- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd; New edition edition (6 May 1974)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0099087200
- ISBN-13: 978-0099087205
- Product Dimensions: 17.3 x 10.9 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,088,187 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Highland River (Canongate Classics)
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Having reviewed his life, including fighting in World War I, a mature Scottish man reaches the source of the river he had grown up near in the Highlands. He realizes that the magic he had experienced there as a child was in fact always present in his erstwhile nihilistic life.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a novel to read slowly and reflectively. There are always questions to be asked: Why is Gunn telling us this? What is the deeper significance of the river and the salmon? What is really the nature of Kenn's quest? -Surely more than tracing a river to its source.
To compare this with his earlier "Morning Tide" is to move from straightforward narrative to a far more complex structure, and from a simple enjoyment of times past to a brooding quest for the real nature of the principal character.
There is still the same delightful evocation of landscape and the unique atmosphere of the Highlands; there is still a wealth of acute observation and understanding of childhood, but here, the middle-aged man is hovering like a bird over his younger self, re-living with sharp awareness some of the most telling episodes, always seeking a deeper understanding of himself.
In much of Gunn's writing, the salmon symbolizes knowledge, which suggests a reason for the vivid opening description of young Kenn wrestling with the huge salmon and valiantly attempting to take it home to help feed his family, a theme re-echoed later on as he struggles against the odds to gain his Leaving Certificate.
Like the salmon driven by a mysterious inner force to seek the upper reaches of the river, so Kenn is driven to seek an ever-deeper awareness of his roots among Scotland's people and a glimpse of what ultimately awaits the human spirit.
As I said, a novel for careful reading and thoughtful enjoyment.
To compare this with his earlier "Morning Tide" is to move from straightforward narrative to a far more complex structure, and from a simple enjoyment of times past to a brooding quest for the real nature of the principal character.
There is still the same delightful evocation of landscape and the unique atmosphere of the Highlands; there is still a wealth of acute observation and understanding of childhood, but here, the middle-aged man is hovering like a bird over his younger self, re-living with sharp awareness some of the most telling episodes, always seeking a deeper understanding of himself.
In much of Gunn's writing, the salmon symbolizes knowledge, which suggests a reason for the vivid opening description of young Kenn wrestling with the huge salmon and valiantly attempting to take it home to help feed his family, a theme re-echoed later on as he struggles against the odds to gain his Leaving Certificate.
Like the salmon driven by a mysterious inner force to seek the upper reaches of the river, so Kenn is driven to seek an ever-deeper awareness of his roots among Scotland's people and a glimpse of what ultimately awaits the human spirit.
As I said, a novel for careful reading and thoughtful enjoyment.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Never had I expected to read a book about a boy wrestling with a fish. So great was this story that a statue to the boy Kenn, is displayed on the docks in Dunbeath. Excellent reading. I loved this book!
0 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Book was exactly as described and delivered very quickly that despite the snow and ice all over the country 10 out of 10
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
