Review: And the Land Lay Still – James RobertsonIf Lanark was the Scottish novel of the 1980s, James Robertson’s And the Land Lay Still has strong claims to being the definitive novel so far of the twenty-first century. It is a sweeping work, the sort of read which absorbs and challenges, moves and enlightens. Robertson’s canvas is broad,…
Alasdair Gray’s novel ‘Lanark’ is an astonishing achievement, and well worth the huge time investment to read it… This will be a long post, but then Alasdair Gray’s Lanark is, like James Joyce’s Ulysses, a very long and exceptionally complex novel. But it’s worth the effort. Gray famously took thirty years to write Lanark; it took me almost as many to…
A review of Otter Country by Miriam Darlington and Hare by Jim CrumleyMy fondness for nature writing does not abate. I put it down in part to the horrors of suburban existence – commuting, work, a feeling of disconnectedness with the land – and I’m certainly not alone: today’s nature writers are amongst the biggest…
I was finally challenged on Facebook earlier today to list ten books which have influenced me. Normally, I am not enamoured by such tasks, but this one got me thinking…about what I actually remember, what stuck with me and what in some way shaped me. As I started to type, I became more and more…
First in a new mini seriesOban is a quite remarkable little town. Nestling beneath the strange folly of McCaig’s Tower, (picture a Roman arena or a mini Colosseum plonked on top of a small hill and you’ll get the idea), the town’s setting is picture-perfect, occupying a wonderful, sheltered bay. In winter, the town’s population shrinks to a mere 8,500; in summer,…
The Silent Weaver: The Extraordinary Life and Work of Angus McPhee – Roger Hutchinson Angus McPhee’s story is remarkable – from the remote Outer Hebridean island of South Uist, he, like so many Gaels before and after him, signed up for the Army. He served in the Lovat Scouts and yet ended the Second World…