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A Calendar of Love
In this, George Mackay Brown’s first collection of short stories, the themes he would develop over his career are set out – an obsession with his home Orkney, its dark and violent Viking past, the cycle of the seasons, and the struggle of its inhabitants. The characters of these stories – the fishermen, the crofters, the farmers and the wild tinkers – are all struggling to live their lives and find their identities in a harsh habitat and a cruel age. The stories in this collection share the same melancholy tone and sense of the ceaseless renewal made possible by the natural cycle.
- GenresShort StoriesScotland
Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
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About the author
George Mackay Brown
183 books101 followersGeorge Mackay Brown, the poet, novelist and dramatist, spent his life living in and documenting the Orkney Isles.
A bout of severe measles at the age of 12 became the basis for recurring health problems throughout his life. Uncertain as to his future, he remained in education until 1940, a year which brought with it a growing reality of the war, and the unexpected death of his father. The following year he was diagnosed with (then incurable) Pulmonary Tuberculosis and spent six months in hospital in Kirkwall, Orkney's main town.
Around this time, he began writing poetry, and also prose for the Orkney Herald for which he became Stromness Correspondent, reporting events such as the switching on of the electricity grid in 1947. In 1950 he met the poet Edwin Muir, a fellow Orcadian, who recognised Mackay Brown's talent for writing, and would become his literary tutor and mentor at Newbattle Abbey College, in Midlothian, which he attended in 1951-2. Recurring TB forced Mackay Brown to spend the following year in hospital, but his experience at Newbattle spurred him to apply to Edinburgh University, to read English Literature, returning to do post-graduate work on Gerard Manley Hopkins.
In later life Mackay Brown rarely left Orkney. He turned to writing full-time, publishing his first collection of poetry, The Storm, in 1954. His writing explored life on Orkney, and the history and traditions which make up Orkney's distinct cultural identity. Many of his works are concerned with protecting Orkney's cultural heritage from the relentless march of progress and the loss of myth and archaic ritual in the modern world. Reflecting this, his best known work is Greenvoe (1972), in which the permanence of island life is threatened by 'Black Star', a mysterious nuclear development.
Mackay Brown's literary reputation grew steadily. He received an OBE in 1974 and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1977, in addition to gaining several honorary degrees. His final novel, Beside the Ocean of Time (1994) was Booker Prize shortlisted and judged Scottish Book of the Year by the Saltire Society. Mackay Brown died in his home town of Stromness on 13th April 1996.
He produced several poetry collections, five novels, eight collections of short stories and two poem-plays, as well as non-fiction portraits of Orkney, an autobiography, For the Islands I Sing (1997), and published journalism.
Read more at:
http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org....
A bout of severe measles at the age of 12 became the basis for recurring health problems throughout his life. Uncertain as to his future, he remained in education until 1940, a year which brought with it a growing reality of the war, and the unexpected death of his father. The following year he was diagnosed with (then incurable) Pulmonary Tuberculosis and spent six months in hospital in Kirkwall, Orkney's main town.
Around this time, he began writing poetry, and also prose for the Orkney Herald for which he became Stromness Correspondent, reporting events such as the switching on of the electricity grid in 1947. In 1950 he met the poet Edwin Muir, a fellow Orcadian, who recognised Mackay Brown's talent for writing, and would become his literary tutor and mentor at Newbattle Abbey College, in Midlothian, which he attended in 1951-2. Recurring TB forced Mackay Brown to spend the following year in hospital, but his experience at Newbattle spurred him to apply to Edinburgh University, to read English Literature, returning to do post-graduate work on Gerard Manley Hopkins.
In later life Mackay Brown rarely left Orkney. He turned to writing full-time, publishing his first collection of poetry, The Storm, in 1954. His writing explored life on Orkney, and the history and traditions which make up Orkney's distinct cultural identity. Many of his works are concerned with protecting Orkney's cultural heritage from the relentless march of progress and the loss of myth and archaic ritual in the modern world. Reflecting this, his best known work is Greenvoe (1972), in which the permanence of island life is threatened by 'Black Star', a mysterious nuclear development.
Mackay Brown's literary reputation grew steadily. He received an OBE in 1974 and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1977, in addition to gaining several honorary degrees. His final novel, Beside the Ocean of Time (1994) was Booker Prize shortlisted and judged Scottish Book of the Year by the Saltire Society. Mackay Brown died in his home town of Stromness on 13th April 1996.
He produced several poetry collections, five novels, eight collections of short stories and two poem-plays, as well as non-fiction portraits of Orkney, an autobiography, For the Islands I Sing (1997), and published journalism.
Read more at:
http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org....
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 5, 2012
Beautiful! Brilliant! writing. Mackay uses oral story-telling techniques to produce simple yet very subtle pieces. They have that vivid, living quality of sketches by a good artist, selecting nothing but the absolute essential details to convey what he wants. Like any good artist he can make maximum use of a few words create a very evocative picture. He uses this sketch-like quality to enter into the complex and often confused motivations of his characters.
He does not drive all his stories to definite conclusions, but leaves them in the hands of rumour and the surmises made by his characters: Did Clod the shepherd, or did Mick the tinker who was executed for the crime, rape Margaret in "The Ballad of the Red Bush"? We never know. Just as we never know who fathered Jean's child in the title story of the volume; was it Peter the fierce Calvanist or was it Thorfin the drunkard? We never know. But his technique makes the inconclusiveness part of the strength and charm and satisfaction of them.
There is great humour in the stories e.g. "Tam". Others are very moving, moving either to anger e.g."Witch" or to compassion for the plight in which people find themselves e.g. "Master Harlow, Priest".
A wonderful read.
He does not drive all his stories to definite conclusions, but leaves them in the hands of rumour and the surmises made by his characters: Did Clod the shepherd, or did Mick the tinker who was executed for the crime, rape Margaret in "The Ballad of the Red Bush"? We never know. Just as we never know who fathered Jean's child in the title story of the volume; was it Peter the fierce Calvanist or was it Thorfin the drunkard? We never know. But his technique makes the inconclusiveness part of the strength and charm and satisfaction of them.
There is great humour in the stories e.g. "Tam". Others are very moving, moving either to anger e.g."Witch" or to compassion for the plight in which people find themselves e.g. "Master Harlow, Priest".
A wonderful read.
November 27, 2019
‘For this one harvest day the sun had stored up all the heat and glare of a dull summer. It burst suddenly out of the early morning mist and laid an unclouded flame on the hillside. The wind and rain of the previous week had laid and tangled the corn, so that it was hard to cut. Girls and men toiled together, gathering and binding. The reaper jolted along like a huge clogged purposeful insect. About noon the men had taken off their shirts. Thorfinn’s back, aflame with the sun, was mottled in addition with insect bites.’
November 2, 2023
Beautiful stories of Norse and Scottish legends. Some more poignant than others. Storm Watchers and Witch especially.
October 3, 2019
A Calendar of Love presents delightful vignettes of Orkney life, of the relationship of the residents to their history and to the at times harsh environment in which they live. Despite the brevity if the tales, George Mackay Brown excels in bringing the characters to life. You feel like you know them, that you’ve met them; you can imagine what they look like and hear their voice.
Although all connected by the Orkney islands, this collection of short stories varies widely in scope, mood, focus and setting. Despite the range, I enjoyed every single one of the tales in this book. If you love the Orkney Islands, or just Scottish islands in general, you are sure to gain great enjoyment from reading A Calendar of Love.
Although all connected by the Orkney islands, this collection of short stories varies widely in scope, mood, focus and setting. Despite the range, I enjoyed every single one of the tales in this book. If you love the Orkney Islands, or just Scottish islands in general, you are sure to gain great enjoyment from reading A Calendar of Love.
May 25, 2016
Brown's first collection of short stories:
A Calendar Of Love: twelve months in the life of a woman and two would-be beaus 7
Five Green Waves: story of a schoolboy 6
The Three Islands: Three islands over different periods of time 5
The Seller Of Silk Shirts: Tradesman from the east 4
The Wheel: A disturbed man trying to find someone known to be deceased 6
The Troubling Of The Waters: About Orkney whiskey 4
The Ferryman: A man rowing customers over the Hoy Sound 7
The Storm Watchers: women waiting for their men, drowned at sea 6
Tam: a man fathers three children by three sisters the night before departing 5
Witch: The fate of Marian, accused of witchcraft 8
Master Halcrow, Priest: the sudden changing of religion in Scotland 8
The Ballad Of The Rose Bush: A girl goes missing 8
Stone Poems: About the graffiti (which I've seen) left in the prehistoric tomb of Maeshowe 7
The Story Of Jorkel Hayforks: A voyage to Orkney in which, one by one, Jorkel loses his crew but gains his name. 8
My favourites were Witch and The Ballad Of The Rose Bush
A Calendar Of Love: twelve months in the life of a woman and two would-be beaus 7
Five Green Waves: story of a schoolboy 6
The Three Islands: Three islands over different periods of time 5
The Seller Of Silk Shirts: Tradesman from the east 4
The Wheel: A disturbed man trying to find someone known to be deceased 6
The Troubling Of The Waters: About Orkney whiskey 4
The Ferryman: A man rowing customers over the Hoy Sound 7
The Storm Watchers: women waiting for their men, drowned at sea 6
Tam: a man fathers three children by three sisters the night before departing 5
Witch: The fate of Marian, accused of witchcraft 8
Master Halcrow, Priest: the sudden changing of religion in Scotland 8
The Ballad Of The Rose Bush: A girl goes missing 8
Stone Poems: About the graffiti (which I've seen) left in the prehistoric tomb of Maeshowe 7
The Story Of Jorkel Hayforks: A voyage to Orkney in which, one by one, Jorkel loses his crew but gains his name. 8
My favourites were Witch and The Ballad Of The Rose Bush
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews