Autobiography list
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The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
July 31, 2023
Benjamin Franklin m-a atras imediat prin francheţe. Privind în urmă, inventivul american nu omite să consemneze, cu maximă sobrietate, momentele de jenă materială prin care a trecut, ca orice self made man, dar, mai ales, momentele de jenă biologică sau, la alt nivel, mai eterat, pe acelea de natură morală.
Îi lipsește cu desăvîrşire, ca oricărui puritan, simţul ridicolului, dar nu devine un pedant încruntat. A luat viaţa în serios şi arată explicit, în paginile retrospective ale analizei sale, cum că seriozitatea reprezintă singurul drum care duce la împlinirea în viaţă şi la mîntuirea sufletului.
În scopul de a ghici vrerea Providenţei şi a atinge perfecţiunea, nici mai mult, dar nici mai puţin („voiam să trăiesc fără a săvîrşi niciodată nici o greşeală”!), junele puritan (prezbiterian, mai precis) îşi cercetează atent existenţa de zi cu zi și notează pe o coloană viciile și pe alta virtuțile. Cînd rata virtuţilor creşte, e semnul neîndoios al manifestării, în existența junelui tipograf, a suveranei voinţe divine. Cînd sc
Îi lipsește cu desăvîrşire, ca oricărui puritan, simţul ridicolului, dar nu devine un pedant încruntat. A luat viaţa în serios şi arată explicit, în paginile retrospective ale analizei sale, cum că seriozitatea reprezintă singurul drum care duce la împlinirea în viaţă şi la mîntuirea sufletului.
În scopul de a ghici vrerea Providenţei şi a atinge perfecţiunea, nici mai mult, dar nici mai puţin („voiam să trăiesc fără a săvîrşi niciodată nici o greşeală”!), junele puritan (prezbiterian, mai precis) îşi cercetează atent existenţa de zi cu zi și notează pe o coloană viciile și pe alta virtuțile. Cînd rata virtuţilor creşte, e semnul neîndoios al manifestării, în existența junelui tipograf, a suveranei voinţe divine. Cînd sc
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The Autobiography of Mark Twain
September 20, 2024
Mark Twain is a character, literally, invented and maintained by Samuel Clemens. Clemens effectively shared a life with Twain, or at least that’s my view, and the degree to which the identities were intertwined is incalculable but thorough. In writing (or dictating) this autobiography of Mark Twain, it seems understood that the narrator, though irascible and delightful, may also be unreliable, so that it is hard sometimes to discern objective truth from his (their) fertile imagination. Twain scholars may know, but the average reader, like me, is probably inclined to take most of the tales here at face value, even knowing Twain’s reputation for invention and exaggeration.
In predictably entertaining fashion he reveals the sources of some of his most memorable characters and stories and recounts some new ones. He tells of squandering staggering sums of money on ill-advised commercial ventures and of allowing a succession of agents and publishers to rob him. He complains about copyright laws that still rip off writers to this day, a
In predictably entertaining fashion he reveals the sources of some of his most memorable characters and stories and recounts some new ones. He tells of squandering staggering sums of money on ill-advised commercial ventures and of allowing a succession of agents and publishers to rob him. He complains about copyright laws that still rip off writers to this day, a
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The Autobiography of Charles Darwin, 1809–82
July 28, 2018
This is the quintessential scientific autobiography, a brief and charming book that Darwin wrote “for nearly an hour on most afternoons” for a little over two months. Originally published in 1887—five years after the naturalist’s death—it was somewhat censored, the more controversial religious opinions being taken out. It was only in 1958, to celebrate the centennial of The Origin of Species, that the full version was restored, edited by one of Darwin’s granddaughters, Nora Barlow.
The religious opinions that Darwin expresses are, nowadays, not enough to raise eyebrows. In short, his travels and his research slowly eroded his faith until all that remained was an untroubled agnosticism. What is interesting is that Darwin attributes to his loss of faith his further loss of sensi
I have attempted to write the following account of myself, as if I were a dead man in another world looking back at my own life. Nor have I found this difficult, for life is nearly over with me. I have taken no pains about my style of writing.
This is the quintessential scientific autobiography, a brief and charming book that Darwin wrote “for nearly an hour on most afternoons” for a little over two months. Originally published in 1887—five years after the naturalist’s death—it was somewhat censored, the more controversial religious opinions being taken out. It was only in 1958, to celebrate the centennial of The Origin of Species, that the full version was restored, edited by one of Darwin’s granddaughters, Nora Barlow.
The religious opinions that Darwin expresses are, nowadays, not enough to raise eyebrows. In short, his travels and his research slowly eroded his faith until all that remained was an untroubled agnosticism. What is interesting is that Darwin attributes to his loss of faith his further loss of sensi
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