Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self

A good biographer must tread a fine line. She must enable us to get beneath the skin of her subject. We have to be made to feel that we really understand what makes the subject tick. On the other hand (if you don't mind me mixing my metaphors!) she must maintain a critical perspective. The biography should not degenerate into "hero worship". In "Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self" the biographer, Claire Tomalin, has managed to achieve this balance. Admittedly, as far as getting beneath her subject's skin, Ms. Tomalin has been helped by one of the most famous diaries of all time- the one kept by Pepys from his late 20's until his late 30's. But I have seen other biographies of Pepys that relied too much on the diary- where the diary became a crutch that enabled the biographer merely to amuse us with its sometimes slapstick sexual content, rather than to thoughtfully present us with a well-rounded, flesh-and-blood human being. So, besides reporting on Pepys's crude and predatory amorous adventures, much of the book is devoted to Pepys's hard work over many years as a naval administrator. He devoted himself to modernizing the Navy by both the introduction of proper record keeping and by using the resultant statistical data to develop a more efficient procurement process. He also never stopped trying to get adequate funding so that more ships could be built. Pepys, who as a teenager witnessed the execution of Charles I and who was an admirer of Cromwell, was a great believer in meritocracy. However, Ms. Tomalin also shows us a Pepys who didn't fail to enrich himself by taking advantage of his position- he accepted numerous "gifts" from people who wanted government jobs or contracts. (The "gifts" weren't always in the form of money. One particularly ambitious ships' carpenter "loaned out" his wife to Pepys!) Pepys also used his position to help out friends and family members. Of course, the author points out that this was common practice at the time. But, we have to smirk a bit when Pepys puffs himself up and states he would never take a bribe! (He convinced himself that he wasn't being "bought" since he claimed that the decision making process was never influenced by the money or payment-in-kind that he received. He said he always did what was best for the country, and that the "gifts" were mere gestures of appreciation.) Ms. Tomalin is never heavy-handed in her presentation. She never fails to put Pepys's behavior in its proper context- we are always reminded of how people behaved in both their public and private lives back in the 17th century. Where some previous biographers have tended to zero in on either Pepys the diarist or Pepys the naval administrator, Ms. Tomalin gives us the whole man. We learn that Pepys was an intensely social person- he loved going out to the coffee-houses, to the theater and to concerts, etc. Although not a true scientist, he was a very curious man who wanted to know what made the world tick. He belonged to the Royal Society for many years and was delighted to attend the meetings and to learn about new theories and to hear of the latest experiments. He knew Newton, Boyle, Hooke and Wren. Ms. Tomalin also tells us of Pepys's lifelong passion for music. He grew up in a musical household and throughout his life he loved both to play music and to listen to music performed by others. He enjoyed good food and was an avid reader. He built up an impressive library, which he left to Cambridge University. The beauty of this biography is in the nuances- in showing us all the facets of this remarkable man.

I buy a lot of books from Amazon[.com] and, because I am so busy reading them, I do not often review them. This biography of Samuel Pepys was just terrific, so I had to say something about it.I am a history buff and suppose anyone buying this book would have to be. Samuel Pepys, as it turns out, was a lot more than just a diarist. He was, in effect, what we would call Secretary of the Navy during the Restoration.Raised as a Puritan, he successfully made the switch to a Stuart supporter when The Restoration became inevitable after Oliver Cromwell died and his son just did not measure up to the job.We are taken into the world of an ambitious man clawing his way up to the top of the greasy pole. He knows how it is done--and how to make money from bribes (and convince yourself that you are not doing anything immoral at the same time). The way things were done in 17th century was a bit different than it is in the modern US--and perhaps a bit of the same.The most riveting bit about Pepys life was an operation he underwent in 1658 for the removal of a bladder stone. It goes without saying that there was no anesthesia in those days. First they tied you down and then they cut and probed; there is an illustration of someone trussed up like a turkey with a probe inserted in--well, you have to see it.Great pain and death was a daily companion for those living before anesthesia--and I am not even going to talk about tooth pain. Death, moreover, was all around. Children died from all sorts of diseases that are easily curable now. Any sort of fever could end in death--and, of course, there was bubonic plague, which killed off about 1/6 of London's population in a single year.I found this book absolutely riveting. It is 378 pages of text (and oodles of pages of notes for the compulsive people like me who read them). I read it in 3 days.If you are interested in English history you will love this book. Maybe one of these days I will even get around to reading Pepys' diaries.

I have ready almost the entire diary. First bits and highlights (a long time ago) and the last several years through the daily Pepys site. Sadly the current cycle is approaching its end. But then I will happily start again.Tomalin's book adds a lot of background as well as an overview to tie together the diary and make it even more of a pleasure to read. And then she takes it even further by describing Pepys's life and career after the diary. It was quite dramatic and makes you wish he had been able to keep writing it. What a book that would have been!But the best thing of all perhaps is her insight into Pepys, both man and diarist. He was an excellent prose stylist and a damn complicated guy, and Tomalin clearly is as fascinated by him as we are. (Hint: you don't read the diary merely for a great description of the London fire.)Tomalin is a must read for Pepys fans.

Claire Tomalin evidently came to be rather sweet on naughty old 'Sam', as she often calls him. Not surprising - what a character.We get all of Sam's goings-on, from matters of high estate at The Navy Board and other government/royal affairs to confessing to big tellings-off by his long-suffering wife and banishment from the marital bed for his frequent 'away games'.'The Diary' is massive. It's too much for the average reader. Claire Tomalin gives us plenty of it, sufficient to get a well rounded picture of Pepys's life and times. It's thoroughly entertaining without being trivial or cherry picking the sort of stuff that would feature in the salacious end of British Sunday newspapers.Events in London in Pepys's time were of enormous consequence, from the Restoration of the monachy to the Great Fire of London. We are very fortunate to have Pepys's account of all this. His descriptions are matchless and no less so when he is describing his own life - meeting his pals for a drink, going to the theatre ...A marvellous book.

I loved this book. Claire Tomalin relates Pepys life, not just his parliamentary and naval work but also his private life, many affairs and troubled marriage. The history of the Stuarts and eye-witness accounts of the Great Fire of London and the plague bring the life of Pepys and Londoners, both rich and poor to vivid life.

Tomalin ha escrito un libro magnífico, que analiza de manera magistral los diarios de Samuel Pepys. He leído un extracto del diario después de leer a Tomalin y su libro me ha parecido básico para comprender el contexto en el que se producen las anotaciones de Pepys. Da todas las claves relevantes y plantea todas las cuestiones sobre los hechos y las opiniones de Samuel Pepys. Me atrevería a decir, que como cita a Pepys ampliamente, es más interesante el libro de ella que el de él.

Excellent biography appreciating the significance of Pepys life and writing. Noteworthy is the attempt to rescue the less head voices from the story to give an appropriate place of all the characters in the story. If you are interested in history , politics or biography this book has something for you. It really does expand the genre of literary biography.