Reviews

Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon

mar_nieves's review against another edition

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4.75

Holy shit this was incredible I loved loved loved it 

donnaadouglas's review against another edition

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3.0

A Scottish literary classic - not keen on the central character though, she's a bit annoying.

lauradzpz's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

callylines's review against another edition

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My Scottish coworker lent me a pile of books when I asked about Scottish literature. I really struggled with this because of the language. I know it means a lot to many people, but I am not in the headspace to read something that is difficult linguistically.

tactfulcactuss's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5 stars

figoshow's review against another edition

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3.0

A classic scotch book, however not a jolly read. In fact it's pretty depressing at times with a lot of domestic violence. The language is also tough being in old scotch a lot of the time

magratajostiernos's review against another edition

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5.0

Sin duda una de las mejores novelas que he leído este año, una auténtica joya que me ha robado el corazón.
La historia de Chris Guthrie y Kinraddie, esa pequeña comunidad de campesinos en Escocia, que deben enfrentarse día tras día a la dura vida del campo pero al mismo tiempo aman y veneran esa tierra, es de esas que se quedan contigo.
Por un lado Chris es un personaje maravilloso, que sabe sobreponerse con valentía y dedicación a todo lo que le llega, con su alma divivida por el amor al estudio (esa alma más inglesa) y su pasión por la tierra (su parte más escocesa). Contemplamos la vida que lleva de niña en el seno de una familia complicada, en la que la figura de su madre deja una huella imborrable en ella y en el lector. La vemos crecer y tener que hacerse cargo de la familia, la vemos enamorarse, sobreponerse a la muerte, a la llegada de la Primera Guerra Mundial que va a acabar con todo tal y como lo conocían en Kinraddie hasta ese momento... exceptuando el amor por la tierra.
Es uno de esos libros tristes y melancólicos que al mismo tiempo está cargado de humor e ironía, que parece narrado por un amigo, alguien que te va contando la historia de su vida y de su familia de una manera tan íntima que al terminar la novela sientes que eres uno más en Kinraddie.
No puedo dejar de recomendar esta historia que me ha robado el corazón y que me va a resultar difícil olvidar... ¡Leedla! Y compradla, así Trotalibros nos traerá más libros de este maravilloso autor.
Pd. La traducción es DE LUJO. Y la edición preciosa

monsterful_alex's review against another edition

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4.0

The Scots used by Gibbon in this novel is quite hard to peruse at first, but after the first struggles with an English-Scots dictionary, the words become less mysterious and it's quite easy to lose oneself in the lyrical descriptive language of rural Scotland. It is not a particularly exciting novel, it's an ode to the land and its farming people rather than an adventurous saga. Chris is by no means an extraordinary heroine - she has a hard life, she makes some difficult choices and she lives in a very slow-paced, harsh environment. A bildungsroman of sorts, it focuses on her growing up, but it also laments the loss of a particular type of Scotsman- in tune with the land, lost in time and keeper of the songs of yore.

cordevious's review against another edition

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

ipb1's review against another edition

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4.0

Part bildungsroman, part poetically written elegy for a way of life in the process of being erased by modernity and war (probably more lament than elegy - it isn't exactly sorrowful for what is passing). It manages to combine lilting vernacular and rather dreamlike prose with an at times gritty and explicit portrait of womanhood (threatened incest, domestic violence, etc.). It also made me miss my life in Dumfries as a 'sassenach gobshite'.