Book Review: Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark by Mary Wollstonecraft
Whew, what a title! I cannot wait to review this book, and it’s the last non-YA/NA/adult for a while, so get excited (I’m excited – I personally love classics, but I like to change genres every couple of books or so). As usual, rating is out of five stars. My next review will be of Tahereh Mafi’s Defy Me, which I actually finished months ago, but as I keep reiterating, I like to review books in the order I finished reading them. Here we go! ♥︎
But we must have an object to refer our reflections to, or they will seldom go below the surface. As in travelling, the keeping of a journal excites to many useful enquiries that would not have been thought of, had the traveller only determined to see all he could see, without ever asking himself for what purpose.
— i.
Do not forget that, in my general observations, I do not pretend to sketch a national character; but merely to note the present state of morals and manners, as I trace the progress of the world’s improvement. Because, during my residence in different countries, my principal object has been to take such a dispassionate view of men as will lead me to form a just idea of the nature of man.
Just to give you an idea of how much I loved this book, considering it’s nonfiction—never in my life did I have such a long list of quotes I bookmarked to write down from a book. Wollstonecraft is just so inspiring, and so relatable, sometimes I even forget how old this book is, or that it’s nonfiction, that’s how relevant and important it is. If you’re only interested in my general/final thoughts, skip to the bottom of the review!
— ii.
How often do my feelings produce ideas that remind me of the origin of many poetical fictions. In solitude, the imagination bodies forth its conceptions unrestrained, and stops enraptured to adore the beings of its own creation. These are moments of bliss; and the memory recalls them with delight.
The title is pretty clear, it’s about Mary Wollstonecraft (yes the mother of Mary Shelley who wrote Frankenstein), travelling throughout Scandinavia and writing about her travels. It’s yet another travel narrative I read, but probably my favourite ever. There’s a few reasons, and I’m going to break them down, with the first being I see a lot of myself in her. She was a young adult, a single mother (okay I’m not that), but she struggled deeply with her mental health, specifically depression. And the way she wrote about her experiences in general (not necessarily just relating to depression), made me realize how yes, those of us diagnosed with depression and/or anxiety disorders have a very difficult time, but the way we capture our feelings… like damn, that’s some poetic sh*t right there. It makes me feel less alone, and makes me realize there are positive things to some horrible ones. So being able to relate to Wollstonecraft and the way she wrote her reflections was a big deal for me.
— iii.
Situation seems to be the mould in which men’s characters are formed; so much so, inferring from what I have lately seen, that I mean not to be severe when I add, previously asking why priests are in general cunning, and statesmen false? that men entirely devoted to commerce never acquire, or lose, all taste and greatness of mind. An ostentatious display of wealth without elegance, and a greedy enjoyment of pleasure without sentiment, embrutes them till they term all virtue, of an heroic cast, romantic attempts at something above our nature; and anxiety about the welfare of others, a search after misery, in which we have no concern. But you will say that I am growing bitter, perhaps, personal. Ah! shall I whisper to you—that you—yourself, are strangely altered, since you have entered deeply into commerce—more than you are aware of—never allowing yourself to reflect, and keeping your mind, or rather passions, in a continual state of agitation—Nature has given you talents, which lie dormant, or are wasted in ignoble pursuits—You will rouse yourself, and shake off the vile dust that obscures you, or my understanding, as well as my heart, deceives me, egregiously—only tell me when?
Another big reason as to why I really enjoyed this nonfiction travel narrative is because of the conclusions Wollstonecraft made. She was so intelligent, and wise not just beyond her years, but beyond her time. She had so many thoughts about capitalism and sexism and just life in general that really keeps you on your toes and keeps you wanting to turn the page. I was kind of sad when the book ended, actually. I just wanted to know more about her and her thoughts on everything she encounters. She’s so interesting, so entertaining, literally she should just be considered a philosopher already. Agh, I just love her and her reflections so much.
— iv.
Innumerable evils still remain, it is true, to afflict the humane investigator, and hurry the benevolent reformer into a labyrinth of errour, who aims at destroying prejudices quickly which only time can root out, as the public opinion becomes subject to reason.
Overall, considering it’s a compilation of letters/it’s a nonfiction book, I really did enjoy it, way more than I expected to. Wollstonecraft is 100% the reason why; she is an amazing writer and a great thinker and super smart. That being said, it’s still nonfiction, and with like two exceptions I can think of, I don’t give nonfiction books 5/5 stars because nonfiction books, for the most part, don’t really interest me. They have to literally do jumping jacks around the the Eiffel tower or something to get me to keep reading. But I still really loved this book, and if you never read a nonfiction travel narrative before, I would definitely recommend you pick this one up first!
If you’ve read this book, what did you think of it? Are there any particular nonfiction books that you adore? Let me know in the comments below!
Rating: ★★★★ | GoodReads
