- Mass Market Paperback: 413 pages
- Publisher: 10 (5 Jun 2008)
- Language French
- ISBN-10: 2264047593
- ISBN-13: 978-2264047595
- Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 10.8 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,202,779 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
44 Scotland Street
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Product Description
Review
'As charming as the bohemian street in which it's set.' SCOTTISH DAILY RECORD 'It is hard to think of a contemporary writer more genuinely engaging...[his] novels are also extremely funny: I find it impossible to think about them without smiling' Craig Brown, MAIL ON SUNDAY 'A treasure of a writer whose books deserve immediate devouring' Marcel Berlins, GUARDIAN 'a hilarious yet sharply insightful tale of middle-class Edinburgh ... a joyous, charming portrait of city life and human foibles' SUNDAY EXPRESS 'Addicts of McCall Smith's Precious Ramotswe novels will recognise the gentle humour ... of his latest work' TIMES
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
Times, 20 August 2005
‘Addicts of McCall Smith’s Precious Ramotswe novels will recognise the gentle humour … of his latest work’
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
43 of 43 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is wonderful, and everything you would expect from Alexander McCall Smith at his top form. The characters are engaging and intriguing, and the style of the book keeps you turning the pages. The format is slightly unusual - as this book was originally a daily column in a Scottish newspaper. It means each chapter is v.brief but very contained. The stories are centred round the residents of a house in Edingburgh, and offer slices of life from a variety of characters who lives overlap.
Incidently, he notes at the beginning that the idea for this book was born at a party hosted by Amy Tan, and in conversation with Armistad Maupin - for me that was recommendation enough!
Incidently, he notes at the beginning that the idea for this book was born at a party hosted by Amy Tan, and in conversation with Armistad Maupin - for me that was recommendation enough!
43 of 45 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
When this book came into my hands, I have to admit I didn't think I was going to like it. Given that my only knowledge of the author had to do with a series of novels revolving around an African detective agency for women (or thereabouts)- I guess I was expecting a flight of fancy through Edinburgh, with no real meat to it.
I couln't have been more wrong. This book is a wittily observed journey through the lives and thoughts of five or six of the best realised characters I've come across in modern fiction.
The narcissistic Bruce, fantastically pretentious Irene and perpetually befuddled Matthew are among my favourites, but I think there's definitely someone for everyone in this book.
I can foresee a potential negative for some people coming to this book expecting a great saga. Because of the way in which it was written (Smith submitted a chapter a day to The Scotsman newspaper for 110 days), the story flits around and just as a particular line gets some legs, you find yourself focused on something totally different.
For those who like books with a long, developed plot line and deeply winding subplots, this book may feel like dealing with a hyperactive child. However, if you like dry, well realised humour with a good pace and excellent characters, then this will make a great read.
I'm certainly interested enough to hunt down the two sequels. Well done, Mr Smith, you've converted another fan.
I couln't have been more wrong. This book is a wittily observed journey through the lives and thoughts of five or six of the best realised characters I've come across in modern fiction.
The narcissistic Bruce, fantastically pretentious Irene and perpetually befuddled Matthew are among my favourites, but I think there's definitely someone for everyone in this book.
I can foresee a potential negative for some people coming to this book expecting a great saga. Because of the way in which it was written (Smith submitted a chapter a day to The Scotsman newspaper for 110 days), the story flits around and just as a particular line gets some legs, you find yourself focused on something totally different.
For those who like books with a long, developed plot line and deeply winding subplots, this book may feel like dealing with a hyperactive child. However, if you like dry, well realised humour with a good pace and excellent characters, then this will make a great read.
I'm certainly interested enough to hunt down the two sequels. Well done, Mr Smith, you've converted another fan.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
44 Scotland Street is little gem. It's a revival of the neglected genre of the serial novel, written - like Armistad Maupin's Tales of the City - to appear regularly in a newspaper. Yes, there are loose ends and some characters are little more than sketches, but given the virtual impossibility of producing a structurally polished novel when it is (as McCall Smith points out in his introduction) impossible to go back and make revisions, and the pressure is on to produce a daily episode for publication.
Insufferably pushy mothers, Conservative party stalwarts who would rather go ahead with just six participants than cancel a ball, narcissistic young men devoted to their hair gel ... the lighthearted sketchiness of these characters is what makes it permissable to laugh at them. The real heart of the book, however, lies in those characters who are wistfully chasing after what they cannot have - Big Lou, who has lived a life without love; Pat, with her misplaced infatuation; Matthew, who cannot seem to find his place in life; and poor 5-year-old Bertie (I wish I knew if he is ever to be free from having to speak Italian).
Read, enjoy, don't take it too seriously.
Insufferably pushy mothers, Conservative party stalwarts who would rather go ahead with just six participants than cancel a ball, narcissistic young men devoted to their hair gel ... the lighthearted sketchiness of these characters is what makes it permissable to laugh at them. The real heart of the book, however, lies in those characters who are wistfully chasing after what they cannot have - Big Lou, who has lived a life without love; Pat, with her misplaced infatuation; Matthew, who cannot seem to find his place in life; and poor 5-year-old Bertie (I wish I knew if he is ever to be free from having to speak Italian).
Read, enjoy, don't take it too seriously.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Characters not developed
Never quite sure who McCall writes for or indeed why he writes. Is it to show us he has read certain books? It is a pity that he fills his books with so much patronising stuff. Read more
Published 24 days ago by BooBoo
They didn't need me
Having read the first dozen of McCall Smith's "No 1 Ladies' Detective series", I resolved not to make comparisons. This series, I said to myself, is entirely different. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Daniel Park
44 Scotland Street
This is an enjoyable book, set in Edinburgh and with a variety of characters, enough to keep everyone amused. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Moonlit
insubstantial - slow start, abrupt and unsatisfying ending
I'm fairly ambivalent about the ladies detective agency series (I find them a bit twee), and so didn't start this with great expectations. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Misty
Looking forward to the next one!
Very well written and easy to read, you just can't put it down! All the different stories of the residents of 44 Scotland Street are extremely interesting. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Catarina Batista
I can't help myself
I really can't help but like these books. They are gentle but not without some edge. The characters are charming but have a history and things don't always go well. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Miss K. Wilshaw
started well, but petered out.
This was chosen by my reading group. I had read the no 1 ladies detective agency and enjoyed it. This was similar in tone(gentle) but written as a book for a newspaper. Read more
Published 8 months ago by K. Everett
A boring meander
I have enjoyed my previous excursions with this author, involving the efforts of the lady detectives Precious Ramotswe and Isabel Dalhousie, but this book was a great... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Donald Hughes
Very dissapointing
Being totally hooked on The Ladies No 1 detective agency series I bought this assuming that it contained the same wonderful style of writing. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Nemo James
Warm and witty
This series of charming and humorous books contain perfect bedtime stories - the episodes are all delicious snack-sized reads, and you know they will satisfy and soothe. Read more
Published 15 months ago by anozama
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