Why read Memoirs of a Breton Peasant?

Book cover of Memoirs of a Breton Peasant

Book description

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,…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Memoirs of a Breton Peasant as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Mark Greenside

Author

Jean-Marie Déguignet is not your typical Breton peasant. He’s small and puny—and these people aren’t built that way. At nine, a bee caused him to fall and hit his head, leaving an ugly wound that oozed for years and left a deep indentation in his skull when it finally healed. The result was a lifetime interest in bees and a lonely life, as no one wanted to be near him.

A curious and isolated lad, he becomes an auto-diktat, and like many auto-diktats has lots of disparaging things to say about those who are less educated and more…

From Mark's list on The best books about the magic of Brittany France.