Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes
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THE A5 BOOK REVIEWOne of the classics of travel literature comes from Robert Louis Stevenson, an author much more famous for children's classics like Treasure Island. In 1879, Stevenson was just starting his career and in hopes of adventure and of finding writing material, he set out on a 120 mile hike through the Cevennes region in France, accompanied by a predictably determined donkey named Modestine. It is not an easy trip; the terrain is wild, barren and rocky, traveling with a donkey is challenging, and many of the local people he meets are initially suspicious as to what he is doing. Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes is a recount of Stevenson's journey, valuable both as a snapshot into this time period and into Stevenson's intelligence, wit, and sense for adventure. Interestingly, this was one of the first books to present hiking and camping outside as an appealing way to travel.
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ABOUT ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSONRobert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) was a 19th century Scottish writer and poet, most famous for classic children’s books like Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He was well known even in his own time, active in London literary circles, although he became better recognized as a great writer in the late 20th century. Stevenson (or as popularly called RLS) is one of the most translated authors of all time. Besides his trip to the Cevennes, he is also famous for his travels around the South Pacific.
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GREAT QUOTES:
"For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move; to feel the needs and hitches of our life more clearly; to come down off this feather-bed of civilization, and find the globe granite underfoot and strewn with cutting flints. Alas, as we get up in life, and are more preoccupied with our affairs, even a holiday is a thing that must be worked for."
- Robert Louis Stevenson, Travels With a Donkey in the Cevennes “Night is a dead monotonous period under a roof; but in the open world it passes lightly, with its stars and dews and perfumes, and the hours are marked by changes in the face of Nature. What seems a kind of temporal death to people choked between walls and curtains, is only a light and living slumber to the man who sleeps afield.” - Robert Louis Stevenson, Travels With a Donkey in the Cevennes INTERESTING LINKS:
MAP - CEVENNES, FRANCE |
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