Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes [with Biographical...
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In 1878, Robert Louis Stevenson was suffering from poor health, struggling to survive on the income derived from his writings, and tormented by his infatuation with Fanny Osbourne, a married American woman. His response was to embark on a journey through the Cevennes with a donkey, Modestine, and a notebook, which he later transformed into Travels with a Donkey. Just a few months after publication, Stevenson was off again - this time crossing the Atlantic and the breadth of America in the hope of being re-united with Fanny, an experience he recorded in The Amateur Emigrant. Both pieces are classics of travel writings, which reveal as much about Stevenson's character as the landscape he travels through.
About the Author
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-94) was born in Edinburgh and studied engineering and law, before turning to writing full time. He wrote essays, travel literature, poetry, and fiction.
Christopher MacLachlan is Senior Lecturer in English at St Andrews. He has written widely on 18th-century English/ Scottish literature; the Scottish Enlightenment; modern Scottish literature.
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In a little place called Le Monastier, in a pleasant highland valley fifteen miles from Le Puy, I spent about a month of fine days. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
In a little place called Le Monastier, in a pleasant highland valley fifteen miles from Le Puy, I spent about a month of fine days. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
36 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
For those who know Stevenson only from his popular fiction titles - treasure island, kidnapped, Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and others - this book presents a different Stevenson, a man of letters, of learning and of sly, good-natured humor. Stevenson takes us and his donkey, Modestine, on a trip to the Cevennes in France, to meet its people and visit its places, while musing on the nature of human beings, of life, of history, and of nature itself, written in a rich, evocative language and a distinctive style.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Most people tend to remember Robert Louis Stevenson for his classic novels Treasure Island and Kidnapped. Few know that he was also a very accomplished travel writer. He was a man who enjoyed travel, and writing about those experiences. When he died he was buried on Mount Vaea, on the island of Upolo in the Samoan Pacific island group, many miles away from his Scottish birthplace. His first published work in 1878, was a little travel book called "An Inland Voyage", recalling a canoe trip in Belgium and France. This was followed shortly after by "Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes". Later he also wrote the companion pieces "The Amateur Emigrant" and "Across the Plains". It would be nice to have this entire collection in one penguin volume, but this is certainly the next best thing. This edition pairs "Travels with a Donkey" with "The Amateur Emigrant", and it is of course a delightful combination!
In "Travels with a Donkey" Stevenson recalls a solo 12 day, 120 mile hiking journey he made through the then impoverished Cevennes area in Southern France. It is an area of barren, rocky hillsides, which whilst beautiful was difficult terrain for the traveller. It was a terrain that Stevenson as a proud Scotsman would have been familiar with. Stevenson paints a vivid portrait of the colourful characters he meets. But perhaps his most descriptive writing was reserved for his strong willed donkey Modestine, a creature that had a character and mind all of its own. These are perhaps the amusing highlights of the book. The book has become strongly associated with the Cevennes area, as you will find when reading many travel articles about the area. But most importantly of all, it is still an entertaining and well written account. It is quite rightly regarded as a pioneering classic of outdoor travel.
In "The Amateur emigrant" Stevenson writes of his experiences whilst romancing his future American wife Fanny, who was scandalously already married. When Fanny was summoned back to her husbands home in San Francisco, the love smitten Stevenson set off in amorous pursuit. He decided that he would do so by ship, and wanted to see how the other half lived by travelling steerage. His friends persuaded him to go one class up from this, which still left him amongst the lower classes. A decision he did not regret when he saw conditions in steerage! He writes enthusiastically of those experiences, and the turbulent crossing of the Atlantic. His father was so shocked that his son had travelled in such low circumstances, that he had the book suppressed for a number of years. The younger Stevenson clearly had a deep social conscience similar to that of George Orwell. The book is an excellent read.
If you have never read the travel books of Robert Louis Stevenson, then you are in for a treat. They are the ideal holiday read. Nothing too heavy, imbued with a great sense of fun, with the happy result that they have not dated at all. They are as good a read today as they were when they were first published over a hundred years ago. In fact I would even go so far as to say, that like the very finest ports they have even improved with age.
In "Travels with a Donkey" Stevenson recalls a solo 12 day, 120 mile hiking journey he made through the then impoverished Cevennes area in Southern France. It is an area of barren, rocky hillsides, which whilst beautiful was difficult terrain for the traveller. It was a terrain that Stevenson as a proud Scotsman would have been familiar with. Stevenson paints a vivid portrait of the colourful characters he meets. But perhaps his most descriptive writing was reserved for his strong willed donkey Modestine, a creature that had a character and mind all of its own. These are perhaps the amusing highlights of the book. The book has become strongly associated with the Cevennes area, as you will find when reading many travel articles about the area. But most importantly of all, it is still an entertaining and well written account. It is quite rightly regarded as a pioneering classic of outdoor travel.
In "The Amateur emigrant" Stevenson writes of his experiences whilst romancing his future American wife Fanny, who was scandalously already married. When Fanny was summoned back to her husbands home in San Francisco, the love smitten Stevenson set off in amorous pursuit. He decided that he would do so by ship, and wanted to see how the other half lived by travelling steerage. His friends persuaded him to go one class up from this, which still left him amongst the lower classes. A decision he did not regret when he saw conditions in steerage! He writes enthusiastically of those experiences, and the turbulent crossing of the Atlantic. His father was so shocked that his son had travelled in such low circumstances, that he had the book suppressed for a number of years. The younger Stevenson clearly had a deep social conscience similar to that of George Orwell. The book is an excellent read.
If you have never read the travel books of Robert Louis Stevenson, then you are in for a treat. They are the ideal holiday read. Nothing too heavy, imbued with a great sense of fun, with the happy result that they have not dated at all. They are as good a read today as they were when they were first published over a hundred years ago. In fact I would even go so far as to say, that like the very finest ports they have even improved with age.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This excellently compiled edition is indispensable to the casual reader or the Stevenson scholar. In addition to 'Travels with a Donkey' (written 1878, published 1879), MacLachlan has restored the 'Across the Plains' text to 'The Amateur Emigrant' and re-inserted previously omitted passages to both texts. These pieces detailing RLS's arduous voyage across the Atlantic and America in 1879 remained unpublished until after his death and then were heavily edited. With reference to important biographical resources like RLS's Cevennes Journal, MacLachlan's excellent introduction and exhaustive notes provide the literary, social and historical contexts for the writings, which in part help to explain why publication was withheld. In complementing the better-known Travels with the complete text of Amateur, this edition provides the reader with a comprehensive, in-depth knowledge of a key stage of RLS's early nonfiction writing. RLS demonstrates his romanticism, wit, humour, eye for detail and desire for adventure but also reveals his keen political awareness and propensity for sharp social critique - aspects which in their modernity extend beyond the strictures of genre and literary epoch.
This is perfect complimentary reading to Stevenson's novels and children's books if you want to better understand the writer and the aims and scope of his work.
This is perfect complimentary reading to Stevenson's novels and children's books if you want to better understand the writer and the aims and scope of his work.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Familiar Reading
I re-read Travels with a Donkey recently and, even after all these years found it absolutely delightful. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Mrs. Donella F. East
Nick Taylder who lately travelled the Cevennes without a donkey
I bought this book to replace a much earlier edition of the work which got damaged in the Cevennes holiday because everyone of my adult family wanted to read it. Read more
Published on 19 Oct 2009 by N. Taylder
Just as bad the second time
When I was 11 in the first term at grammar school the book set for us to read was "Travels with a donkey". Read more
Published on 27 Sep 2009 by Old Den
A short enjoyable read.
Animal lovers may be a little upset by RLS's early treatment of Modestine... however he does shed a tear for her on parting. Read more
Published on 12 April 2006 by Alex1507
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