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78 of 80 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
People I'd like to meet doing interesting things, October 30, 2007
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.
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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Charles Dickens of our day, November 5, 2007
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])
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28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Still Loving Scotland Street, November 17, 2007
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.
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