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Lewis Grassic Gibbon
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A Scots Quair (Canongate Classics) Kindle Edition

by Lewis Grassic Gibbon (Author), Tom Crawford (Editor, Introduction) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 459 ratings
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This classic trilogy—now in one volume—of a woman’s life on the Scottish coast in the early 20th century “may be read with delight the world over” (The New York Times).
 
Chris Guthrie, torn between her love of the land and her desire to escape the narrow horizons of a peasant culture, is the thread that links Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s trilogy of novels set in the Mearns of Northeast Scotland. Gibbon interweaves the personal joys and sorrows of Chris’ life with the greater historical and political events of the time, from the Great War to the Depression and beyond.

Sunset Song introduces young Chris, the spirited daughter of a farming family. In the years leading up to World War I, she finds love for the land and for the man who becomes her husband. Chris and her son Ewan survive the war, but when tragedy strikes close to home, it subdues her wild spirit. In Cloud Howe, as a minister’s wife, Chris learns to love again, and we witness the cruel gossip and high comedy of small village life. Grey Granite focuses on her son Ewan and his passionate involvement with justice for the common man. For Chris, with her intuitive strength, nothing lasts but the land.
 
This edition of A Scots Quair is edited and introduced by Tom Crawford.
 
“A landmark work; it permeates the Scottish literary consciousness and colors all subsequent writing of its kind.”—David Kerr Cameron
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  1. Print length
    295 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Canongate Books
  5. Publication date
    July 1, 2010
  6. File size
    3572 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

This book may be read with delight the world over. (New York Times)

It would be impossible to overestimate Lewis Grassic Gibbon's importance . . . A Scots Quair is a landmark work; it permeates the Scottish literary consciousness and colours all subsequent writing of its kind. (David Kerr Cameron)

A Scots Quair is a lyrical achievement still unparalleled in British writing. (Ali Smith)

Gibbon's style is one of the great achievements of the trilogy and should be seen . . . in the context of mordernist innovators such as James Joyce, Gerturde Stein and William Faulkner. (Tom Crawford)

From the Back Cover

Sunset Song . Cloud Howe . Grey Granite

Lewis Grassic Gibbon's remarkable trilogy, voted 'the best Scottish book of all time'

Chris Guthrie, torn between her love of the land and her desire to escape the narrow horizons of a peasant culture, is the thread that links this trilogy. In it, Gibbon interweaves the personal joys and sorrows of Chris's life with the greater historical and political events of the time.

Sunset Song, the first and most celebrated book of the trilogy, covers the early years of the twentieth century, up to and beyond the First World War. Chris survives, with her son Ewan, but tragedy has struck and her wild spirit has been subdued. In Cloud Howe, as the minister's wife, Chris learns to love again, and we witness the cruel gossip and high comedy of village life until, once again, she suffers a terrible loss. Grey Granite focuses on Ewan and his passionate involvement with justice for the common manm but for Chris, with her intuitive strength, nothing lasts - only the land endures.

'A Scots Quair is a lyrical achievement still unparalleled in British writing.' Ali Smith

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004V329B0
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Canongate Books; Main edition (July 1, 2010)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 1, 2010
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3572 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 295 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 459 ratings

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Lewis Grassic Gibbon

Lewis Grassic Gibbon

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
459 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Ken Boyle
5.0 out of 5 stars A Scots Quair-a Scottish and all people gem
Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2013
Verified Purchase
This trilogy is truly a masterpiece. I like it for the warmth of the heroine (Chris) whose life is so hard. I like it for the rustic humanity in all the other characters. I loved Sunset Song and was moved by the anti war sentiment that came through at the end of the book with the reluctant participation in the war by a few village men. Especially Chris' husband who died ingloriously. The picture of rural Scotland in early 20th century is magic-even though the Scottish vernacular is difficult.
Cloud Howe was not quite to the level of Sunset Song for me. It was gripping nevertheless and full of trade union and socialist feeling. I am looking forward to Grey Granite but it seems that Sunset Song is the best of the trilogy.
I am impressed by the author's insight into the complextiy of human feeling as he wrote the trilogy as a young man just before he died at 35.
7 people found this helpful
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Barry Kemp
4.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Drop of Scotch
Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2016
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I enjoyed decoding the Scotch dialect, which gave the books an authentic-oral-tradition feel.This was accentuated by the frequent change of person, so that you visualised and empathised in a variety of ways. So, it is beautifully written. However, a sense of suspense/anticipation, felt in the first story, is much diminished by the third where the plot is, in my opinion, mundane.
3 people found this helpful
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Suzanne
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2014
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This book is pretty much unknown outside of Scotland, but in its home country it's a classic. The first book, Sunset Song, is worth the purchase price. Some people like the first book, the other two not so much. Others like the later ones best. I'm in the first group. That story ends late in World War I and effectively captures the time, the language, and the people. You will find some dialect, so be prepared.
6 people found this helpful
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LHF
5.0 out of 5 stars Scottish born..
Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2015
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I was born in Scotland and I loved this book!
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars don't let it pass you by
Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2001
unjustly overlooked, this book (really comprised of three novellas, all together a trilogy) deserves to be mentioned in the same breath with other modernist works, such as "Dubliners" or "Sons and Lovers." at its time, the books were important, both politically and socially, because they present scottish language and scottish history as things separate from - though no less equal to - the larger "English" culture. beyond this, gibbon's lyricism is a wonder to behold; he can manipulate language in ways that may bring a tear to your eye (and the story, mournful as it is, just may add to it)."Scottish Quaire" is a work that many have never heard of, and that is unfortunate. it offers a unique voice to the human condition, and, perhaps more importantly, the scottish condition. i tell you to buy it, or at least check it out of your library (lord knows there'll be copies available).
18 people found this helpful
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L. S. Good
4.0 out of 5 stars Print is MICROSCOPIC!
Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2016
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I'm sure the book is wonderful. However, the print is MICROSCOPIC! Bought this for my 86 year old Mother. I can barely read it! Good grief!
One person found this helpful
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J. S. Oleksak
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful. Timeless. A marvelous read, esp. for Scots.
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 1998
For Americans of Scottish descent, "A Scots Quair" (a trilogy) will teach you how Scots in Kindardineshire spoke, what life was like, how the air might have felt against your cheek. It's like looking into the hearts and minds of our ancestors and finding that life's basics have not changed at all.
15 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
1.0 out of 5 stars Pretty much a boring book.
Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2020
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I realize that this book got high reviews and many people described it as a classic, but I had to force myself to finish it. The odd language didn't bother me so much, as I soon became accustomed to that, it was just that I didn't like hardly any of the characters in the book, especially the protagonist, Chris. They weren't necessarily bad people, It just seemed to me as if it was a story about a lot of silly people making a lot of stupid mistakes. I bought this as a trilogy but I will not be reading the other 2 books. Life is too short.
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Helen Musson
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 6, 2024
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Brilliant!
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Lee W
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in Australia on November 12, 2016
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Heavy with local dialect but it is easy to pick up the gist. Beautifully written of a passing time and the Scots who lived through a huge life change. The three stories are written through the eyes of a young lass in the first book, early middle age in the second and moving through life in the third. It is possibly not everyone's cup of tea but I very much enjoyed the down to earth recounting of how life was lived in the era in that area. The author beautifully delineated the characters throughout the trilogy. Well recommended.
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Mariz
5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful Story
Reviewed in France on April 25, 2016
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I am totally involved in the reading of this beautiful novel.
Il faut s'habituer au vocabulaire écossais, et à un style de narration très particulier mais très vivant, les descriptions de la nature écossaise sont splendides, et très poétiques, et le personnage de Chris extraordinaire, entre Scarlett et Natacha;
je ne peux que recommander la lecture de Lewis Grassic Gibbon.
Le film de Terence Davies, somptueux, est une excellente introduction à la lecture.
Et j'apprécie beaucoup de pouvoir consulter un dictionnaire si facilement avec Kindle.
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John E Fitzgerald
5.0 out of 5 stars A classic book of 20th century Scotland.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 19, 2016
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My third read of the book over many years, always a joy to read the lyrical, word rich, flowing narratives of Sunset Song and to savour the rich old Scottish words used throughout. Sunset Song is the jewel in the trilogy although the other two books have their merits especially the focus on the hopeless lot of the poorer in society at the time and general political unrest which followed in Scotland post WWI.
The 'Quair' celebrates the honest endeavour of Scottish workers in face of great changes in the mechanisation of agriculture and industry, social and political upheaval. There is disdain throughout for the landed gentry and the clergy.
The wonderful BBC adaption from the early 1970s is available from [...]
4 people found this helpful
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Archie
4.0 out of 5 stars A masterpiece of Scots nostalgia that rings true for all peoples
Reviewed in Australia on June 7, 2016
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A positive trilling of the blood is promised for all readers, especially those of a Scottish disposition. The prose is eerily reminiscent of Joyce, Dylan Thomas and even Tolkien but anticipates them all. The characters unfold slowly against an exquisitely evoked landscape and the narrative has a quiet sadness overall of a time irrevocably past.
One person found this helpful
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