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The Stornoway Way
 
 

The Stornoway Way (Hardcover)

by Kevin MacNeil (Author) "Once, when I was younger than I should have been, I made myself useful by taking Joe Idea, Karen Neònach, Jimmy 'the Tongue from Tong'..." (more)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Hamish Hamilton Ltd; First Edition edition (4 Aug 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0241143209
  • ISBN-13: 978-0241143209
  • Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13.4 x 3.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 326,212 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Product Description

Product Description

The Stornoway Way is a provocative, lyrical novel which chronicles the misadventures of an idiosyncratic young Scotsman in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland who rails against the constraints of his extraordinary but vanishing island culture as well as western civilsation as a whole. A debut novel with refreshing and arresting style, humour and insight.


About the Author

Kevin MacNeil was born and raised on the Isle of Lewis. His books of poetry include Be Wise Be Otherwise and Love and Zen in the Outer Hebrides, which won the prestigious Tivoli Europa Giovani International Poetry Prize in 2000. His poetry has been translated into ten languages.

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First Sentence
Once, when I was younger than I should have been, I made myself useful by taking Joe Idea, Karen Neònach, Jimmy 'the Tongue from Tong' and Eilidh - seadh,* Pink Panther Eilidh - for a spin down the Bràigh. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

27 Reviews
5 star:
 (21)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (27 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Cheery melancholy, 22 Nov 2006
By Dan Harbrook (Scotland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Stornoway Way (Paperback)
Kevin MacNeil is a genius writer. No showing off here - just genuine lightning bolts of startling imagination. His writing is simultaneously evocative and funny, melancholy and cheery, heart-warming and utterly devastating. The nearest parallel is probably Alan Warner but - like most parallels - it's misleading. MacNeil is his own man. Looking forward to his next book unless he decides to change career and become a deep-sea diver.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars math dha-riribh!, 12 Nov 2006
By Crisdean "Crisdean" (Edinburgh, Scotland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Stornoway Way (Paperback)
If anyone thought that Scottish Gaelic culture is all romantic and other worldly - then reading this would give them a hint of an insight into the realities of island life. It is a funny, sad account - but all too real. His Gaelic subnotes are funny - but you are never quite sure who he is taking the -you know what - out of: no one, you, himself, island life, life. His description of Bongilees is a sad jewel of truth. Theab mi mo mhun a chall! But they all get a going at - even the "Gaelic mafia" and the Leodhasach danger of the Curam.

Reading it, it is all too easy to fall into thinking this is a persons genuine account and not a fictious character - or is it? I am sure there are loads on Lewis who are trying to work out who is who and who has said what to whom- as is the norm.

Romanticised, droopy tourist will get a better indication what goes on in real life there by reading this - but also those who think Lewis is just the religously narrow of view will see that there is more behind the scene. Those who have moved there and have no understanding of the culture, interest in it or hostility to it etc etc - get a going and many a truth told

Oh - and loved the description of the Mod - too true!
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars poetic and poignant, uk cult classic, darkly hilarious., 22 Jul 2006
By mr drawler (glasgow, scotland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Stornoway Way (Paperback)
award-winning poet kevin macneil's first novel is already an underground hardback hit in the uk. it tells the tale of a troubled artist who has grown up in the western isles of scotland and of how he does and doesnt cope with the world around him.
written in a sharp and succinct voice, the language is beautiful. one can see the poetic sensibility in the writing. the style is snappy and funny; kevin doesnt use ten words where one will do. it is not showy but a delightful, hilarious and thought-provoking examination of a darkness in the soul.
highly highly recommended.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable
This book was extremely amusing, especially if you know people from Lewis. Although it would still be funny if you didn't.
Published 5 months ago by Laura Mackechnie

5.0 out of 5 stars A report on the ceremonial burning of this book....
I wasn't going to buy this book. Stornoway pub culture didn't appeal to me. From reading the reviews I was disappointed that the author of the sublime 'Love and Zen in the Outer... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Alastair McIntosh

2.0 out of 5 stars Wanted to love it, doesn't live up to the hype.
Read it twice, and although there are some fantastic poetical descriptions, and little gems of dialogue that made me laugh out loud, it was pretty predictable and didn't seem to... Read more
Published 21 months ago by hamish_hebridean

5.0 out of 5 stars A local book for local people (and anyone with a heart...)
I laughed out loud; delighted, and cried real tears; heartbroken - what more can you ask from a novel? It moved me. Brilliant.
Published 22 months ago by katieboobah

5.0 out of 5 stars Virtuoso writing
This book has and is a mixture of everything. It is haunting, beautiful, gritty and hilarious. A true Scottish cult classic by a master of the written word. Read more
Published on 22 Sep 2007 by Eilidh Lee

2.0 out of 5 stars Just tries too hard
I really wanted to like this book, given its subject matter and slant on life, but in the end I just couldn't. Read more
Published on 3 Sep 2007 by N. Davidson

5.0 out of 5 stars Witty, poetic, dark, realistic...genius.
A bestseller in Scotland and a cult classic in discerning places elsewhere. Read this book if you love intelligence, humour (some of it quite dark), poetic but realistic writing... Read more
Published on 29 April 2007 by nevermind

1.0 out of 5 stars The Stornoway Way
Mawkish, self-pitying rubbish littered with clunky metaphors and dreadful adolescent dream sequences. Read more
Published on 23 Feb 2007 by A. Ronan Breslin

3.0 out of 5 stars Way to good
Actually, not really. I thought this was an average book that I never got into due to the lack of narative. Read more
Published on 23 Jan 2007 by Bob

5.0 out of 5 stars martin monkey nuts rules!
this book is a bit of a hebridean rant but it's funny and sad and poetic and a joy to read. the whole martin monkey nuts chapter had me falling off my seat laughing, but then it... Read more
Published on 16 Aug 2006 by fran the man

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