Lavengro: The Scholar, the Gypsy, the Priest (Dodo Press) [Paperback]

George Borrow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 11, 2008

George Henry Borrow (1803-1881) was an English author who wrote novels and travelogues based on his own experiences around Europe. Over the course of his wanderings, he developed a close affinity with the Romani people of Europe, and they figure prominently in his work. Borrow was born at East Dereham, Norfolk. He was educated at the Royal High School of Edinburgh and Norwich Grammar School. He studied law, but languages and literature became his main interests. In 1825, he began his first major European journey, walking in France and Germany. Over the next few years he visited Russia, Portugal, Spain and Morocco, acquainting himself with the people and languages of the various countries he visited. His book The Zincali (1841) was moderately successful, and The Bible in Spain (1843) was a huge success, making Borrow a celebrity overnight. But the eagerly awaited Lavengro: The Scholar, the Gypsy, the Priest (1851) and The Romany Rye (1857) puzzled many readers, who were not sure how much was fact and how much fiction (a question debated to this day).

Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Dodo Press (April 11, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1409900584
• ISBN-13: 978-1409900580
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Literary buff's joy, January 2, 2003

By 

"fourdevoes" (NY, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lavengro (Hardcover)

I thoroughly enjoyed Borrow and look forward to meeting this character in heaven, where I believe he and Tolkien are having a great time talking philology. This is one of those books that, when you are done reading, you feel that you have made a friend and you miss him now that it's over. I am eager to read his other writings.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars entertaining, educational, particularly memorable, July 21, 1998

By 

sasha_ (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lavengro: The Classic Account of Gypsy Life in Nineteenth-Century England (Paperback)

This book (including Romany Rye, the sequel) is not an example of high-minded literature, but rather the account of Borrow's early life, and the beginning of his adventures. All escapades take place in the United Kingdom, of which he is admirably patriotic. As a character, he is actually somewhat quiet; but the situations and especially people he meets are both tangibly real (to a degree that I find unusual in a work of that time) and outlandish by any standards, Victorian (?) England's or ours. Above all the stories were fascinating, and are stamped permanently in my memory.

While one needs a taste for the "philological" to enjoy and understand these adventures, they are still only marvelous anecdotes, including brilliant character portraits and memorable descriptions.

One small quality that I appreciated, particularly since he writes so much of his experiences with Gypsies, is that Borrow is probably less rascist than many of his contemporaries seem to b! e.

By the way: while The Bible in Spain has the same qualities as Lavengro and Romany Rye, it is not nearly as well written; he indulges his taste for dry ramblings much more, and the interesting stories seem almost arbitrary in when he tells them and when he ends them; were he still alive, there would be much that I'd like him to elaborate on.

If anyone can tell me about his other writings (I have the impression that the quality can vary) I'd really appreciate some advice through email.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An autobiographical novel of late nineteenth century England, January 28, 2005

By 

S. Schwartz "romonko" (alberta canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lavengro (Paperback)

George Borrow lived in England during the nineteenth century. This book and it's sequel "The Romany Rye" are somewhat autobiographical in the way that "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" is autobiographical about James Joyce. This book is also not a novel in its true form. It's more a vivid description of the English countryside and what it was like during Borrow's lifetime. The book and its sequel were not very well received when first published because English people did not want to read about gypsies and the gypsy lifestyle. Borrow's black psyche comes through in these pages quite clearly as he tries to explain his life and the problems that he encounters. As I read the book, I felt it was like seeing a real man's life, as it surely was. There are three main characters in the book - a scholar, a Gypsy and a Priest. Borrow takes quite a kick at Roman Catholicism and the pomp and circumstance of that religion in his book. But even with that his Priest is a shown as a very good man trying to bring his message to the masses. I did not read the next book "The Romany Rye", but this one was pretty good as a stand-alone.