Customer Reviews

44 Scotland Street

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This book is wonderful, and everything you would expect from Alexander McCall Smith at his top form. The characters are engaging and intriguing, and the style of the book keeps you turning the pages. The format is slightly unusual - as this book was originally a daily column in a Scottish newspaper. It means each chapter is v.brief but very contained. The stories are centred round the residents of a house in Edingburgh, and offer slices of life from a variety of characters who lives overlap.
Incidently, he notes at the beginning that the idea for this book was born at a party hosted by Amy Tan, and in conversation with Armistad Maupin - for me that was recommendation enough!

When this book came into my hands, I have to admit I didn't think I was going to like it. Given that my only knowledge of the author had to do with a series of novels revolving around an African detective agency for women (or thereabouts)- I guess I was expecting a flight of fancy through Edinburgh, with no real meat to it.

I couln't have been more wrong. This book is a wittily observed journey through the lives and thoughts of five or six of the best realised characters I've come across in modern fiction.

The narcissistic Bruce, fantastically pretentious Irene and perpetually befuddled Matthew are among my favourites, but I think there's definitely someone for everyone in this book.

I can foresee a potential negative for some people coming to this book expecting a great saga. Because of the way in which it was written (Smith submitted a chapter a day to The Scotsman newspaper for 110 days), the story flits around and just as a particular line gets some legs, you find yourself focused on something totally different.

For those who like books with a long, developed plot line and deeply winding subplots, this book may feel like dealing with a hyperactive child. However, if you like dry, well realised humour with a good pace and excellent characters, then this will make a great read.

I'm certainly interested enough to hunt down the two sequels. Well done, Mr Smith, you've converted another fan.

44 Scotland Street is little gem. It's a revival of the neglected genre of the serial novel, written - like Armistad Maupin's Tales of the City - to appear regularly in a newspaper. Yes, there are loose ends and some characters are little more than sketches, but given the virtual impossibility of producing a structurally polished novel when it is (as McCall Smith points out in his introduction) impossible to go back and make revisions, and the pressure is on to produce a daily episode for publication.
Insufferably pushy mothers, Conservative party stalwarts who would rather go ahead with just six participants than cancel a ball, narcissistic young men devoted to their hair gel ... the lighthearted sketchiness of these characters is what makes it permissable to laugh at them. The real heart of the book, however, lies in those characters who are wistfully chasing after what they cannot have - Big Lou, who has lived a life without love; Pat, with her misplaced infatuation; Matthew, who cannot seem to find his place in life; and poor 5-year-old Bertie (I wish I knew if he is ever to be free from having to speak Italian).
Read, enjoy, don't take it too seriously.

I thought this was a really good book anyway, but having lived in Edinburgh for four years I loved it. It makes a difference when you can recognise every place name and every description. One of my old uni societies, Savoy Opera Group, even made its way into the book - although annoyingly as a negative side of one of the characters (its much better than that really). Aside from that, I found this book addictive. The characters may not be that deep, but they are fun and interesting. The pace of the novel is consistent, and once you start reading it you can't put it down. I think I finished it in two days. I've read the sequel, which isn't as good as the first one, but it resolves some of the problems, like character depth, and I can't wait to read the third.

This book is the story of the occupants of 44 Scotland Street, a traditional Edinburgh New Town (the posh Georgian bit) residence divided into multiple flats. The inhabitants are all very well-to-do, exactly as would be expected in this neighbourhood, and are based on character types that are instantly recognisable by anyone who knows middle-class Edinburgh. The characters are generally unburdened by the depressing reality of real life, spending their time in art galleries, fashionable bars and the floatarium, and this creates a wonderful feeling of escapism for the reader. While most of us ponder mundane questions like 'What am I going to have for tea tonight?' and 'What's on TV?', the inhabitants of 44 Scotland Street are constantly engaged in philosophical thoughts (very much in the style of Mma Ramotswe in the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency).

The goings-on are extremely funny. I loved the strand featuring prodigious pre-schooler Bertie and his monstrously misguided mother, Irene, who puts Bertie into therapy after he defaces his nursery school with Italian graffiti. Also the plot concerning the Conservative Party ball, attended by just six people (all frightful), and involving the stealing of pants to go under a kilt and misappropriation of raffle prizes, was hilarious.

This book really reminded me of Tales of the City (without the sex) and when I had finished it I read the preface and discovered that Tales of the City had indeed inspired the original serial in the Scotsman newspaper. An easy, funny and highly entertaining read.

I'm fairly ambivalent about the ladies detective agency series (I find them a bit twee), and so didn't start this with great expectations.
But it is enjoyable enough, although nothing much 'happens' - the characters and quality of writing kept me engaged - but only just.
It just seemed a bit....well....pointless - I suppose that may have been what AMS was trying to achieve but for me this was the literary equivalent of midsomer murders - mildly diverting if you have nothing better to do, but really not very fulfilling.

He did evoke the feeling of Edinburgh (a city I love) very well, but i suspect you'd have to be from there to really 'get' some of the nuances about its people & culture.

The ending was a particular disappointment - what few plot lines there were seemed to be tied off in a hurried way or not dealt with at all - so my final thoughts on finishing the book were - so what?

So it makes sense to me that he has written sequels, to develop and/or tie up some of the storylines - but on the basis of this one i won't rush out to read them,just like i don't rush home to switch on midsomer murders!

An engaging read in short episodes as it was originally a newspaper serialisation. It didn't engross me to the point of missing my stop but did induce a few chuckles aloud. Like the way Mccall Smith weaves in some real-life Edinburgh characters and imagine that it must have made compelling reading for Edinburgh's middleclass when it was first published in The Scotsman. Undemanding, easy reading - and nothing wrong with that - but it's already fading from my mind and I only finished it yesterday. Doubt I'll bother with the sequels.

Alexander McCall Smith has the happy knack of writing novels which are light and fun without being trashy - and the short chapters of the Scotland Street novels make them perfect for the daily commute. It's refreshing to read a novel which doesn't depend upon Big Dramatic Events to keep things moving. Instead we just get the minutiae of day-to-day middle-class life in Edinburgh and the everyday thoughts, feelings, doubts and joys of some if its inhabitants. Especially amusing is pushy mother Irene and her unfortunate 'project child' Bertie.

This is gentle satire of Edinburgh middle-class Edinburgh life and being born and bred in the city I really enjoyed all the familiar landmarks and streets as well as the depictions of the foibles and prejudices of residents. The characters really come to life in the interweaving of the events that bring them together. There are some very funny scenes, especially concerning the child prodigy, Bertie. I'm looking forward to reading the follow-up books in the series to see what happens to them all.

Having only discovered this author through watching the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency on the television - oh what a find. I have started with this set of Alexander McCall Smith books.

The characters are warm and interesting, who all make up the foundations of the house in Scotland Street. Pat was slightly dysfunctional and I thought at times very awkward within the book. Perhaps that is why she is on her second gap year.

Bruce makes you want to despise every man ever living, but you know he is like a scratch annoying when you have got it but you just have to itch it. I hope he gets some sort of justice - perhaps his move into wine might be the down fall for him?

Bertie was the strongest that shone through for me. A delightful child trapped with this mother who has the issues and is getting far more from therapy then Bertie. A child that just wants to be a child - train sets and all.

This book is simple in its understanding and great to dip in and out of but leaving you wanting more. Just as soon as a couple of chapters have gone past and characters have been dealt with then the author changes track and focuses on another. A great comparison with Charles Dickens, for me who serialised some of his books in a paper over a period of time, again switching back from characters and situations to keep the reader hooked.

The reason for 4 stars is easy - I am not from Scotland and many of the places and the 'in jokes' were slightly lost on me. However, this did not stop me enjoying the novel immensely and I am off to enjoy book 2!