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Product Description
Gunn, one of the great writers of the Scottish Renaissance, returns in this novel to the world of the Highlands, but now a darker mood has crept in. Charlie, a divinity student who has lost his faith, is accused of having murdered a ship wrecked seaman and stolen from his chest. Charlie is a man at odds with the world, and his forbidden love affair with the minister's daughter threatens to bring tragedy down upon a whole community.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As Wessex was to Hardy, so was the storm-battered coast of NE Scotland to Neil Gunn: a world he loved so well and a world he was able to evoke with such great literary skill. In this novel, the action moves steadily on through episodes of passion and drama, as we are made to wait for the certainties of what actually happened to the foreign seaman when he was hauled from the sea by Charlie, and to the contents of his chest.
All the major characteristics of the Gunn novels are there: masterful descriptions of stormy headlands and peaceful moors; deft character sketches of the modern descendants of the resiliant Highland victims of nineteenth-century injustice; the dour and authoritarian church minister who will not relinquish his power over the community. Purists may find it disconcerting as Gunn takes us into the mind of one character after another, rather than dwelling with only one, but the effect is to open the community as a whole to our scrutiny and understanding.
There is an element of romantic love in the storm-tossed relationship between Charlie and the minister's daughter Flora, but Gunn is probably at his best when writing about boys and the sea, and it is at the point where young Norrie and Hamish become lost in the darkness of the stormy headland that the action finally moves into top gear. There follows a hazardous attempt to rescue Charlie and Flora from the the Stormy Isles, when Gunn excels in re-creating the dangers and ironies of venturing down to the sea in small boats, and all this is due to an inspired guess as to their whereabouts by one of the boys.
Gunn enthusiasts should make sure that they read this one!
All the major characteristics of the Gunn novels are there: masterful descriptions of stormy headlands and peaceful moors; deft character sketches of the modern descendants of the resiliant Highland victims of nineteenth-century injustice; the dour and authoritarian church minister who will not relinquish his power over the community. Purists may find it disconcerting as Gunn takes us into the mind of one character after another, rather than dwelling with only one, but the effect is to open the community as a whole to our scrutiny and understanding.
There is an element of romantic love in the storm-tossed relationship between Charlie and the minister's daughter Flora, but Gunn is probably at his best when writing about boys and the sea, and it is at the point where young Norrie and Hamish become lost in the darkness of the stormy headland that the action finally moves into top gear. There follows a hazardous attempt to rescue Charlie and Flora from the the Stormy Isles, when Gunn excels in re-creating the dangers and ironies of venturing down to the sea in small boats, and all this is due to an inspired guess as to their whereabouts by one of the boys.
Gunn enthusiasts should make sure that they read this one!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
Wordy, but good
10 Aug 2002
Format:Paperback
This is a good story set on the West Highland coast. Gunn's knowledge of crofting, fishing and coastal life combine with his social commentary to create an engaging book. One word of caution for fans of Hemingway-style economy of word: the plot moves along, but is frequently peppered with long explanations of ordinary things.
The Key of the Book is Gunn's commentary on intellectualism. Community insiders, the local folk, seem to have a sixth sense about them. They are very comfortable with circumstances, even in the face of significant disruption in the community. The intellectuals among them -- mostly outsiders -- are constantly trying to think things through since they lack this local intuition. Two outsiders in particular blather on incessantly about the details of everything. Not surprising for a Highland writer, these two outsiders are English.
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