Good Readers of Scotland discussion
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What are you reading at the moment?
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I'm afraid I only read one book at a time these days and I was never a fast reader. I'm currently reading The Seagull Drovers by Steve Cockayne.It's the last in a trilogy called Legends of the Land and it's not a bad read.
I'm working my way through volume II of James Hogg's Ettrick Shepherd's Tales. The books got a really old fashioned typeface which I find I can only concentrate on in small doses and - I'm ashamed to say - some of the Scots dialect escapes me, even though the characters are mostly from around my area. There a some chilling tales in the collection, dealing with assorted spirits, brownies and devils, and all in all, its worth the effort, and I'll get to the end of it eventually.I've also started reading Ben Okri's 'The Famished Road'. It took me a few pages to get to grips with some of the imagery - I kept trying to imaging the 'people' that were surrounding the narrator and it took me a while to accept the reality of the narrative. It is good so far though, and I really like the way it slips seemlessly between the real and spirit world and jumbles it all up. I'm working my way through volume II of James Hogg's Ettrick Shepherd's Tales. The books got a really old fashioned typeface which I find I can only concentrate on in small doses and - I'm ashamed to say - some of the Scots dialect escapes me, even though the characters are mostly from around my area. There a some chilling tales in the collection, dealing with assorted spirits, brownies and devils, and all in all, its worth the effort, and I'll get to the end of it eventually.
ps I'm posting this from work - my ancient PC won't let me submit anything for some reason.
Reading:Have just finished Agamemnon's Daughter by Ismail Kadare, although there's another two short stories in it I don't know whether to read.
Other than that, I'm reading:
Gentlemen by Klas Östergren and The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany
And swithering over whether to pick up either The Book Of Words by Jenny Erpenbeck or Submarine by Joe Dunthorne next.
I am currently reading Three Things About Me by Aliya Whitely. It's an entertaining black comedy about customer service trainees. Er.. that may not sound particularly exciting but there is a hint of darkness to the novel and a whiff of the absurd about it.I must confess that this book is a a bit lighter than the usual stuff I read but I needed a break from Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for None and All!
Hiya, I'm new! Can't say I'm a big fan of Scottish authors, but I do live in Scotland so I hope that's okay. =) I'm currently reading The Princess Bride for another Goodreads group.
Lindy-Lane wrote: "I am currently reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Steig Larsson."I read this about a year ago, and I found it amazing! How are you finding it? I've just bought the sequel, and i'm really looking forward to getting started on it!
I'm reading Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino just now, its fascinating!
new to this group, and the website! Hi All!!
Reading Le Morte D'Arthur The Winchester Manuscript. Not technically a Scottish book, but King Lot is from Lothian and rules Orkney too...and his sons, Gawain and his brothers, are Orkadian. Must read something modern soon though.
This summer I've been teaching a class where we've focused on the "Killing Time" of the 17th century. The class has looked at Scott's *The Tale of Old Mortality*, Ballantyne's *Hunted and Harried* and Stevenson's *Kidnapped*. Today I re-read *Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde*. I enjoy it anew each time I read it. Anyone here a lover of Scott and Stevenson?
Currently reading Orhan Pamuk's The Black Book. A man's wife disappears so he starts searching for her in the streets of Istanbul and scouring the newspaper columns written by his cousin (her half-brother who has also disappeared) for clues.It's not a conventional detective novel (the kind that the protagonist's missing wife used to constantly read) but more an exploration of identity and a compendium of stories about the history of the Turkish city. The protagonist becomes so consumed by his columnist cousin's articles that he gradually assumes his identity, moves into his apartment and writes his columns in his absence.
Some people find Pamuk's books a bit academic and hard going but anybody who like Umberto Eco, Italo Calvino and Borges would probably enjoy him. I've also read My Name Is Red which was great, similar to Eco's The Name Of The Rose.
Currently reading The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle and Dubliners by James Joyce. Both are really good so far.
I'm currently reading Doctor Faustus: The Life of the German Composer Adrian Leverkuhn as Told by a Friend by Thomas Mann because I listen to a lot of 20th classical music (for the purposes of the novel, Mann attributes Arnold Shoenberg's 12-tone technique to his protagonist).It's slow-going at the moment but fascinating meaty stuff.
I am currently reading "The Fields of Bannockburn" by Donna Fletcher Crow, a novel of the rise of Christianity in Scotland. Beginning with St. Columba it travels through a couple of eras and is rich with Scottish history, and also a sidline story with a girl travelling in Scotland. She meets a storyteller who is telling the stories. I am really enjoying it a lot.
Just joined the group even though it looks inactive. I'm reading The Scots Quair, or trying to anyway. It's work to read but still good.
Another great author who writes Scottish novels. Donna Fletcher Crow, Also Liz Curtis Higgs. Both of these women are Christian writers and their books are terrific. Highly recommended,
I am currently reading
but can't wait to next read
Elizabeth, if you enjoy fiction which takes place in Scotland, I can recommend a few authors you may like.Carol Umberger
Donna Fletcher Crowe
Liz Curtis Higgs
Michael Phillips
Donna Fletcher(not to be confused with #2)
You can also check out my books in case I forgot some, which would not be unusual-LOL!
thank you, I will definitely look them up!
I just found many more by putting Scotland in the search engine above. I'll have so many to read, i'll not have time for anthing else-LOL
Aye, but there's Scottish fiction and Scottish fiction...it's a broad church.Also worth a look:
Nigel Tranter, Hx fiction
Robert Louis Stevenson, Hx fiction and weird tales...and pirates
Irvine Welsh, gritty modern urban humour
Lewis Grassic Gibbon, social commentary, Hx fiction and sci-fi
Christopher Brookmyre, "tartan noir"
Robert Burns, the bard...poetry covering social injustice, burning love, republican politics, saucey/smutty goings on, and the immortal Tam O'Shanter.
I read Nigel Tranter's book "The Lord of the Iles" I loved it but it had a very sad ending. of course it is based on actual fact.Our library has none of his books,so I have to get them on interlibrary loan. What else would you recommend, Old B?
I am currently reading "Scotland" by Magnus Magnussen. A history of the country. This author is very interesting as he was born in iceland, but moved to Scotland and came to love the country. The Queen has given him kinghthood for his writings about Scotland. He died several years ago.
Anne wrote: "Our library has none of his books,so I have to get them on interlibrary loan. What else would you recommend, Old B?"I read a bunch of his stuff ages ago. The Bruce Trilogy: Steps to the Empty Throne, Path of the Hero King & Price of the King's Peace and The Wallace are ones that stand out, mainly for the pivotal period in Scots Hx they cover. Not the best documented period, it was a wee while ago, so a bit of poetic license at times. On the whole good though.
He tends to focus each book on a big name in Scots Hx, so he covers Columba, Rob Roy, MacBeth, Somerled...all the usual suspects.
Magnus's book is very good, as is the slightly shorter The Lion in the North. Prebble also did a very good one on Culloden and a couple of others worth a look if you want to put the Hx fiction into context.
Thank you very much. I will copy these down. I love St. Columba. which one is his of Tranter's books.Thanks,
Anne
Anne wrote: "I read Nigel Tranter's book "The Lord of the Iles" I loved it but it had a very sad ending. of course it is based on actual fact.Our library has none of his books,so I have to get them on interli..."
Anne,What you wrote way back in comment #22 about "The Fields of Bannockburn" by Donna Fletcher Crow makes me want to read that book. Thanks for posting that title.
I am finding I really enjoy this group:)
Currently I am reading, George MacDonald's
"Thomas Wingfold-Curate" on my kindle. It is a fabulous story following the life of a young curate who is challenged by a friend's intellectual arguments against faith to rethink and search out his faith. It is very good. I'm halfway through. There is a murder and much suspense in the book as well...much excitement!
Folks, just to highlight that Scottish fiction (and Hx) isn't all castles and epic battles against the sassenach, here's 3 very different books to try:Laidlaw
A Scots Quair: Sunset Song / Cloud Howe / Grey Granite
The Wasp Factory
I've been thinking of a re-read of Sunset Song in the near future.. I've never read the rest of the Quair.Old Barbarossa - have you ever read The Silver Darlings ? I saw it as a play not too long ago - it seemed a bit like Sunset Song, with herring.
Have you been watching Neil Oliver's latest offering on the tele? So far it is much better than his historical musings...Battle of Dunnichen in Moray indeed.
Duntay wrote: "...have you ever read The Silver Darlings ? I saw it as a play not too long ago - it seemed a bit like Sunset Song, with herring..."Like that description. Not read it though.
Haven't seen the Neil Oliver thing, don't get BBC Scotland in Connaught...and the BBC i-Player has a regional lock too. Did like his "2 Men In A Trench" though, one episode had them playing golf in full plate to prove how mobile a knight could be.
Anne wrote: "I am currently reading "The Fields of Bannockburn" by Donna Fletcher Crow, a novel of the rise of Christianity in Scotland. Beginning with St. Columba it travels through a couple of eras and is ric..."This sounds like a wonderful read and especially in my new area of interest!
Thanks,
Karen L.
Currently listening to MacBeth: A Novel by Hartley & Hewson - reworking/novelization of Shakespeare's MacBeth... pure fiction, just like Shakespeare's version but entertaining and really well written!
deleted user wrote: "I have three books on the go at the moment.Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen which I am enjoying so far, I am desperate to know what happens next.
The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana by Umber..."
Have you read any of Jasper Ffordes other books? As a fan of some of the classics, I found his stuff fantastic - such a clever way of twisting a well known story whilst still respecting it. Fforde is a wizard with his books, plus out right crazy!!!
Would thouroughly recommend the rest of the Thursday Next series!
Karen L. wrote: "Anne wrote: "I am currently reading "The Fields of Bannockburn" by Donna Fletcher Crow, a novel of the rise of Christianity in Scotland. Beginning with St. Columba it travels through a couple of er..."I read a book similar in it's theme, taking you through Christianity throughout Scotland from Columba to the Scots Confession of 1560, to modern day expression of Christianity.
The book I read was 'Strength of the Hills' by Jenny (somebody)...
Sam wrote: "Karen L. wrote: "Anne wrote: "I am currently reading "The Fields of Bannockburn" by Donna Fletcher Crow, a novel of the rise of Christianity in Scotland. Beginning with St. Columba it travels throu..."Jenny Robertson!
I am reading a few the main one I am concentrating on is
Currently reading T M Devine's Clanship to Crofter's War: The Social Transformation of the Scottish Highlands and Thomas Pakenham's The Boer War. I'm about to start John Keay's The Honourable Company: A History of the English East India Company, because I'm not smart enough to read fewer than three books at a time!
Just started "The House with Green Shutters"
Just finished 'No Tragic Story: The Fall of the House of Campbell' by Raymond Campbell Paterson, which starts with the fall of the Marquis of Argyll but is mostly concerned with the 1685 rising by his son, the 9th earl. Easy to read and quite interesting if the 17th century is of interest to you. Before that I read 'The Black House' by Peter May, which was almost too bleak for my taste although I'm glad I read it.
I'm reading The Last Highlander by Sarah Fraser which is essentially a biography of the 11th Lord Lovat. He was obviously a devious character who would swap sides from Jacobite to Hanoverian for personal gain although he had some real problems dealing with his rivals. In the end (but at the beginning of the book) he was beheaded.
I'm reading The Stewart Earls of Orkney by Peter Anderson. I'm descended from some of the main actors in the politics of this area in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century. Not a very nice bunch of people, really. The power of the Earls of Orkney extended to Shetland. I note that Shetland is not included in the map on this page. But then some Shetlanders could be quite pleased about that:http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/ju...
I'm reading Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde and it is amazing so far. See his Thursday Next series is mentioned above....looks like I have found a new author to be obsessed with!
Good Readers of Scotland
Books mentioned in this topic
Shards of Honour (other topics)The Windup Girl (other topics)
Perdido Street Station (other topics)
The Silver Darlings (other topics)
A Scots Quair: Sunset Song, Cloud Howe, Grey Granite (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
China Miéville (other topics)Robert Burns (other topics)
Nigel Tranter (other topics)
Lewis Grassic Gibbon (other topics)
Robert Louis Stevenson (other topics)
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Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen which I am enjoying so far, I am desperate to know what happens next.
The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana by Umberto Eco which I am reading slowly, its not that I do not like it, I am just not in the correct frame of mind for it.
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, I am really enjoying this one, especially since I read Jane Eyre last year.