Blame Canada
Jun. 30th, 2025 08:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qatsiBook Review: Autobiography and Other Writings, by Benjamin Franklin (edited by Ormond Seavey)
Quite a mixed bag here. Franklin wrote his autobiography in (at least) three parts, the first part many years earlier than the rest, and it doesn't cover the small matter of the American Revolution. But it's still interesting as a description of the life and times of a boy from a modest family who became a printer because his father couldn't afford to send him to Harvard. Although there is some tension between the two sides of the Atlantic, he travels to Britain freely and with curiosity. His main concern in terms of war and peace seemed to be the native Americans and (for some reason undisclosed) Canadians.
The other writings included in the volume are variable. Many are written for publication, often anonymously or under assumed names, but others are letters. The piece on the kite experiment is quite short.
Quite a mixed bag here. Franklin wrote his autobiography in (at least) three parts, the first part many years earlier than the rest, and it doesn't cover the small matter of the American Revolution. But it's still interesting as a description of the life and times of a boy from a modest family who became a printer because his father couldn't afford to send him to Harvard. Although there is some tension between the two sides of the Atlantic, he travels to Britain freely and with curiosity. His main concern in terms of war and peace seemed to be the native Americans and (for some reason undisclosed) Canadians.
The other writings included in the volume are variable. Many are written for publication, often anonymously or under assumed names, but others are letters. The piece on the kite experiment is quite short.