Memoirs of a Breton Peasant

by Jean-Marie Déguignet

Book Overview

A fascinating document of an extraordinary life, Memoirs of A Breton Peasant reads with the liveliness of a novel and bristles with the vigor of an opinionated autodidact from the very lowest level of peasant society. Brittany during the nineteenth century was a place seemingly frozen in the Middle Ages, backwards by most French standards; formal education among rural society was either unavailable or dismissed as unnecessary, while the church...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1609803469
• ISBN13: 9781609803469
• Release Date: October 2011
• Publisher: Seven Stories Press
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A Glorious Discovery

Deguinet is a truly unique, first person voice. His descriptions of life in Brittany, the families, the survival and the bleakness are worth reading the book in themselves. But there are two other aspects to this man that make the book a treasure. One is his ability to self-educate. His mastery of language and learning is astonishing. He is a gifted story teller and retained a detailed memory of the most seemingly insignificant moments of his life. He weaves them into a tale that is interesting and relevant. Additionally, he was an adventurer. Students of the French experience in the Crimea, Morocco and Mexico will enjoy the observations of a "simple" soldier. His descriptions of everyday army life, the appearance and pretension of Napoleon III and Bazanine, among others, is superb reading. That he ended his life unpublished, alone and destitute adds a dimension to this story. The creativity and ability to understand and form a critical framework with which to explain one's life is rare. The translation is outstanding. This is gem of a book. It is no wonder that it has been such a success in France.