Arthur O'leary: His Wanderings and Ponderings in Many Lands
1839
Arthur O'leary: His Wanderings and Ponderings in Many Lands
1839
Arthur O'Leary is the kind of traveler who makes enemies everywhere and friends everywhere else. This 1839 novel tracks an irrepressible Irishman as he hops between continents, getting thrown out of boarding houses, dueling over honor, falling into absurd predicaments, and observing the peculiar customs of foreigners with a blend of awe and mockery that only an Irishman abroad could muster. Charles James Lever, writing at the height of his comic powers, uses O'Leary's wanderings as a vehicle for sharp satirical jabs at English snobbery, Continental pretension, and the various species of bore every traveler encounters. The book's framing device is delicious: an editor claims O'Leary threatened legal action over the 'infringement' of his adventures, lending the whole enterprise a knowing, conspiratorial wink. George Cruikshank's illustrations add period-perfect satirical zest to every chapter. This is early Victorian comic travel writing at its most energetic, less polished than Thackeray, more rollicking than Dickens, but possessed of a wild, unbuttoned charm that feels startlingly modern.
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Lever, Charles James. Arthur O'leary: His Wanderings and Ponderings in Many Lands. Lex, lex-books.com/book/arthur-o-leary-his-wanderings-and-ponderings-in-many-lands-ef65a9fb-4924-44e3-b7d8-ceaa9636cd55.Lever, C. J. (1839). Arthur O'leary: His Wanderings and Ponderings in Many Lands. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/arthur-o-leary-his-wanderings-and-ponderings-in-many-lands-ef65a9fb-4924-44e3-b7d8-ceaa9636cd55Lever, Charles James. Arthur O'leary: His Wanderings and Ponderings in Many Lands. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/arthur-o-leary-his-wanderings-and-ponderings-in-many-lands-ef65a9fb-4924-44e3-b7d8-ceaa9636cd55.
