2021 Nov / Dec Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

For those interested in a bit of a travelogue or just like the work of Robert Louis Stevenson, for November and December our nonfiction read is Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes. Better known to many for his famous fictional tales such as Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Stevenson also wrote several nonfiction titles. This particular book "describes Stevenson’s hiking trip in the Cevennes, in South-Central France. The narrative largely focuses on Stevenson’s humorous descriptions of his stubborn travel companion, Modestine the donkey."

Happy travels, NTLTRC members!

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

Find more out about the author and his fiction AND nonfiction work here: http://robert-louis-stevenson.org/wor...

But wait! What if you cannot find a copy of this book? No problem. Enjoy a free online edition.

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/535/5...

[John]

I've ordered my copy, and looking forward to reading it. Its been a while since I read RLS.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

I enjoyed this one.

[Kathy]

Looking forward to this book

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

With the holiday season kicking off for many of us, has anyone had a chance to read this title? What have you thought of it?

[Kathy]

I've just begun, Samantha. The antics of the donkey, Modestine are humorous.

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

Kathy, I can only imagine traveling with a donkey. Those types of excursions don't generally happen anymore.

[John]

Samantha wrote: "With the holiday season kicking off for many of us, has anyone had a chance to read this title? What have you thought of it?"

I'm hoping to start it in the next few days.

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

John, did you get to start the book and journey with the donkey yet?

[John]

Yes, Samantha - we've now reached the monastery of "our lady of the snows".

[Kathy]

I finished this a few days ago and enjoyed the journey. I like when I learn something I hadn't known before. In this case it's that French Huguenots (Protestants) lived in the Cevennes and suffered religious persecution in majority Catholic France. In 1702, this Huguenot population, dubbed the Camisards, rose up against the monarchy to protect their religious freedom. (according to Wikipedia). So throughout the second half of the book, the different religions play a role in Stevenson's narrative.

[Bernard]

Donkeys are renowned for being stubborn, but maybe Modestine was critical of RLS also?

I can recommend his essays, he is a worthy successor to Dickens in this genre.

[John]

Because I was running behind on the John Steinbeck challenge, I spent December interspersing Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes; The Amateur Emigrant with Travels with Charley: In Search of America, and at times they felt quite similar.

It was only when searching on Google that I realized that both authors had a connection with Monterey, as Stevenson had lived there in 1879. There is now a R L Stevenson House in Monterey.

In Travels with Charley, Steinbeck revisits old haunts in Monterey, and in The Amateur Emigrant, its Stevenson's ultimate destination as he travels - sick and exhausted - to join his future wife, Fanny Osbourne.

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

What a coincidental find, John. It's strange to discover all the connections some authors have.

[John]

I don't know about other readers, but one of the things I'm always interested in finding out about an author is what they enjoy reading, and which writers have influenced them.

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

John, I don't actively seek out that type of information about writers, but when I happen upon it somewhere, I always enjoying learning it.

[Jazzy]

John wrote: "I don't know about other readers, but one of the things I'm always interested in finding out about an author is what they enjoy reading, and which writers have influenced them."

Me too! I also really enjoy reading about their lives and how they grew up and where.

[John]

Jazzy wrote: "John wrote: "I don't know about other readers, but one of the things I'm always interested in finding out about an author is what they enjoy reading, and which writers have influenced them."

Me to..."

I agree with that Jazzy - I'd guess that about 80% of biographies I read are literary subjects.