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The Long Horizon
Using the colourful background to the Fraser clan chiefs as a central theme, from the cunning Red Fox through to the sudden death of the Master of Lovat, which set in train the sale of the Fraser empire around Beaufort Castle, Iain Thomson weaves an entertaining narrative that shows how historical events have such a profound effect on what happens today.
Throughout the book shines the writer’s deep love of the countryside and a respect for the generations before him who have carved their living from the harsh environment of the Highlands. It is a marvellous celebration both of the farming way of life and one of the most beautiful parts of Scotland.
Throughout the book shines the writer’s deep love of the countryside and a respect for the generations before him who have carved their living from the harsh environment of the Highlands. It is a marvellous celebration both of the farming way of life and one of the most beautiful parts of Scotland.
280 pages, Paperback
First published October 31, 1999
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August 4, 2013
This is a strangely beautiful, winding and complex tale of the wonder that is the Highlands of Scotland. This is no straightforward narrative of change and reaction, but a convoluted, networked story of the way a people and a landscape come together to form a community. Sadly, a community that may now be lost forever.
There is a list of characters so divers and unlikely that you would think it was made up, apart from the fact that you know it is true. Some of these characters are historical, but many sat and had a “wee dram” and a “news” with the author.
This is one of the only aspects of the book I found hard – at times I really had to work hard to work out who the anecdotes were about, and how they related to each other. At one point the author notes that people in many glens were known by nick-names rather than there formal names, because the formal names were too similar – when reading some parts of this book I knew what he meant!
Predictably, but still shockingly, a story that is based around the survival of “old timers” (my words) into the modern day can only end in one way – but before the story reaches that point it paints a wonderful picture of life on the highlands.
Sad, beautiful, longwinded and above all else wonderful in its sense of place and pace.
Highly Recommended.
There is a list of characters so divers and unlikely that you would think it was made up, apart from the fact that you know it is true. Some of these characters are historical, but many sat and had a “wee dram” and a “news” with the author.
This is one of the only aspects of the book I found hard – at times I really had to work hard to work out who the anecdotes were about, and how they related to each other. At one point the author notes that people in many glens were known by nick-names rather than there formal names, because the formal names were too similar – when reading some parts of this book I knew what he meant!
Predictably, but still shockingly, a story that is based around the survival of “old timers” (my words) into the modern day can only end in one way – but before the story reaches that point it paints a wonderful picture of life on the highlands.
Sad, beautiful, longwinded and above all else wonderful in its sense of place and pace.
Highly Recommended.
Displaying 1 of 1 review