Review of A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland AND The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides (Penguin Classics)

Best of friends, James Boswell and Samuel Johnson, venture into the wild, barbarous country of Scotland. (It turns out not to be quite so barbarous, but they meet a lot of wonderful people along the way.)
As travelogues go, I have to say that I found it a bit on the dull side. Still, there are some good points:

1.) While Johnson is busy observing the country and its people, Boswell is busy observing Johnson, leading to some great anecdotes regarding that grand character.

2.) It's an interesting view of 18th century Scotland, contrasted between the view of a native eager to share his culture (Boswell) and that of an extremely intelligent, but judgmental and contumacious personage (Johnson).

P.S: If Johnson was a magnificent frigate of high British culture, then Boswell was the sometimes annoying, self-important barnacle clinging to his hull. Never-the-less, without Boswell, we wouldn't know so much about Johnson, so we'll take what we can get.