Scan barcode
A review by silverliningsandpages
No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod
5.0
This novel is quiet but mighty; I loved it.
.
No Great Mischief is narrated by successful orthodontist, Alexander MacDonald, who visits his ailing alcoholic brother in Toronto. The narrative is woven with their family memories, and the saga of their ancestor Calum MacDonald, who left the Scottish Highlands in 1779 and settled in Nova Scotia with his family.
.
It’s so difficult to describe this special book. Plot-wise, not much happens and yet everything happens because it is about life events in a small community. It focuses on all the important things, and particularly family loyalty - “blood is thicker than water”. It also deals with ever relevant themes such as people displacement, identity, culture, and the importance of passing on legacy through storytelling, music and language. It is so powerful and moving in how it highlights the transcience of life, and how we deal with death, in both an emotional and cultural sense.
.
Some weeks after reading, I’m still affected by the story and thinking about it. The soulful, lyrical prose is brimming with striking symbolism, and beautifully evokes the “physical and mental geography”. It is such an atmospheric, elegiac and tender book that whilst reading, I was transported back to places I’ve visited and experiences in my life. My lasting feeling is of a very compassionate and humane novel, with a strong theme of forgiveness:
“All of us are better when we’re loved.”
.
Profound and haunting. One of my favourite books of 2019
.
No Great Mischief is narrated by successful orthodontist, Alexander MacDonald, who visits his ailing alcoholic brother in Toronto. The narrative is woven with their family memories, and the saga of their ancestor Calum MacDonald, who left the Scottish Highlands in 1779 and settled in Nova Scotia with his family.
.
It’s so difficult to describe this special book. Plot-wise, not much happens and yet everything happens because it is about life events in a small community. It focuses on all the important things, and particularly family loyalty - “blood is thicker than water”. It also deals with ever relevant themes such as people displacement, identity, culture, and the importance of passing on legacy through storytelling, music and language. It is so powerful and moving in how it highlights the transcience of life, and how we deal with death, in both an emotional and cultural sense.
.
Some weeks after reading, I’m still affected by the story and thinking about it. The soulful, lyrical prose is brimming with striking symbolism, and beautifully evokes the “physical and mental geography”. It is such an atmospheric, elegiac and tender book that whilst reading, I was transported back to places I’ve visited and experiences in my life. My lasting feeling is of a very compassionate and humane novel, with a strong theme of forgiveness:
“All of us are better when we’re loved.”
.
Profound and haunting. One of my favourite books of 2019