Tag: Samuel Pepys
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Book review: Am I Normal?
Arpan K. BanerjeeSolihull, England “Am I normal?” is a question that many of us ask at some point in our lives. The existential angst of the twentieth century has resulted in a desire to fit in to society and gain acceptability from peers. The term “normal” was first used in the field of mathematics, but…
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Samuel Pepys: Stones and groans
I polished up that handle so carefullyThat now I am the ruler of the Queen’s Navy– HMS Pinafore, Gilbert and Sullivan Introduction Samuel Pepys (1633–1703) did not polish doorknobs to rise in the world. He was well-connected and soon after graduation from Cambridge University entered the employment of his powerful cousin, Edward Montagu. This cousin…
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“Troubled in my eyes”: the risks of reading and writing
Katherine HarveyLondon, England, United Kingdom On January 1, 1660, a young Londoner named Samuel Pepys began to keep a diary. Over the next nine and a half years, he recorded both events of national significance—the Restoration of King Charles II, the Great Plague, and the Great Fire—as well as the minutiae of his private life,…