A review by spoth
Island: Collected Stories by Alistair MacLeod

5.0

This is stunningly good writing, a real pleasure to read. The stories mostly take place in rural coastal areas of Canada, with vivid surroundings of remote cliffs, blowing wind and snow, drifting sea-ice, and fishing boats. They engage with a struggle between the romanticism and the hardships and isolation of traditional life in the fishing boats or in the mines or tending a remote lighthouse, in a way that is profound but offers no easy answers, and doesn't get in the way of the feeling of simplicity and lyricism. Highly, highly recommend.