Customer Reviews

Love Over Scotland

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Responses to this series divide so sharply that it's tempting merely to write that "people who like this sort of thing will like this", but that would do a tremendous disservice to those who haven't yet discovered this series.

Chapters ran first as a serial in a newspaper in Scotland, about 1000 words a day ending, often as not, in little or larger cliffhangers. The characters continue from the first two volumes -- these are volumes, more than novels -- and they continue to engage each other or find themselves in improbable, quirky episodes. So the first thing is that if you didn't like serialized comics or cartoons, you will probably be happier not trying to get into this.

In addition, Alexander McCall Smith often includes a little mystery that culminates in a twist. Although the endings are sensible, not fantastical, these are not problems to be solved as a result of logical clues having been dropped along the way. If red herrings annoy you instead of amusing you, this is not a book you will enjoy.

There are a few causes taken up. One in particular, letting little boys be little boys instead of trying to churn out androgynous little prodigies, I happen strongly to agree with, but Smith does not make the point with a light or subtle touch. Those strongly disposed against this notion might take offense, which would certainly interfere with their enjoyment.

Why do I take so much trouble warning off those who will not like this book? Because I think that those who want something fun, imaginative, provocative (mostly in a gentle way), and redolent of place (Edinburgh and well beyond in this volume) will have a blast picking this up. If reviews of other titles in this series are an indication, plenty of readers will follow me criticizing the book as not sharing the strengths of other Smith books (okay, those books didn't run first in a daily newspaper) and as more of a daydream than a gritty tale of a modern city (in other words, although these are chronicles like Dickens', they are not epic).

This isn't Dickens and it isn't anything that would be recognized now as great literature. But did I say it was fun, imaginative, gently provocative, and infused with a sense of place and character? I guess I did. I loved it.

Alexander McCall Smith is the Charles Dickens of our day. We forget that Dickens wrote many of his novels as serials in magazines and this McCall Smith book was originally serialised in the Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh, the Scottish capital where the plot is set.

However, unlike Dickens, McCall Smith is a wonderfully enjoyable read, with none of the depressive quality of a Dickens novel.

Not only that but in this, the third volume, many delightful things take place that bring happy resolution to some of the many fascinating sub-plots that readers have been pondering over the past few years. So for afficianados like me - and, I suspect hundreds of thousands of you - this is an espcially enjoyable novel!

You can also visit Scotland Street! My wife and I recently did a McCall Smith tour of Edinburgh and had a wonderful time.

These really are as good as the Botswana novels - read them with equal pleasure and be sure to tell all your friends. It will be an ideal gift for Christmas - and for Thanksgiving, for that matter, too.

Christopher Catherwood (author of CHURCHILL'S FOLLY [Carroll and Graf] and of MAKING WAR IN THE NAME OF GOD [Citadel])

If you loved the other Scotland Street books, you will love this one. If you didn't, why are you reading this review? If you haven't read the earlier books, read their reviews first.

I was introduced to this series by my 85-year-old mother, who is in a nursing home in Nebraska, and is still the world's best reader. She took great pleasure in reading "Espresso Tales" aloud to the only person for many miles who would fall out of her chair laughing at such arcane humor. Melanie Klein jokes, for heaven's sake! I admit it--the snob factor is a big one for me. I may not get the Edinburgh jokes, but I get the intellectual ones.

I adore this series--I even like it better than the other McCall Smith series (I don't particularly like Isabel Dalhousie). I adore this book. My favorite part is written from the POV of Cyril, Angus Lordie's dog. Or maybe it's the bemused discussion of May 1968. Or the moment when the fireworks go off for Matthew. Or what I suspect is a send-up of a classic (and creepy) Melanie Klein transcript. Or... I guess I'll just have to read it again.

Try reading this book aloud to someone simpatico. Or have someone with a great reading style (like my mother) read it to you. It's a lovely experience.

To an urban American, the McCall Smith characters of the "44 Scotland Street" - like "The Number 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" - resound in familiarity and honesty, rarely found characteristics in my home town. And like "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency", the characters within these pages infectiously become more and more precious as the serial writer's presentation increases.

The most honest, and most poignant character, is 6-year old Bertie whose constant battles with mother Irene and father Stuart pinnacle when he goes to the police station and tells the police about his parents' business engagement with Lard O'Connor (the Tony Soprano of Scotland). It is all so simple, a carryover from the second novel. But, things in Edinburgh get darker.

Anthropologist Domenica actually goes out to see her Malaysian pirates, and discovers that they are scamming dolts who betray the pirate motto of lore. Even her pirate guide scams her by intruding and interfering with her work, until she bags him near the book's end.

Angus, the artist whose dog Cyril is everyone's friend, also is scammed by a Scot when his beloved mutt is dognapped while he is grocery shopping. Thankfully Cyril returns, but only after walking the streets of Edinburgh with a broken heart and an aching jaw, an injury derived from the dognapper's unsolicited swift kick.

But, Scotland Street's inhabitants - on the whole - are good people. "She has seen candour and honesty and utter transparency. But you had to be a child to be like that today, because all about us was the most pervasive cynicism that eroded everything with its superficiality and its sneers."

Pat, the college student, who encounters hard times with yet another roommate from hell, makes Matthew ask a most poignant question about bathroom etiquette when sharing a one-bathroom flat: "You can assume that if there's somebody in there, then the door will be locked." But, many do not lock doors. And intrusion occurs. So we must ask: "But then why does the person who opens the door feel bad about it?"

Pat remains mainly honest and without ethical fault. Her boss, Matthew, was equally pure, but an encounter with Lard for the benefit of friend Lou may have delivered him "to the dark side" - something that book 4 of this series will obviously focus upon.

Angus continues to mope while best friend Domenica engages in her months-upon-moths research, and tries to amuse her friend and flat watcher, Antonia, but all to no avail. Maybe book 4 will clear this up as well. And Pat seems to need to clear things up (or whatever) with Matthew in book 4 as well.

So goes McCall Smith, again leading the readers to anticipate more from the eccentric but lovable characters of 44 Scotland Street and their friends. After reading so many of his serial novels, I can only ask "How does he do it?" McCall Smith has proven great breadth in his serial writing. Scotland's J.K. Rowling and Alexander McCall Smith are unquestionably two of the premier serial writers of the past decade.

By the time I turned the last page of this delightful installment with Matthew, Pat, Angus,Domenica, and dear sweet Bertie I was absolutely beaming. What I love so much about this series, and this book in particular is the transient nature of this place and these people. Yes, some characters are absent, but in their void are new people, and so like life we move with them. After finishing this there's little doubt in my mind that McCall Smith could write these individuals as long as his imagination let him. I for one would be more than happy to continue along for the witty, and oh so insightful ride into the many human conditions he touches so wonderfully on, the most prevalent being love.

I could not wait for this one to come out. I'm terribly invested in Bertie and Pat, Matthew and Cyril and the whole of Scotland Street and the city of Edinburgh. It's good to be home. Alexander McCall Smith is the rare writer who has an endless number of voices. How does he do it??? Until I can figure that out, I shall just enjoy my socks off!!!

There is so much that is wonderful about "Love Over Scotland" (or virtually any other Alexander McCall Smith book) that the reader wants to visit Edinburgh, look up the characters in the book and invite the author to dinner. All fantasy of course, but how many stories make you feel that way?

"Love Over Scotland" is largely the light-hearted, clever and totally entertaining continuation of the sagas of Bertie the precocious and much-put upon six-year old; Matthew, the lovelorn and awkward twenty-something; Angus and Cyril, eccentric artist and faithful dog; and Domenica, the intrepid, field-tripping anthropologist. On the face of it, they don't sound promising as lead characters in a novel, but McCall Smith gives them voices that speak for the practice of love in its various forms--romantic, lustful, misguided, unrequited, etc.

If the previous two books in the "44 Scotland Street" series provided regular chuckles from one page to the next, "Love Over Scotland" delivers frequent belly laughs through the author's gentle satire of modern parents, the perennial misunderstandings that take place between genders and the starchiness of the author's much-loved hometown of Edinburgh. McCall Smith takes a humorous poke at fellow Scot and Edinburgh favorite son, Ian Rankin (by name), which suggests the two writers are good friends (bitter rivals seems unimaginable).

There is unending wit and wisdom in this book which ultimately leaves you hoping that the fourth episode in the series will be published very soon.

Everyone with a little power seems to have an exaggerated opinion of himself or herself in Edinburgh. But it must be true elsewhere: Love Over Scotland employs such a kindly look at such pretensions that I was able to see myself quite clearly in some of the satirized characters. It's good for the soul to read this book.

If you haven't read the earlier books in the series (44 Scotland Street and Espresso Tales), I recommend you do so before beginning Love Over Scotland.

Academic pretensions are laid out for all to see in Domenica Macdonald's research into the family life of today's Asian pirates. Parental pretensions continue to be best displayed by Bertie's mother, Irene Pollock. Pretensions in love are characterized by Pat who leans towards a romance with fellow art student, Wolf. Angus Lordie's pretensions as a sophisticated man and devoted dog lover are also exposed. Psychotherapists' pretensions continue to be displayed by the muddle-headed Dr. Fairbairn. Writers' pretensions are explored with a new character, Antonia Collie.

The foils for these pretenders are very sympathetic: Bertie is at his independent best; Matthew's money doesn't go to his head as he continues to treasure Pat; and Big Lou shows that loving others isn't always rewarded in the right way. I'm sure you'll identify with them and cheer them on as they fight off the effects of the pretenders.

I liked this story the best of the three. Alexander McCall Smith seems to have let his humor run wild more than in the earlier books. As a result, each little segment is a romp worthy of consideration separately from the rest. I imagined I could hear him laughing as I finished several sections.

The introduction of more themes about love is also an improvement.

At the book's end, there are several promising situations that should provide for additional delicious humor and loving reflection in the next volume of the series.

Don't miss Love Over Scotland!

I love Alexander McCall Smith's books. This is not an intellectual review, just a recommendation for a comfortable, easy read. Give yourself a break from the "heavier stuff" occasionally and get involved with this author's reoccuring characters. I love his books and always look forward to the next one. He has several series going which are all equally good. I highly recommend them all!

There are few books that I read which consistently make me laugh out loud, but the 44 Scotland Street series is the exception. If you've read the previous two titles in the series, don't worry, McCall Smith doesn't disappoint in this latest installment.

Bertie continues to be an absolutely brilliant character, the chapters about him alone are worth the price of the book. But of course, there's Pat, Matthew, Angus, Irene, Dominica, Lard (Fatty) O'Connor, etc. I was a bit surprised that Bruce is completely out of the picture, after all even though Dominica wasn't located in Scotland, she was still a part of the story...but I did enjoy the occasional reference to ol' Brucey and his greasy hair.

This is one of those books you can absolutely fly through because of how wonderful it is. I highly recommend it.