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Amazon.co.uk Review
Nicolson begins by describing how, inheriting the islands from his father as a young man, the islands have come to have an unusually deep meaning for him. This comes out in his painstaking reconstruction of the geological formation of the islands, of their ancient bronze and iron age settlements, and of the harsh lives of the families that lived here until large-scale economies destroyed traditional Hebridean life.
There is much sadness and anger in Nicolson's account of these changes, but also joy--joy at the richness of life in such a place, and joy that these changes have allowed Nicolson himself to experience the Shiants' beauty. The precision with which almost every inch of the islands' physical and historical identities are described is, literally, marvellous; Nicolson eschews generalities, and writes with a love of detail that is increasingly rare. Although the book is a little maudlin at times, this is only the reflection of Nicolson's own sensitivity to the place. The Shiants are anthropomorphised, becoming a character in their own right, proof that the tiniest place can reflect the passage of time. --Toby Green --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'Exceptionally well done, beautifully written, personal yet panoramic.' Observer
'An extraordinarily outward-looking book…a truly passionate attention to detail…. A love-letter no one else could hope to write so well.' Sunday Telegraph
'A passionate evocation, a compression of observation and anecdote which catches you up in its intelligence as well as its enthusiasm, and fill you with homesickness for a place you've never been to.' Daily Telegraph
'Generous, exuberant and a vividly written narrative…. history, travel-writing and memoir of the best sort.' Spectator
'Sharply observed, a finely written work, one to be savoured, turned over and over like a good whisky.' Sunday Times
'Palpably exciting narrative – lyrical, compelling, earthy, always readable, and often surprising. Nicolson's book is an adventure story with Hemingway highs and is also unselfconscious, wonderfully idiosyncratic, and, above all, beautifully written.' Literary Review
'A passionate account of the Shiants with a lyricism that brings the islands to life.' Sunday Telegraph
'He conjures the numinous spirit of the place in long, lyric stretches and weaves a vivid tapestry of people and events.' Evening Standard
'A wise, witty, enlightening, enchanting book.' Times Literary Supplement
'A fine storyteller.' Independent on Sunday
'Beautifully written.' Time Out
'Enthralling throughout.' Independent
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Customer Reviews
The book consists of sixteen chapters fundamentally dealing with the geology, wildlife and archareology of three uninhabited islands lying five miles or so off the coast of Lewis. But this is no dry history. The back cloth is a dazzling concentration of towering basaltic cliffs, crowds of guillemots, razorbills, great skuas and 240,000 puffins; the violence and danger of the surrounding seas; the songs and verse which encapsulate former island life, accounts of attempted murder, witchcraft and catastrophe and the treasured place the Shiants still hold in the Hebridean mind. The stage is a microcosm of richness: Bronze Age gold, the memory of sea eagles, an 8th century hermit and his carved stone pillow, memories of cruel clearances soaked up by the landscape and tales passed down from generation to generation.
This is not another 'happy-clappy' saga written by a romantic, weekend recluse but a powerful baring of the soul by a man who has earned the admiration and friendship of his fellow islanders intertwined with his love of the past and a deep understanding of the rocks from which these islands have been hewn. For the first time since he inherited the Shiants from his father twenty years ago, Adam Nicolson tells the full story of his own experiences there in a style no other writer of the Hebrides has ever attempted before or since.
Overall SEA ROOM is a stimulating book and one I read pleasurably and admiringly from cover to cover, non-stop. For this well written, well researched and scholarly work, Adam Nicolson has placed all students of the Hebrides in his debt. It deserves to be read by all involved in the contemporary study of Scottish life.
Sea Room provides the reader with an entire magical world called the Shiant Islands. Their history is fascinating, out there among the Vikings, in among the lairds and feuds. Even the derivation of the various names is fascinating. Then comes Nicolson's own family involvement,(and the family we're talking about is that of Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West). Naturally, the Hebridean locals don't welcome him with open arms, this foreigner, this city-dweller. Not initially. But Nicolson the writer isn't telling patronizing yarns about local yokels; this is a serious portrait of the frustrations and triumphs that attend any project involving people and ownership.
But most of all, Sea Room is poetry. It's beautifully written. Nicolson's language effortlessly evokes rocky coasts and crashing seas and air thickly textured with the calls of half a million puffins. I fell in love with those puffins. And the Hebrides aren't that far away, are they? Not too far to nip up one day and have a look before settling back in my own asphalt paradise?
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