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csd17's review against another edition
5.0
One book of poetry should be required reading at least once a year. It refreshes the soul.
bethmitcham's review
4.0
Met lots of old favorites, some old clunkers, and marked a few to add to the poetry journal. Read some out loud to the cats (they liked it) and one to the oldest son, who found it amusing.
jaironside's review
4.0
This wasn't quite what I was expecting. I've given it four stars as I really like Walter Scott and I enjoyed the style. However Rob Roy himself is a marginal character. It is through Frances' eyes we see the story and I found him to be a bland and not especially engaging character. His observations on other people were acute and well delineated but when it came to himself, he was far less insightful. His clumsy courtship of Diana Vernon was only interesting because she was interesting - and it was hard not feel that she had been shoe-horned in for no other reason than to act as a romantic interest for Frances. Frances was such an unlikely Romantic hero that every time he said something along the lines of ' I reached for my sword...' my immediate thought was 'Where did he get a sword? Can he actually use a sword? He'll just hurt himself. Surely he'd be better off running away.' Which sums up how I felt about the narrator in a nut shell. That said this is described as one of Walter Scott's great Romances and deservedly so. He did after all create the entire genre and this is a good example of it. Not one of my favourites, however this still has much to recommend it - not least of which Scott's beautiful descriptions of the landscape and of a time now lost.
fanruning's review
4.0
Actual rate: 4.50 stars
Lots of people say that Hamlet is the most relatable play to young people, especially millennials and gen Z. But I believe that King Lear's meaning is also very easy to understand for them.
The struggle between old vs new generations has always existed, but I think that since the last decades it has become bigger and bigger. Considering that the time when the play is both set and written, society didn't change much from one generation to another. The average age difference was also smaller, so the world wasn't subject to many revolution that could truly shake society's principles in so small amout of time. Nowadays the younger generations have already lived through wars, economic crashes, multiple technological evolutions and now also a pandemic. Their morals and their prospects for the future are totally different from people who are older than 45. Their future is basically ruined. And they can't do nothing about other than understand who caused this, and try to stop them. This is why you see young people jocking on the Internet answering "okay boomer" to elder people saying ignorant shit, or how they have realized that most of the problems of the world not only were caused by older generations but could also be fixed if those generations stopped being the ones in power.
And that's the focus of the play. It may look more deep than that, and it probably is, but its essential it's that: older generations sometimes need to be respected, but sometimes they must understand that it's their time to retire for the sake of their progeny. Lear was too proud, and too stubborn, and too foolish to understand that, so his children had to take what's theirs in brutal ways. For Edmund and Edgar's part, well, that represents how young generations can fall for the same things that allured the older ones, like greed and powerlust.
I think that this play was supposed to mean that no matter the flow of generation after generation, the change of politic views and technology and lifestyles, at the end of the day humans are still humans and their nature will never change.
Lots of people say that Hamlet is the most relatable play to young people, especially millennials and gen Z. But I believe that King Lear's meaning is also very easy to understand for them.
The struggle between old vs new generations has always existed, but I think that since the last decades it has become bigger and bigger. Considering that the time when the play is both set and written, society didn't change much from one generation to another. The average age difference was also smaller, so the world wasn't subject to many revolution that could truly shake society's principles in so small amout of time. Nowadays the younger generations have already lived through wars, economic crashes, multiple technological evolutions and now also a pandemic. Their morals and their prospects for the future are totally different from people who are older than 45. Their future is basically ruined. And they can't do nothing about other than understand who caused this, and try to stop them. This is why you see young people jocking on the Internet answering "okay boomer" to elder people saying ignorant shit, or how they have realized that most of the problems of the world not only were caused by older generations but could also be fixed if those generations stopped being the ones in power.
And that's the focus of the play. It may look more deep than that, and it probably is, but its essential it's that: older generations sometimes need to be respected, but sometimes they must understand that it's their time to retire for the sake of their progeny. Lear was too proud, and too stubborn, and too foolish to understand that, so his children had to take what's theirs in brutal ways. For Edmund and Edgar's part, well, that represents how young generations can fall for the same things that allured the older ones, like greed and powerlust.
I think that this play was supposed to mean that no matter the flow of generation after generation, the change of politic views and technology and lifestyles, at the end of the day humans are still humans and their nature will never change.
gottabekb's review
1.0
Urgh, urgh, urgh. This book would have been so much better with a narrator other than Frank Osbaldistone. I could not stand how selfish and entitled he was. I was much more interested in Rob Roy and his story, which you get little of until Frank actually ends up in Scotland.
I made it through the book though. I enjoyed the Author's Introduction much more since it focused on Rob Roy!
I made it through the book though. I enjoyed the Author's Introduction much more since it focused on Rob Roy!
rosea's review
5.0
One of Scott's most charming works, mainly for the sense of adventure present throughout and the charm of the novel's heroine, Diana. Witty, clever and self-aware, Diana stands out among other Scott heroines. The mystery of her background and the identity of Rob Roy make this a great historical romance and deservedly one of Scott's better known works.
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