lot in life. For example, the numerous benefits he gained from learning Latin, French, and Spanish inspired me to take language learning more seriously, and his absolutely incredible work ethic made me feel quite embarrassed of my own and lit a fire under my butt to do better. His intense scientific curiosity (attending medical experiments, trying to see comets, purchasing a microscope), his reading of so many books, and his busy social life also provided a real example of how one could work so hard for so many hours and yet still be a very well-balanced person.
Not to mention it is absolutely hilarious, which helps you a lot if you're in it for the long haul.
Of course, I repudiate him for his roguishness but he does seem to have been a genuinely sincere man (except when he practiced dissimulation with Penn) and his diary has many practical benefits that one can extract to help improve their own lives.
What a marvellous ‘selling’ of Pepys, your description of the diary entries and how Pepys never ceases to surprise you mirrors my experience on first reading him many years ago. It was a book entitled ‘Samuel Pepys and his World’ I borrowed from my local library, and subsequently bought years later, that started my interest in him. We’d done a class project on The Great Fire of London and a few diary entries being read out are what fired my interest. I’ve copies of the full Latham books covering the years up to and including 1667 and some day may complete the set, purely to say I own them. That Shorter Pepys is a marvellous volume to have though, as you say, and I’d fully recommend it to anyone.
I found a copy of Everybody’s Pepys with the illustrations after seeing it on one of your shelf tours last year and you enthused about it. It’s been a hilarious reading experience; one that I return to on a hard, low day.
Hello Steve, as well as a complete 10 volume illustrated set of the Diary, I have The Concise Pepys and my favourite Everybody's Pepys illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard. My favourite illustration is 'Here I taught him what to do.'
But Bean *is* a monstrous and brave hound! My goodness, you know that!
And yeah, Steve; you’re breaking the old book budget here.
I just got a big Penguin Dryden, btw, in addition to other volumes.
Sigh. At least I already have this one.
Pepys' diary for me is classic "toilet reading"
That is it lives on the shelf by the toilet
To be picked up and read / re-read in short bursts.
It is endlessly fascinating
I have a hardback "Shorter Pepys"
Not sure a Penguin Classic paperback
Would last.
Great discussion. Very, very tempted to order a copy, but I already have Boswell etc. coming my way thanks to these videos!
Thanks for this. I’ve been trolling through the different editions wondering which one to get, and this has helped clarify things for me 😁
I think I will really need to read some Pepys soon. I think it has been almost thirty years since I last read it.
Steve, do you know there is a mystery series called Women of Pepy's Diary? Oh, sorry, of course you know. :-) Sounds intriguing!