I have just picked up--at last--a book that I've been meaning to get to. I've been eyeing it for a couple of years, since we bought it. It's the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. What a treasure...I can't believe it took me so long to get around to it. We've all heard about him forever, but now he's speaking directly to me...or to his son, I believe, for whom he wrote the autobiography while in his old age. He's so charming! I thought it hilarious when he said he's going to indulge in the pastime of many an old man by talking about himself ad nauseum (this is my interpretation of his words, anyhow), but that maybe this wouldn't be so annoying, as one could read it or not read it, according to preference.
Anyhow, it's amazing how much Ben sounds like Sam. That's Samuel McGill Davis, who wrote his own memoirs in his Narrative of Reminiscences of Williamsburg County in the late 19th century (a whole century after Ben wrote his). Oh, I've just seen that this book is free for Nook users on http://www.bn.com/. Both men, Sam and Ben, sound remarkably alike, despite the difference in time and geography. I suppose it's because they likely had similar educations--Sam's country educators may have been a few years behind the up-and-coming Bostonians and Philadelphians that Ben surrounded himself with, but I believe they studied Classics more similarly to each other than to the modern educations that we receive. Anyhow, I'm sure THEY wouldn't see the similarities. It's just striking to me, and I can't help but like them both to bits, despite knowing that they were both rascals of the same sort (or maybe that's part of why I like them?). Ben's book, of course, is put together better, and he's remarkably honest in telling about how he learned to persuade people (I need to take notes--I realized his recommendations were directly contrary to what I do!). He actually put a lot of effort into learning the art form!
There are a couple of things I really, really like about Ben. Between the ages of 12 and 17, at some point, he chose a vegetable diet after being inspired by his reading. For him, this really meant eschewing the 'flesh' course and living on bread, rice, etc. He was being boarded by a family while he worked his apprenticeship at his brother's print shop, and you can imagine how uncommon it must have been in the 18th century colonial times, right? Pretty amazing fellow.
The other really cool bit was that, during these same years, he engaged in 'discussions' in letter format with another intelligent young man named Collins. Collins argued against 'educating the female sex in learning'. Ben does not attempt to claim any sort of pride about his response, which he says he probably made just for the sake of argument, but he and Collins exchanged many a letter arguing the point. When Ben's father found the letters, Ben was impressed that he did not engage in the discussion but only helped critique Ben's writing, pointing out areas where Ben did not meet up with Collins in elegance of expression or perspicuity (I had to look that up--it means clarity). Pretty neat, this personal anecdote from this brilliant man of the 18th century, isn't it?
Anyhow, I've got most of the autobiography left to go, and I need to get back to Sam's memoirs, too. I dropped Sam after he eloped with a 14-year-old girl. Not only did Sam steal the 14-yr-old from the girls-only boarding house, thus tarnishing the reputation of the woman who ran it and was in charge of keeping the girl safe (she was there to be educated), but the slave who helped them was sold away to a distant state, away from her family. Yeah, Sam lost me there. But...he did love and stay married to his wife, and I still want to read the rest of his narrative. He was, overall, a pretty well-intentioned guy.
Oh, we finished Gregory Keyes' book last night, and I was pleased with it overall. Looks like a great start for a series of boys' books, after a bit of editing, of course. Alex needs to write his review for Keyes tonight.
Michael has begun editing his book, and I am muddled in the middle of editing my first book. A mess, I say! Speaking of which, I should get back to it...
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