Book Review: Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon

[simply_shipping]

Title: Sunset Song (A Scots Quair #1)
Author: Lewis Grassic Gibbon (pseudonym for James Leslie Mitchell)
Pagecount: 248 (paperback)
Publisher: Polygon
Publishing date: April 9, 2006 (original published 1932)
Goodreads rating mean: 3.98 (161 ratings)
Goodreads rating mode: 5 (39%)
Goodreads rating median: 4
Publisher's summary: 'Oh, she hated and

Comments

[books_n_cats]

... O.o

Honestly, to me, that sounds like some sort of fetish romance. If it weren't for my disasterously long TBR pile, I would probably read it just to figure out why it's on the List.

Then again, I'm rapephobic so I'm glad I read this first :)

[simply_shipping]

Well, I might be overemphasising the the parts I found squicktastic, because they're the bits that really stood out to me. But there are some good looks at what everyday life in rural Scotland were like in that time period, and I've been told that some folks adore the dialect and think it's quite realistic and fantastically done - I'm just not one of them. XD

Really (except for the marital rape, which is treated like the Bad Thing it is, even if it's not called rape), a lot of the things I found squicky read like the stuff I see some men saying a lot when a woman is talking about why she feels uncomfortable with anything from wolf-whistles to groping: "Oh, it's a compliment! You should be happy about it!"

[books_n_cats]

Eh, I'll probably just steer clear of it anyway...

I broke a guys nose once when he told me that I should take his grabbing my ass as a compliment.

[kerneyhead]

First of all, the author seems like a guy who can't write women.
Secondly, I'm a sucker for good strong dialogue and some of my favorite books are written with it. I think 'progress' may be a road to slow or not so slow suicide. While I am not a fan of rape/other bad behavior as such, I don't react to it as worse then other 'really wrong' things you're likely to encounter (and one of my favorite characterizations of all time was a non-western character reacting to rape and then getting revenge).
While Chris seems like a milktoast heroine do you think someone like me would rate it higher/enjoy it?

[simply_shipping]

There actually isn't a lot of dialogue, but you definitely might be more able to get behind the 'Progress is bad' theme. I can accept it in some books, though I don't believe it myself, but I think in this book, by presenting someone I found abhorrent as the ideal of the pre-progress and someone no worse as the example of what progress causes the message was seriously weakened. It is entirely possible that you might feel differently, though. :) The only way to know for sure is to try. :D

[kerneyhead]

I don't think I will, though when I was younger there was an entire fantasy series I read because the reviews were so horrid I had to see for myself. Your review had that same sense of dread fascination.
Note the 'maybe' on progress. With an Anthropology background I've learned to get good at counting the 'cost' of how we live (and what I see is really bad). But I, like you probably don't yearn for the 'good old days'. I suspect this has more yearning for a mythical past rather then noticing things are screwed up around you.

[ardys_the_ghoul]

Oh, God. I'm one of those people who cannot stand dialect in books.

I mean, yeah, it adds to the atmosphere and all, but it really takes me out of the story when I have to slow down to figure out what in the hell these people are saying.

Actually, one of my least favorite examples of this happened in one of my favorite books, not because it was hard to understand, but because I felt like the author was trying to write a dialect he knew nothing about (or at least, only second-hand), so it was totally over-the-top and fake-sounding.

[kerneyhead]

I should have clarified. I like good well written dialog, especially when it's hard. Best example was book I read were many of the characters were fur trappers in the early 1800's. The author did his homework and the book was shortlisted for the pulitzer that year, in part because he 'got it right.'
On the other hand, I agree with you not getting it right can be very annoying.

[simply_shipping]

Now I'm curious to know what book that was. :D

But yeah, if there had had been fewer 'wtf is this?' words, I would've said that this was an example of dialect done right: the words were spelled correctly, there weren't any apostrophes just hanging out to annoy me, that kind of thing. The way they spoke was evoked in the speech patterns and word choices. But holy hell, the sheer number of unfamiliar words that he was dropping everywhere... Like you said, slowing down to figure out what's being said does not make a book fun.

[ardys_the_ghoul]

Ha, it was actually Dracula. Funnily enough, it wasn't Van Helsing's quirky speech that got to me (English is his second language! Of course he's going to have trouble!)--it was Quincy, aka The Texan.

Obviously, I don't know for sure, but I got the distinct impression that Stoker had never met an American before. Quincy read as a parody to me--his speech was so over-the-top and cliche. It seemed like Stoker had read about Texas and thought it would be cool if one of his characters was a Texan. (I don't know if that's the case, but that's how it came off, to me at least.) John Wayne didn't even talk like that!

Pathetic

[jih68]

Really this review and the comments are some of the most pathetic guff I've ever come across. Why did you bother? This book is a masterpiece and it's clear that the comments are more about what you want others to think about you than being anything about the book itself. That's the problem with you self insulating, political correctness nazis's. Its all about you. You've been blinded by your need to demonstrate synthetic indignation to the extent that you have spent time reading this book and not actually read anything at all. How sad and lonely. Perhaps, one day, if you ever manage to get over yourself, or grow up and learn some things about real life, you'll read it again and realise what it's actually about. Best of luck with that - and in the meantime - stop reading books - go and do something in real life - you might even enjoy it

Re: Pathetic

[inverarity]

Wow, you created an account just to whine about a book review you disagree with? Trolly troll is a troll.

Re: Pathetic

[simply_shipping]

There isn't any "synthetic indignation" here. I did not like the book. I was honest about it. I told others they may disagree with me, as you obviously do. That does not make my opinion synthetic or any less valid.

You're welcome to write your own review, but flaming me isn't going to change my opinion of the book. I still don't like it, and I have tried re-reading it since this review was posted.

In short, go step on a LEGO.

[jih68]

Yes I did. And I logged on again - for the final time - to reply to your childish remark. Have a good one.

[inverarity]

Enjoy having the last word, then. Oh, whoops! My bad.