Weir of Hermiston (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Robert Louis Stevenson (Author), Karl Miller (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Classics | Publication Date: June 1, 1997

This is Stevenson's last novel. In it he takes up his continuing preoccupation with human duality and the drama of filial disobedience. He portrays the rivalry between Lord Hermiston, a sardonic and formidable Edinburgh "hanging judge", and his son Archie, who is banished to their country estate.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Under the general editorship of Catherine Kerrigan, the handsome new Centenary edition, inaugurated by the two volumes under review, seeks for the first time systematically to dislodge Colvin and re-build the monument. Under the general editorship of Catherine Kerrigan, the handsome new Centenary edition, inaugurated by the two volumes under review, seeks for the first time systematically to dislodge Colvin and re-build the monument. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (June 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140435603
• ISBN-13: 978-0140435603
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,134,569 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) was a novelist, poet, short-story writer, and essayist. In 1883, while bedridden with tuberculosis, he wrote what would become one of the best known and most beloved collections of children's poetry in the English language, A Child's Garden of Verses. Block City is taken from that collection. Stevenson is also the author of such classics as Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unfinished, but excellent, September 30, 2000

By 

"johnallister" (Oxford, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Weir of Hermiston (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

This was Stevenson's last novel and is unfinished, though it is known how it was going to finish. The main feature of the plot is the relationship between Lord Hermiston, a judge renowned for his stringency, and his more liberal (but still fairly well-behaved) son. The plot is of course a lot more complex than that, and the father is absent for most of even what Stevenson wrote before his death.

It is a very Scottish novel, with large portions of it taking place in the Scottish countryside, with clan relations, etc. and with most of the dialogue in Scots.

Some of the characterisation is excellent, and if it had been finished with Stevenson's usual ability along the suggested storyline, it would have been a very moving novel indeed.

3 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Weir of Hermi..., February 26, 2001

By 

R Bell (Dun Eideann/Edinburgh Scotland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Weir of Hermiston (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

I was surprisingly disappointed with this novel, partly because so much is left in the air. The relationship between Archie and his father (a finely disguised mix of RLS' father and Lord Braxfield- whose portrait actually appears on the cover), is perhaps one of the most interesting features. Christina or Kirstie (the younger one) appears part way through and although she is obviously going to be a major character in the novel disappears (because the MS cuts off) at just the least appropriate time. I suggest with the notes that you read a chapter and then read the notes for the next one, otherwise it can be a wee bittie piecemeal reading the thing. Don't be put off by the Lowland Scots dialogue if you aren't Scottish, Miller has listed the more important words at the back and most appear several times. What is there is well written (although pretty wordy by today's standards), but it's not good to be left in the lurch like that.