Customer Reviews

But N Ben a-Go-Go

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My interest in this novel was primarily linguistic, but I did enjoy it on other grounds, too - even though I don't normally read much science fiction. The story is fast-paced, mysterious, and futuristic. However, had this book been written in English, I probably would not have read it in the first place. That said, it was a compelling read.

Linguistically, the book is fresh. Fitt's Scots is vibrant and infectious. Orthographically, it would have been nice to see more of the spellings take on their Scots forms, but it is forgivable that this book tries to make itself accessible - both to English and Scots-speakers. English readers are capable of reading this and comprehending much of the meaning, though, despite the author's instructions, it would be fruitful to have a Scots dictionary on hand. Context can illuminate the meanings of many words, but will you necessarily know what 'gar' means, or 'skelloch'? These, by the way, along with Scots words generally, are real, Scots words, with long pedigrees and much literary attestation - not slang, as they are often derided as by those with an imperial English motive or worldview (which assumes that Scots is an inferior attempt to reproduce English, instead of a living and old tongue of its own).

In America, it is little-known that there is not only Standard Scottish English, but also another, very similar Anglic language called Scots (Lowland, not Gaelic). Modern Scots and Modern English both descend from the Anglo-Saxon, but have diverged considerably, leading to largely similar, but also widely varying vocabulary and grammatical set. The difference is similar to that between Spanish and Portuguese, or Norwegian and Danish, with a good deal of mutual intelligibility - especially in the written forms. An English speaker with little exposure to Broad spoken Scots would be hard put to understand it spoken, unless the speakers meant to make themselves understood specifically to that person.

Even for Scots-speakers, reading Scots can be difficult because so little education takes place in Scots, and Scots has not been codified the way English has, with normally only one spelling for each word, so reading Scots can be difficult even for Scots-speakers who are not accustomed to reading their language, so the sometimes Anglicized spellings might help with that, as well. However, once one gets used to Scots spellings, they just become intergrated into one's ken.

I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in science fiction, and this is a must for any lover or student of the Scots leid. A braw buik. Ken?

Hard edged and great fun! The language may be a little daunting for someone who is completely unfamiliar with Scots, but it's well worth the little extra effort required. Mostly the story will just propel you forward. This should be especially true for sci-fi fans accustomed to fiction that stretches their normal bounds of language. Nevertheless if you're unsure, you can always add a Scots dictionary to your reference self -- probably not a bad thing to do anyway. It's easier and more practical than learning Klingon.

This book definitely goes on my list of favorites. An astonishing work!

Last winter when I was on vacation, I decided to pick up "But N Ben A Go-Go" for some reading (over Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol") and overall I wasn't disappointed.


The main hook is that the book is written in Lowland Scots, rather than post-modern English; I'm sure that would be the reason you would pick up the book too.


While it was fun reading and deciphering some of the linguistic quirks, you must not forget at the end of the day, "But N Ben A-Go Go" is still a novel. A novel that falls apart in it's last two chapters.

The story is about a man who goes about a quest to find the person responsible for infecting his girlfriend with a unique strain of the HIV virus. Tension is kept to a minimum, and the diversions into "cyberspace" occurs too infrequently for it to have any merit. The final showdown is more or less glossed over, and the world in which these characters live in could have been more developed.


All in all, "But N Ben A Go-Go" is a fine tale, but don't let the novelty of reading in another language sway you too much.