| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in The Monarch of the Glen (Vintage Classics) for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Book Description
Product Description
Browse and search another edition of this book.
INADEQUATE indeed would be the guidebook or traveller's tale that did not accord to Glenbogle a place of honour in the very forefront of Highland scenery and romance, and it is a tribute to Scottish thoroughness that no such guidebook exists. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
The novel itself concerns the trials and tribulations of one Donald MacDonald of Ben Nevis, the 23rd clan chieftain of Glenbogle Castle, as he tries to unsuccessfully adjust to life in the 20th Century and the constraints this imposes upon him. This means for instance, that unlike his predecessors, he cannot burn his opponents in church to the piped strains of 'Mac 'ic Eachiann's Return to Glenbogle'.
Central to the plot is Donald's (or 'Ben Nevis' as he is also known) plot to try and ensnare the sister of a wealthy American financier into marrying one of his sons. Add to this the fact that the lady in question, Myrtle Royde, actually fancies a trespassing Scottish Nationalist poet called Alan Macmillan, and also that at this time, Donald is effectively in a state of war against the National Union of Hikers under the formidable leadership of Percy Buckham (the 'Little Songster' portable wireless manufacturer) and you have a recipe for hilarity.
Certain memorable and highly amusing incidents pepper the book. The American financier Chester Royde Jr's, ill-fated attempt at trying to stalk the 'Muckle Hart of Ben Glass' and his decision to wear an orange kilt so as not to offend anyone are seriously amusing. Percy Buckham's attempts to whip up his hikers into an avenging army by Churchillian speeches and his attempts to engage in guerilla warfare against Ben Nevis and his supporters are likewise hilarious.
Throughout the book Mackenzie infuses his story with a lovely Scottish Highland feel. The names of the places, Glenbogle (Donald's seat of power), Knocknacolly, Glenbristle & Drumstickit, literally ooze highland whisky and peat. Mackenzie's descriptions of the highland countryside of loch and cairn and midges, of the Glenbogle Gathering, and of secret trysts in the 'Cave of the Calf' transport you instantly to the land of bagpipes and cabers.
'You know I'm crazy about Scotland' muses Carrie Royde, the dreamy and spiritual, ancestor seeking wife of Chester Royde Jnr, as she immerses herself in all things Scottish. After reading this gem of a book you're likely to feel the same yourself.
p.s. This book is best read with a glass of whisky in hand (or jockendorrus as Ben Nevis would say) and with some Scottish bagpipe music playing quietly in the background (why not Angus MacQuat's rendition of 'Mac 'ic Eachinn's Return to Glenbogle' ?).
David Rintoul is an excellent actor but what a find to hear him narrating this book on disc. The book is good in it's own right, of course it is, but David Rintoul brings this story to life as surely as if you were standing on the hillsides of Glenbogle, or peering out from behind the curtains at the hikers meeting place in London. You can almost see Chester Royde in his orange kilt, and the voices ... well, the voices supplied by Mr Rintoul are absolutely amazing. One second he is McDonald of Ben Nevis - all bluff and bluster, the next he is Carrie Royde, wife of Chester and Canadian with an accent to match, then he is the old Scottish retainer Toker, and then he is the Reverend. All manner of accents are here; Scottish, English (of all varieties: from Northern to Cockney and back again) all rolling off the tongue as easily as the River Bogle winds it way softly through the mountains and hillsides of the estate. The twists and turns of the story are matched in excellence with the twists and turns, accents and idiosyncracies of the voices that David Rintoul manages with ridiculous ease - to say he is the master in this field is not to do him justice, he is absolutely and without doubt superb.
If you don't buy anything else this year, you have to buy this ... wherever you can find it, it is absolutely a joy to listen to and I am sorry that it ended ... I could have listened to this for ever.
David Rintoul absolutely makes this audio version unique, and above all - magical.
It was a good one, though at times quite
preposterous. Read more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
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.
|
