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rachcburr's review
DNF (temporary??) at 100 pages
This is a book that I have been continuously picking up and putting down for over 3 months and I feel like I've been trying to force myself to enjoy it.
The premise sounded great to me: prominent figures in Scottish culture writing small (2-3 page) pieces on how they imagine a future Scotland. This could be expressed in any form they want. There are short essays, fictional imaginings of their future Scotland, poetry, art etc.
I think a lot of what kept me trying to pick it up again and again is because there are so many voices in this book and I didn't want to discount some of them on the basis of their placement in the alphabet. And that is one of my gripes with this book: the pieces are arranged alphabetically by contributor which means the flow of ideas in the book is entirely down to chance and you don't know if the next piece is going to introduce some fantastic amazing radical concepts or just be a re-hash of what people have said so far. Unfortunately, it often turned out to be the latter. Some reviewers have pointed out that arranging the pieces by topic rather than author name would have been better. I'm inclined to agree, but I think that would probably reveal just how same-y most of the pieces actually are.
A lot of the pieces (at least up until the 100-page mark, but there are reviewers who finished the book and say they feel the same) were unfortunately very surface-level and didn't consider any of the nuances that make a society "better" or "worse". A lot of the pieces had too broad a scope, making their imagined future Scotland seem like a 2D cartoon version of a nice society. Even from those who I could tell I agreed with politically, I found myself inwardly cringing at the naive optimism they were displaying in these short pieces over and over again.
I think focusing on different specific problems/aspects of society would be a much better approach with the space given (e.g. the editors in the introduction focused on public toilet availability and access and this was one of the best parts of the book). Most of the contributors are from the arts world so the book seems to have a heavy focus on funding the arts & kids' education in them. This is a fantastic thing to advocate for, but the book is heavy with this topic and then gets more wishy-washy when it comes to matters of poverty, food and housing access, discrimination against minorities etc, because they are not experts on those things. Again, see my earlier comment that I think grouping by topic would not have necessarily "fixed" the problems people have had with this book.
I'm unsure if I will pick this up again but for now I don't want to keep forcing myself through something I'm not enjoying.
This is a book that I have been continuously picking up and putting down for over 3 months and I feel like I've been trying to force myself to enjoy it.
The premise sounded great to me: prominent figures in Scottish culture writing small (2-3 page) pieces on how they imagine a future Scotland. This could be expressed in any form they want. There are short essays, fictional imaginings of their future Scotland, poetry, art etc.
I think a lot of what kept me trying to pick it up again and again is because there are so many voices in this book and I didn't want to discount some of them on the basis of their placement in the alphabet. And that is one of my gripes with this book: the pieces are arranged alphabetically by contributor which means the flow of ideas in the book is entirely down to chance and you don't know if the next piece is going to introduce some fantastic amazing radical concepts or just be a re-hash of what people have said so far. Unfortunately, it often turned out to be the latter. Some reviewers have pointed out that arranging the pieces by topic rather than author name would have been better. I'm inclined to agree, but I think that would probably reveal just how same-y most of the pieces actually are.
A lot of the pieces (at least up until the 100-page mark, but there are reviewers who finished the book and say they feel the same) were unfortunately very surface-level and didn't consider any of the nuances that make a society "better" or "worse". A lot of the pieces had too broad a scope, making their imagined future Scotland seem like a 2D cartoon version of a nice society. Even from those who I could tell I agreed with politically, I found myself inwardly cringing at the naive optimism they were displaying in these short pieces over and over again.
I think focusing on different specific problems/aspects of society would be a much better approach with the space given (e.g. the editors in the introduction focused on public toilet availability and access and this was one of the best parts of the book). Most of the contributors are from the arts world so the book seems to have a heavy focus on funding the arts & kids' education in them. This is a fantastic thing to advocate for, but the book is heavy with this topic and then gets more wishy-washy when it comes to matters of poverty, food and housing access, discrimination against minorities etc, because they are not experts on those things. Again, see my earlier comment that I think grouping by topic would not have necessarily "fixed" the problems people have had with this book.
I'm unsure if I will pick this up again but for now I don't want to keep forcing myself through something I'm not enjoying.
honestlyrussell's review against another edition
2.0
I have a lot of thoughts as to why this book wasn't for me, so I'm going to try and explain them as best as I can.
First of all, I think this book oversold and underdelivered. The blurb describes it as "visions of a new future from an astonishing array of Scottish voices, from comedians to economists, writers to musicians". The book consists of 97 mini-essays, mostly 2-3 pages long, from different people about what they would like Scotland to look like in the future. When I first heard about this book, I was excited by it. I'm interested in Scottish politics and I thought this would be a good book to expose me to different ideas for the future of Scotland and the even challenge the way I view my own country.
If we're going to discuss the future of Scotland from an array of Scottish voices, I want to hear from teachers, from doctors, from homeless people, from cleaners, from bus drivers, from tradespeople, from people on benefits, from people who have been to prison, from people who work in prison, from teen parents, from university professors, from people who don't think university if for them, from sexual health clinic workers, from domestic abuse survivors, from immigrants, from migrants, from scientists, from accountants, from supermarket workers etc etc.
However, the vast majority of the people who contributed to this book are writers/artists (I imagine because of their connections to the editors) and so this book is really a middle class, arts centred look to the future of Scotland and not the diverse perspective that the blurb would suggest this book has.
Some of the chapters were very, very good but ultimately they got lost in the absolute boatload of very samey vague descriptions of a future with more funding for arts and no poverty. Which are two things I think would be great in a future Scotland, but there are so many other things to consider. Because it was so samey, I did not feel motivated to pick up this book as keep reading it. I enjoyed the first 50 or so pages, but I was bored by page 100 and the book is 260 pages long...
Some things I think would have made this book a bit better:
- I think had it been shorter, and some of the more similar essays removed, it would have been much more readable.
-Alternatively, had the chapters been separated by topic rather than listed alphabetically by author's surname, then the few essays that weren't about the arts wouldn't have gotten so lost amongst everything else.
-It really needed something to wrap it up at the end. There's an intro, but the book just ends with the last perspective. But because they're organised by the author's last name, it's not necessarily the most interesting or thought-provoking essay, so it feels like a rather anticlimactic. By the time I got to the end of the book I was thinking 'right thank god I've finished' rather than really reflecting on the points raised by the authors.
Overall, I really liked the concept of this book, but think that it fell flat.
First of all, I think this book oversold and underdelivered. The blurb describes it as "visions of a new future from an astonishing array of Scottish voices, from comedians to economists, writers to musicians". The book consists of 97 mini-essays, mostly 2-3 pages long, from different people about what they would like Scotland to look like in the future. When I first heard about this book, I was excited by it. I'm interested in Scottish politics and I thought this would be a good book to expose me to different ideas for the future of Scotland and the even challenge the way I view my own country.
If we're going to discuss the future of Scotland from an array of Scottish voices, I want to hear from teachers, from doctors, from homeless people, from cleaners, from bus drivers, from tradespeople, from people on benefits, from people who have been to prison, from people who work in prison, from teen parents, from university professors, from people who don't think university if for them, from sexual health clinic workers, from domestic abuse survivors, from immigrants, from migrants, from scientists, from accountants, from supermarket workers etc etc.
However, the vast majority of the people who contributed to this book are writers/artists (I imagine because of their connections to the editors) and so this book is really a middle class, arts centred look to the future of Scotland and not the diverse perspective that the blurb would suggest this book has.
Some of the chapters were very, very good but ultimately they got lost in the absolute boatload of very samey vague descriptions of a future with more funding for arts and no poverty. Which are two things I think would be great in a future Scotland, but there are so many other things to consider. Because it was so samey, I did not feel motivated to pick up this book as keep reading it. I enjoyed the first 50 or so pages, but I was bored by page 100 and the book is 260 pages long...
Some things I think would have made this book a bit better:
- I think had it been shorter, and some of the more similar essays removed, it would have been much more readable.
-Alternatively, had the chapters been separated by topic rather than listed alphabetically by author's surname, then the few essays that weren't about the arts wouldn't have gotten so lost amongst everything else.
-It really needed something to wrap it up at the end. There's an intro, but the book just ends with the last perspective. But because they're organised by the author's last name, it's not necessarily the most interesting or thought-provoking essay, so it feels like a rather anticlimactic. By the time I got to the end of the book I was thinking 'right thank god I've finished' rather than really reflecting on the points raised by the authors.
Overall, I really liked the concept of this book, but think that it fell flat.
miltosa's review against another edition
3.0
I like the premise of the book and support most of the ideas put forward. As a result of the limited diversity of the contributors, many of the ideas are similar and can feel repetitive. The lack of diversity also means that while many of the contributors imagine an inclusive Scotland, the ideas presented and language used in the book are not always inclusive.
kayleighoneillonwheels's review
5.0
My favourites:
Damian Barr
Tressa Burke
David Hayman
Richard Holloway
Jackie Kay
Mariot Leslie
Carey Lunan (!)
Horse McDonald
Ian Rankin
Ricky Ross
Elaine C. Smith
Ashley Storrie
Louise Welsh
Damian Barr
Tressa Burke
David Hayman
Richard Holloway
Jackie Kay
Mariot Leslie
Carey Lunan (!)
Horse McDonald
Ian Rankin
Ricky Ross
Elaine C. Smith
Ashley Storrie
Louise Welsh
misselise's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.5
A really inspiring and hopeful read. If you didn't already like Scotland you will love it by the end of the book.
emmajanex's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
karen07814's review
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
5.0
This came out pre coronavirus when the ideas were left field - pandemic has made everyone think differently and I think it should be re released - let’s make it all happen - sharing and knowing your neighbours seems so much more possible nowadays ;)