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Originally Posted by sun surfer
Speaking of daunting, can it be true that The Diary of Samuel Pepys is really 4,000 pages long? Before we get to the vote, I wonder if Hamlet53 would like to clarify the nomination? Is the nomination for the entire diary, as the free MR download link he provided would indicate, or for an abridged version? Or will it be each person for themselves to decide how much they want to read?
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The Pepys
Diary is one of those works that can be read in a non-linear way. I have the three volume Warrington edition from Everyman Library that runs to over 1500 pages and I've always found it sufficient {though Warrington removes the spicier bits}.
Pepys lived in a very eventful time and most people might well want to begin with his vivid description of the Great Fire of London or the Black Death which ravaged London at that time. He mentions the two dramatic Comets that appeared over the London skies and the coronation of Charles II. His literary tastes come through in an interesting way--he tends to regard Shakespeare as a lesser dramatist than Dryden.
Wikipedia gives a useful overview of it and one can simply browse through it with an index of some of the important characters. "Penn" his professional partner, for instance, was the father of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, who made a short visit {as a child} to Ireland.