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A review by jacki_f
A Distant View of Everything by Alexander McCall Smith
3.0
Oh this series. Slight books with slight plots, that annoy me but somehow I keep coming back to. And here we are in the 11th installment of philosopher Isabel Dalhousie's life when yet again, next to nothing happens.
(Side note: how OLD is Isabel exactly? AMS seems to be implying she is 44 which would mean that in a mere four years she has managed to spend a year pining for Jamie, has got together with Jamie, has spent 9 months being pregnant and now has a four year old. Hmm).
The "plot" this time concerns a man who may or may not be targeting rich women to solicit money. Isabel is approached by an former classmate who is concerned for a friend and is asked to investigate. There isn't much to the storyline - if you took out all the padding it would barely stretch to a short story. Everytime I read a book in this series I come close to banging my head against a wall in frustration at all the meandering and asides that get thrown in.
And yet. As I finished the book in bed this morning, I overheard a child outside howling as he was being walked to school. And I thought about how angry and upset he sounded. And about how it's okay for children to express themselves in that way but as adults how we have to bottle feelings up or find ways to manage them appropriately. And how maybe a good cathartic yell would be all that was needed. And it occurred to me that this is what I get from this series. For a while when I read these books, and for a time afterwards, I feel more aware and observant about things around me. I have a "distant view of everything" instead of getting quite so caught up in the here and now. I feel a bit lighter.
(Side note: how OLD is Isabel exactly? AMS seems to be implying she is 44 which would mean that in a mere four years she has managed to spend a year pining for Jamie, has got together with Jamie, has spent 9 months being pregnant and now has a four year old. Hmm).
The "plot" this time concerns a man who may or may not be targeting rich women to solicit money. Isabel is approached by an former classmate who is concerned for a friend and is asked to investigate. There isn't much to the storyline - if you took out all the padding it would barely stretch to a short story. Everytime I read a book in this series I come close to banging my head against a wall in frustration at all the meandering and asides that get thrown in.
And yet. As I finished the book in bed this morning, I overheard a child outside howling as he was being walked to school. And I thought about how angry and upset he sounded. And about how it's okay for children to express themselves in that way but as adults how we have to bottle feelings up or find ways to manage them appropriately. And how maybe a good cathartic yell would be all that was needed. And it occurred to me that this is what I get from this series. For a while when I read these books, and for a time afterwards, I feel more aware and observant about things around me. I have a "distant view of everything" instead of getting quite so caught up in the here and now. I feel a bit lighter.