Customer Reviews

Rob Roy

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a great Scottish novel, with all of the lovely scenery and steadfast heroes desired in this type of book. Even a bit of the Gaelic! I love the tragic character of Helen McGregor, and the classic brutal honor of Robert Roy.

The scottish scenary is a vital character. I read this book when I was living in Glasgow, and the descriptions of the city's early days were amazing. I also fell in love with Loch Lomand.

Modern readers be warned! This book was written in 1817, when attention spans were longer. The pace is slow, and the story takes awhile to unfold.

I was riveted by this book and I highly recommend it

Francis Osbaldistone forgoes a position in his father's firm to pursue an existence closer to his own ideals, travel and adventure. In order to even maintain a sufficent income from his father, however, he is sent on an errand to visit relatives in Northern England, and there to locate a replacement for himself in his father's firm from amongst his cousins. Due to a mishap on the road there, however, Francis is cast into a difficult legal situation and quickly learns that there are political and passionate motives behind his being unjustly accused.

This book really reads almost as if it it two different novels. The first half of the book concerns the time that Francis spends at Osbaldistone hall, where he learns that there are undisclosed secrets, some of which implicate him without his knowledge. It is also here that he falls head over heels in love with an unattainable woman. The tension that these scenes create is palpable and enjoyable. Scott is wonderful with English dialogue and his description of the English countryside, its inhabitants, and the activities that consume their day to day existence.

Somewhere along the way, however, the book shifts gears rather dramatically, merely echoing its previous sentimentality and thought. The book becomes more active and more of a travel narrative in Scotland, where a good deal of lawlessness occurs in the hills. Here you'll find the title elusive title character embroiled in his own local political intrigues while also endeavoring to support Francis in his own quest.

Scottish dialect, while faithfully recorded, makes the reading difficult, and at some times arduous. I did find, though, that if you read these phonetically, that you quickly attain the language necessary to follow along. Take the time up front to figure out the Scottish translations and you'll be better suited when it becomes a large part of the latter half of the book.

All in all, I found this to be quite an enjoyable read, although not on the same level as "Ivanhoe," which I think is superior in just about every way. If you've already read "Ivanhoe," and enjoyed it, you will probably like this book as well. I could have potentially given this book 5 stars if I felt that if the protagonist did not have to shift gears so suddenly.

Sir Walter Scott is widely acknowledged as the creator of the historical fiction genre. His best known book is Ivanhoe, which I have not read. I instead decided to read Rob Roy, a book I became familiar with due to the 1995 movie of the same name starring Liam Neeson and Tim Roth. Rob Roy, written in 1817, takes us back in time to the 1715 Jacobite uprising.

Surprisingly, Rob Roy is not the main character of the book. Rob Roy's appearances in the book are spotty, at best. Instead, Francis Osbaldistone is both narrator and main character. Francis, we quickly find out, is more interested in poetry than in business. His father, who hoped for Francis to take over the family business, becomes angry with his son and banishes him to his brother's estate, Osbaldistone Hall. Francis's relatives are all country hicks, with the exception of Diana Vernon, an astonishingly beautiful "cousin" who stays with the Osbaldistones for reasons best left unrevealed here. Francis also encounters the treacherous Rashleigh Osbaldistone, the cousin who is to replace Francis at his father's business. Francis soon becomes embroiled in several adventures, usually with Scottish sidekick/groundskeeper Andrew Fairservice and Glasgow businessman Nicol Jarvie at his side. Needless to say, Francis falls in love with Diana Vernon and becomes entangled in the machinations of the Jacobite rebellion.

I found myself amazed at Scott's depictions of women in this book. Diana Vernon is not only beautiful; she's smart, self-assured, and a very dominant figure. Rob Roy's wife, Helen MacGregor, also is presented as strong and domineering. I find this fascinating in a novel written in the early 19th century. Even more surprising is Francis; he is depicted as weak and easily dominated. Between Rashleigh, Rob Roy, and Diana, Francis never seems to know what is happening and is easily brought to emotional frenzies by the other characters. You quickly begin to wonder how this guy can get anything done.

There are two minor problems in Rob Roy. First, I'll mention the Scottish dialect. Scott, in an effort to be authentic, makes liberal use of the Scottish accent. This isn't much of a problem in the first part of the book, but in the second half it becomes a serious issue. Even worse, Scott uses the Scottish characters to reveal major plot points. Therefore, if you can't read the dialect, you're in trouble. This wouldn't be bad if a glossary had been included in the book, but there isn't one. After awhile, I realized that "bluid" was blood, and that "muckle" meant much, but the inclusion of many Scottish idioms had me totally dumbfounded. Other Scott novels in the Penguin series include a glossary of Scottish terms, but not their edition of Rob Roy.

Second, the pacing of the book is most unusual. For some 200 pages, nothing much happens. I've read many novels from this time period, and most move faster than Scott. This doesn't make Rob Roy a bad book, but it does take patience to get to the end. Even when the plot starts to thicken, Scott still takes a lot of time to unfold events. In some aspects, this lends a distinct quaintness to the book. At other times, it can become annoying. It is easy to understand how many people would lose patience with the book and give up.

This is still an entertaining book, and I highly recommend it to those interested in historical fiction. Despite a few problems I had with the book, I would like to read more of Scott's work in the future. I shall certainly look for editions with glossaries so I can navigate the Scottish words. By the way, the man on the cover of the Penguin edition is William, 18th Earl of Sutherland.

Robert Louis Stevenson called "Rob Roy" Sir Walter Scott's finest achievement. I do not disagree. Set shortly after the unification of 1707, Scott tells the tale of the protestant Francis Osbaldistone as he bids adieu to his father's London commercial interests and enters, as an exile, the baronial home of his papist relations in the north. His cousin Rashleigh assumes the commercial role intended for Frank and uses his newfound access to stir loyalist feelings in the Scottish Highlands by ruining the far-flung credit of the Osbaldistone business. Frank, upon uncovering the conspiracy, sets forth to Glasgow with the mercurial gardner, Andrew Fairservice, as his guide to right the wrongs of the scheming Rashleigh. Ever dependent on the outlaw, Rob Roy MacGregor, to intervene in his behalf, Francis Osbaldistone leaps from one adventurous situation to another in his fight to clear his family name. Along the way, Frank meets and falls in love with the outspoken and beautiful Diana Vernon who aids him in his plight. Though a fair portion of this book is related in the Scottish vernacular, there is a glossary in the back of this edition that will easily point the way. Even so, the reader will confidently understand the vernacular when one-third through the book. This is a classic that can be enjoyed by anyone, particularly those interested in period and place.

Although the book is slow going at first, it is rewarding if you keep mind the time and place in which the story unfolds. Surprisingly, while Rob Roy is a major character, the book is mostly about Francis Osbaldistone, and the situation that he finds himself in. He is forced to act more responsibly, and in the process becomes a much stronger person. The plot twists of the book are one of it's best traits and keep things fresh. However, those expecting an action-packed adventure might be disappointed. Although the book does have some action, it focuses on the psychological more than it does the physical. The book proves that one doesn't have to have a larger than life persona, like Rob Roy's, to be a hero.

The narrative pace is Scott's, not ours, so Rob Roy requires some patience and a locale that encourages reflection. For readers in the Pacific Northwest, I would recommend reading it among the crags at Hidden Lake Lookout.

A point of clarification: while the film versions of Rob Roy and Braveheart may be of similar vintage, they definitely do not portray the same eras in Scots history.

The Highlander gentleman outlaw and cattle thief Robert MacGregor (Rob Roy) lived from 1671 to 1734, during the transition from Stuart to Hanoverian Britain that shed so much Highlander blood. Rob Roy's life was roughly contemporary with that the Old Pretender (James Francis Edward Stuart, 1688-1766), the "King Over The Water" of many a Scotsman's toast. His lifestyle was much like that of the fictional Doone clan in R. D. Blackmore's novel Lorna Doone, which is set in southwest England of the 1670s and 1680s: deprived of their own estates by wars and legal chicanery, both the Doones and the MacGregors lived by stealing livestock and preying upon the surrounding countryside.

William Wallace ("Braveheart") lived (1270-1305) and fought much earlier in Scots history, in the times of Edward I "Longshanks" (1239-1307) and Robert I "the Bruce" (1274-1329), kings of England and Scotland, respectively.

In a nutshell, "Braveheart" provides the background for Robert the Bruce's victory at Bannockburn, while "Rob Roy" sets the stage for the Duke of Cumberland's dragoons' massacre of Highland Scots at Culloden Moor, which crushed Bonnie Prince Charlie's uprising of 1745.

"Braveheart" lies at the beginning, and "Rob Roy" at the end, of several centuries of Scottish self-rule.

-Doug Johnson

This was my first exposure to Sir Walter Scott and his concept of a historical novel. While it was enjoyable, it would have been easier to appreciate if I had read Ivanhoe first. Rob Roy is a difficult book to read and it does require some patience. The Scottish language and customs can be difficult to get through and it does start a bit slow. If you have already read Ivanhoe, this will be a bit more challenging, but definitely worthwhile. Once you get into it and the action picks up a bit and the characters have all been established, it flows much more quickly. Scott's work seems to have a pattern of establishing the characters and setting first and extensively before getting into the flow of the plot. I think this makes his books slow to get into but ultimately fun to finish.

In the picaresque "Rob Roy," Sir Walter Scott uses the legend of Rob Roy Campbell MacGregor, a Scottish Robin Hood-like character, as a backdrop on which to superimpose his own story of a young Englishman named Francis (Frank) Osbaldistone.

Frank is uninterested in going into his father's merchant business and travels north to live with his uncle and his six cousins at their country estate. He learns that his sinister cousin Rashleigh, who apprentices himself to Frank's father, has plans to embezzle money from the business to finance the Scottish Jacobite rebellion of 1715, in which Rob Roy is a major player. Rob Roy and Frank befriend each other during a series of adventures in which Frank attempts to extricate his father's business from Rashleigh's treachery. Scott writes Rashleigh as the broadest kind of villain, ensuring that he has not a single sympathetic quality. The final confrontation between Frank and Rashleigh in the last chapter is particularly corny and the outcome predictable.

I found the two major heroines of the novel to be interesting. Diana ("Die") Vernon, who lives at Frank's uncle's estate, is betrothed to one of Frank's cousins but enamors Frank. She and Rob Roy's wife, Helen, are portrayed as strong in spirit, honorable to their causes, and capable of taking care of themselves.

My problem with the book is that Scott's prose, despite some wonderful descriptions of Scotland's scenery, is so padded and overwrought that it bogs down the narration and obscures the finer points of the plot. He has trouble maintaining suspense and providing surprises in a story that is basically about crime and intrigue. Moments of tension are dulled by inessential, superfluous dialogue, and not enough dialogue is supplied where it would be most useful in developing the characters or situations. For example, when Frank meets a traveler named Morris who is secretive about the contents of his traveling chest, Scott describes Morris's trepidation with narration instead of using dialogue between Frank and Morris which would more effectively and subtly establish Morris's character and the reason for his apprehension.

In short, "Rob Roy" is a good story but is not great storytelling.

Sir Walter Scott's "account" of the life of Rob "Roy" (Gaelic word meaning "red-haired") MacGregor is an entertaining historical fiction about Scotland's ongoing battle for independence from English rule. Interestingly enough, MacGregor is a fairly minor character in the novel, appearing a mere handful of times and not initially identified. The primary protagonist is a young student who keeps encountering MacGregor ("a mysterious man in a dark cloak") in various situations and eventually, through various circumstances, meets him in the Highlands. I would not view this book as anything other than a novel ... there is some historical accuracy, but it is deeply disguised in the telling of the tale.

This book has it all: action, romance, intrigue, revenge, and an outlaw who's really not so bad after all. Although the book takes its title from the character of Rob Roy, you really don't meet him until two hundred pages into the story...or do you? Instead, the novel focuses on Francis Osbaldistone, which may be a little disconcerting for those readers who expect a rolicking adventure novel. For me, the most interesting character is that of Helen McGregor, Rob's wife. She seemed to be a shrew who controlled not only her husband, but the rest of the highlanders as well. All in all, though, the novel is a wonderful read, perfect for a Sunday afternoon.