- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins; 1st edition edition (1 Oct 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0002571641
- ISBN-13: 978-0002571647
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 14 x 3.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 300,821 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Biographies are supposed to deal with people, not places, but Adam Nicolson's lyrical new book, Sea Room, is best seen as a biography. Dealing with the geology, history, natural history, sociology, and emotional resonance of the Shiants--a trio of Hebridean Islands between Skye and Harris --Nicolson's book is an all-encompassing characterisation of this remote corner of the British Isles.
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
Review
Praise for Adam Nicolson's Perch Hill:
'A delight, beautifully written, acutely observed and laced with self-mockery' Jonathan Dimbleby in the The Times
'By turns ecstatic, elegant, subtle and philosophical' Richard Mabey
'A timely reminder that the very best writing starts at home.' Robert McCrum in The Observer
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a magnificent book, beautifully written with many excellent illustrations, likely to be the definitive volume on the Shiant Islands for years to come. More, it provides the benchmark for what is required for a study of all Scotland's outlying islands; all previous studies will be found wanting after this exemplary model.
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.
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.
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Let me make my position clear. I'm a city person. I thrive on concrete and diesel fumes and multi-storey car parks. I would no more go and live on some rocky Hebridean island and take an interest in BIRDLIFE than row across the Atlantic in a tin bath. However... such is Nicolson's way with words, such is the quality of his writing and the sheer infectiousness of his enthusiasm that I not only read the book cover to cover, I actually considered taking a trip north. Maybe not yet. But one day. I want to check out those puffins.
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?
49 of 51 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a stunningly-written account of Adam Nicholson's love of the islands passed to him by his father. Laden with detail, both historical and archaeological, it avoids any possible dryness by its inclusion of the human element in two forms: Nicholson himself along with friends and family; and, more importantly, those who have helped him discover - and therefore truly know - his islands. His appreciation and gratitude of all are obvious and irresistibly expressed. Descriptive passages are exactly that, eloquent and often plain beautiful. If you are a fan of emotive and well-written books, give it a try; you won't regret it. This is probably the most unorthodox love story you will ever read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Sea Room by Adam Nicolson
A truthful and graphic account of life on three small islands. How it is now and how it was for the sparse inhabitants whose lives depended on their management of such a beautiful... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Lupin
Beautifully written and beautifully researched
I am a child of The Hebrides and no one has ever bought it to life so tenderly as Adam Nicolson, it makes me hanker for home. The detail is mesmerising and I am 'at home'. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Pedro the Llama
Exceptional
Having sailed past the Shiants on a couple of occasions I was interested to pick up this book on a recent holiday to the Hebrides. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Alan
Faulse reviews
Following on from the last few reviewers I too found this book very disappointing and exceedingly dull. Read more
Published 16 months ago by A customer
A gem of a book
One of the most rewarding books I've read in years. How anyone could give the book anything less than a 5-star review is a mystery. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Mike Buchanan
Hebridean classic
This is a tremendous book. It is written with love but also precision. It is a microcosm of the history of the Western Isles and its ecosystem, but also a personal journey of... Read more
Published on 1 May 2010 by Mr. J. Murray
Infectious!
I found this to be a thoroughly engaging book. You'll find it hard not to be charmed by Adam Nicolson's hugely infectious love of the Shiants. Read more
Published on 13 April 2010 by Embra Boy
Island magic
Adam Nicholson - Eton, Cambridge - inherits the Shiants, a group of unhinhabited islands in the Hebrides. Read more
Published on 14 Jan 2010 by lifeclearout
Disappointing
What a disappointment. The book rambles dreadfully. As soon as you find an interesting bit the author then goes off at a tangent and you lose the thread. Read more
Published on 17 Oct 2007 by Paul Kirkwood
Intoxicating
Three years ago, I saw 'Sea Room' in a small shop in Ullapool just before I caught the ferry to the Western Isles. Never have I been so captivated by a book. Read more
Published on 29 Mar 2007 by J
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