The Master of Ballantrae: Week 1

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

The Master of Ballantrae: A Winter's Tale by Robert Louis Stevenson

Setting: The House of Durrisdeer near St. Bride's, on the Solway shore in Scotland
Time: 18th century
Cast of Characters:
The Lord of Durrisdeer-the father
James, The Master of Ballantrae-the elder son
Henry Durie-the younger son
Alison Graeme- cousin and heiress

Chapter 1 begins with a description of the characters and setting-and quickly sets up the cause of the family tragedy-all because of the toss of a coin!

How would you describe the relationship between the family members?
Is anyone getting treated unfairly?
Why was there a coin toss?
How does the outcome affect Henry's life?

*see background thread for information about 1745

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

Chapter 2 begins with the arrival of Mr. Mackellar, a recent graduate of Edinburgh College who works for the family and now becomes the narrator of the subsequent events.

What are his first impressions of the family and servants at House Durrisdeer?
How would you describe the relationship between Henry and his wife Alison, the mother of his child, Katherine?

A new character appears on the scene- Colonel Francis Burke, bearing two letters from the Master of Ballantrae, who is alive and well and living in Paris.
How do the three family member react to the news?

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

Chapter 3 is taken from Colonel Burke's journal, which describes the adventures of the Master and the Colonel as they escape from Scotland aboard a rickety, encounter a pirate called Teach and have various adventures where we see the Master excelling as a pirate for more than a year and a half.
All things must come to an end and his adventures as a pirate end in a swamp on the American side of the Atlantic.
After committing more foul deeds and showing his true colours, where does the Master finally end up?

After reading this chapter, how would you describe the Master's character?
Do you think that the coin used in the toss was fixed?
Alison threw the coin out of the window as soon as the toss was over!

[Lori, Moderator]

I'm reading but don't have much to comment yet. I had a hard time following Colonel Burke's story.

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

Colonel Burke is a very unreliable narrator, but the gist of it is that the two of them managed to survive Teach's pirate ship and the Master is good at double crossing people, and leaving them to die.

[Abigail]

My book doesn’t have numbered chapters so what you’ve labeled chapter 1 was in my edition a preface and I was thinking I needed to read beyond Colonel Burke’s chapter before commenting.

I was disappointed that we didn’t get a narrative of the Master’s exploits in Prince Charlie’s train. The gaps in the story are frustrating to me—e.g., how did the Master and Burke make their way to France from the American wilderness?

Stevenson seems to be setting up a tale of primal jealousies—as if rivalry over primogeniture weren’t enough, there’s also conflict over Alison. Alison herself is only a shell of a character; Stevenson seems to have no curiosity about her as a person, simply using her to further the conflict between the brothers. Her character seems to be bounded by the idea that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

I’m struck by the isolation of the family. Even Wuthering Heights allows itself two households to interact with each other! These folks have nothing to distract them from their brooding.

So far the Master seems to have little to recommend him, though Stevenson probably valued his ingenuity more than I do. Henry might be admirable for his sense of duty except for the fact that it seems to be driven entirely by the desire for what isn’t his. Mr. Mackellar is so far the only character with any pretensions to virtue, and he’s little more than a frame-tale device.

[Lori, Moderator]

Abigail wrote: "I’m struck by the isolation of the family. Even Wuthering Heights allows itself two households to interact with each other! These folks have nothing to distract them from their brooding."

Yes, that's it. Aside from travel tales, it's quite narrow and claustrophobic.

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

Here are the names of the first three chapters:

1. Summary of Events during the Master's Wanderings

2. Summary of Events (continued)

3. The Master's Wanderings
From the Memoirs of the Chevalier de Burke

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

I agree that we generally see only the characters of that household. Or is the narrator only focussing on the family?

[Neil]

I’m not sure if there was anything underhanded about the toss of the coin because the master indicated that things should be settled that way and it was Henry who called the tune if the coin had been tampered with or was a fake. neither the master or Alison would’ve known what Henry was going to call but I dare say we will be enlightened about the significance of Alison throwing the coin later on in the novel.

[Robin P, Moderator]

I plan to read this but with other commitments I probably will start around Sep 1 and post whenever I get caught up.

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

Good point, Neil.
Alison was probably hoping that Henry would be the one to go-which was the logical choice, since he was the younger son.

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

Robin P wrote: "I plan to read this but with other commitments I probably will start around Sep 1 and post whenever I get caught up."

Great!

[Neil]

It sounds like some of you are not really happy about the way the story has been narrated thus far. It can be frustrating when the storyline cannot be reconciled with reality. To get round this problem, I tend to put the fiction I read into two groups:

Firstly, if the plot sounds feasible and the narrative believable (for example the realism of Dostoevsky’s Karamazov Brothers) Then I call it BOXING.

Secondly, if the plot is a bit of a farce and a narrative, unbelievable (such as Robert Louis Stevenson‘s The Master). Then I call it WRESTLING.

Boxing is a serious sport (gloves are worn to prevent serious injury) and you can generally believe what you see. Conversely, wrestling is generally a farce, it is put on purely for entertainment and not really to be taken seriously (nobody believes that they actually hit each other with steel chairs).

Therefore, both sets of spectators are entertained - the thrill of the boxing match, and the farce of the wrestling. That doesn’t mean to say That I decry wrestling, I watch it and it entertains me and I am aware that it takes great skill to avoid injury when performing these stunts.

Back to the novel in hand- would pirates really hoist the jolly Roger to advertise the fact that they are pirates and then tear it down quickly when they site a armed navy vessel? . Can a ship be navigated with a drunken crew? Why is the whole crew afraid of one man when they can easily dispose of him whilst he’s sleeping. If the crew are constantly drunk on rum why aren’t they dehydrated, I have noticed that there doesn’t seem to be much mention of how essential it is to have stores of water on the travels? So for me the novel thus far is a farce therefore its WRESTLING, but now that I’ve worked out that the novel is a far-fetched take on true historical events with a little imagination it’s enjoyable!

[Lori, Moderator]

Neil wrote: "It can be frustrating when the storyline cannot be reconciled with reality."

I think the problem was more that it was boring than unrealistic. But I'm almost through next week's selection and can report it is no longer boring!

Sir Walter Scott's books are definitely in the "wrestling" category, but I love them.

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

That is a wonderful description, Neil!

I'm like Lori, being a fan of Sir Walter Scott-and RLS too!

The book takes a while to get started but then the drama never stops!

[Trev]

I am still making up my mind whether or not to follow this story about ‘The Master,’ who so far comes across as a cold blooded killer, a contributor to and complicit in mass murder, and an abuser of women. His attitude to his family so far has been appalling and at one point I was wishing that he hadn’t escaped from the battlefield so that one less reprobate might spare humanity his existence.

‘The Master’ would probably argue that all his nefarious deeds were done out of necessity to preserve his own life, but hiding behind a soldier’s badge of honour doesn’t wash with me. That excessively selfish haughtiness might impress many, (I kept getting disconcerting images of Lord Flasheart from ‘Blackadder’) but I really hope Alison Graeme never sees him again (some chance.)

I don’t possess a gold sovereign but I do have a silver half crown (albeit from 1936) which I have decided to spin in order to decide whether I will read any more.

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

This is one of Stevenson's darkest books. He calls it a tragedy for a reason. It has the dramatic tension of a play and the Master is the most compelling, and nastiest, character.
The action doesn't just stay in Scotland-it actually takes place in various locations around the world.

[Trev]

I do expect events to be believable, especially in an historical novel, otherwise such stories are consigned to my ‘Monty Pythonesque’ pile. (I don’t read fantasy or science fiction.) I have just finished an interesting novel by A. E. Mason called ‘Clementina’ an historical novel about a fictionalised rescue of Maria Clementina Sobieska, the mother of Bonnie Prince Charlie. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clement...

I was disappointed that so little was mentioned about Culloden as I was hoping that this novel would add to my knowledge of it. At least the relationship between the Irish and the Scots was interesting.

Before I spin the coin, here are a couple of questions that I think need answering.

1. Why didn’t ‘The Master’ attempt to get a message back to his family to let them know he was still alive after the battle? A paid messenger would have done it in much less than a year and a half. This would have prevented Alison’s loveless marriage and her sneering attitude towards her overly resented husband.

1. Why do the pirate episodes remind me of Captain Pugwash? The slapstick nature of those events were cartoonish to the extreme and if they hadn’t been so evil, might have been funny. Treasure Island was positively highbrow compared to the goings on with Teach and aboard the ‘Sarah.’ The only other Stevenson novel I have read is The Black Arrow which I thoroughly enjoyed, but this novel feels vey different.

As I was reading this section I couldn’t get the Captain Pugwash tune out of my head. (only relevant to those who watched BBC children’s programmes more than 50 years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXi4H...

[Nancy]

Not sure how I feel yet. The Master obviously has some charm but without much of a moral compass. I also wonder why he made no attempt to get word to his family when he was still in Scotland. Of course, it could be that he did try but that Burke didn't know that or left it out of his narrative.

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

Colonel Burke doesn't have all the facts, and when he does have them, he tends to show himself in a good light.
The Master doesn't share information freely, or honestly.

[Robin P, Moderator]

I like the comparison of Boxing v. Wrestling. I tend to think of books like this as Opera - extreme events happen, people fall in love quickly, just as quickly hate and kill each other, characters appear and disappear. Motives are extremely simple.

I actually would have liked more chapters on the adventures with pirates and "savages". I'm sure any boy readers who expected something more like Treasure Island or Kidnapped were disappointed that part ended so quickly. It's always amusing to me that while Americans of the era were fascinated by castles and King Arthur, the British and Europeans found tales of Red Indians, and later cowboys, exotic and fascinating.

The Master, James, seems to have no good characteristics except that he is wily and courageous when it comes to saving his own skin.

[Rosemarie, Moderator]

He is good at saving his own skin, and playing with other people's emotions, especially Henry's.