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The Return of John Macnab
The wager: to poach a salmon, grouse and a deer from three Royal Estates.
The challengers: three men in a mid-life crisis who should know better.
The wild card: a flirtatious female journalist who won't take no for an answer.
Striding over the Scottish Highlands with a poet's eye on the wilderness and a firm grip on the adventure, Andrew Greig reimagines John Buchan's classic novel with a little less tweed, a little more sex, and just the right measure of whisky.
324 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1996
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558 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Greig
56 books82 followersAndrew Greig is a Scottish writer who grew up in Anstruther, Fife. He studied philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and is a former Glasgow University Writing Fellow and Scottish Arts Council Scottish/Canadian Exchange Fellow. He lives in Orkney and Edinburgh and is married to author Lesley Glaister.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
December 22, 2020
This, Greig’s second novel, takes as its template John Buchan’s John Macnab. Once again three men – but this time not “gentlemen” – form an alliance to poach a salmon, a brace of grouse and a stag respectively from three different estates, Mavor, Inchallian and Balmoral, and then deliver the poached items back to the “owners”, as a challenge to “absentee landowners and the Criminal Justice Act” and as a wager to the three estates’ owners; issuing a statement to this effect in the Scotsman newspaper. The “John Macnab” here comprises at first Neil Lindores, Murray Hamilton and Alasdair Sutherland, each with his own special talent useful for the enterprise, but not long after arriving in “a small Highland town” Lindores is sussed out by local journalist Kirsty Fowler who is excited by the project and offers to help them.
Greig’s background in climbing comes to the fore in his description of the scramble needed to get to the pool for the salmon poach and his life as a poet in the sentence, “Seldom had a celebration broken up so fast, as if someone had announced an evening of performance poetry would commence in thirty seconds.”
His descriptions of landscape are loving and there is the odd reflection on the condition of Scotland. On feeling himself squeezed as at the narrow waist of an hour-glass with more past than future as the minutes ran through Neil thinks, “What a depressingly Scottish image. Its negativity was another thing that was true about his country. It went along with tholing, bearing, putting up with, and taking a certain satisfaction in the expected bad news when it came.” Yes indeed. That’s Calvinism for you. Neil does go on, though, to sense “it was a wrong picture. He was groping for another, still true but more affirmative.” At another point, “He hugged Murray. This was a first - they were Scottish, after all.”
The big problem John Macnab faces here is Balmoral. It is late summer and HRH is in residence. Consequently the place is hoaching with Special Services, Army and Police as well as the usual ghillies and gamekeepers. The authorities cannot ignore the possibility that John Macnab is merely a cover for a terrorist attempt on HRH’s life.
The text occasionally refers to Buchan’s novel, as it has to, and even critiques it in mentioning that Buchan’s women are really just chaps – though with (small) breasts. Greig’s intent is somewhat different; and his women are certainly far from chaps. Kirsty is as rounded and complex a character as you could wish (such women are a common factor in Greig’s novels) and is thoroughly involved in the poaching efforts – as are Sutherland’s and Hamilton’s wives and the former’s family - at least in the second one. Sutherland’s wife, though she has had an affair, tells Kirsty she would kill him if he were to do the same. Ellen Stobo, a policewoman attached to the security services but who finds herself coming to an understanding of John Macnab, is also well drawn. To be fair to Buchan he was writing adventure tales for a male audience in a time that was less aware. Greig is by far the better examiner of the human condition though.
The John Macnab template - while driving the events of the plot - at times gets in the way of Greig’s greater facility with personal relationships but in the end his own concerns overwhelm Buchan’s. Still, he nearly overdoes it, veering very close to the tradition of the Scottish sentimental novel (compare Iain Banks’s Espedair Street,) in the final pages. But he is too canny to yield a conventional ending.
That template means that The Return of John Macnab is not quite up there with Greig’s best - all the other novels of his I have read - but for an exploration of human uncertainties, hesitations, lust for life and willingness to take risks, emotional as well as physical, it’s still pretty damn good.
Greig’s background in climbing comes to the fore in his description of the scramble needed to get to the pool for the salmon poach and his life as a poet in the sentence, “Seldom had a celebration broken up so fast, as if someone had announced an evening of performance poetry would commence in thirty seconds.”
His descriptions of landscape are loving and there is the odd reflection on the condition of Scotland. On feeling himself squeezed as at the narrow waist of an hour-glass with more past than future as the minutes ran through Neil thinks, “What a depressingly Scottish image. Its negativity was another thing that was true about his country. It went along with tholing, bearing, putting up with, and taking a certain satisfaction in the expected bad news when it came.” Yes indeed. That’s Calvinism for you. Neil does go on, though, to sense “it was a wrong picture. He was groping for another, still true but more affirmative.” At another point, “He hugged Murray. This was a first - they were Scottish, after all.”
The big problem John Macnab faces here is Balmoral. It is late summer and HRH is in residence. Consequently the place is hoaching with Special Services, Army and Police as well as the usual ghillies and gamekeepers. The authorities cannot ignore the possibility that John Macnab is merely a cover for a terrorist attempt on HRH’s life.
The text occasionally refers to Buchan’s novel, as it has to, and even critiques it in mentioning that Buchan’s women are really just chaps – though with (small) breasts. Greig’s intent is somewhat different; and his women are certainly far from chaps. Kirsty is as rounded and complex a character as you could wish (such women are a common factor in Greig’s novels) and is thoroughly involved in the poaching efforts – as are Sutherland’s and Hamilton’s wives and the former’s family - at least in the second one. Sutherland’s wife, though she has had an affair, tells Kirsty she would kill him if he were to do the same. Ellen Stobo, a policewoman attached to the security services but who finds herself coming to an understanding of John Macnab, is also well drawn. To be fair to Buchan he was writing adventure tales for a male audience in a time that was less aware. Greig is by far the better examiner of the human condition though.
The John Macnab template - while driving the events of the plot - at times gets in the way of Greig’s greater facility with personal relationships but in the end his own concerns overwhelm Buchan’s. Still, he nearly overdoes it, veering very close to the tradition of the Scottish sentimental novel (compare Iain Banks’s Espedair Street,) in the final pages. But he is too canny to yield a conventional ending.
That template means that The Return of John Macnab is not quite up there with Greig’s best - all the other novels of his I have read - but for an exploration of human uncertainties, hesitations, lust for life and willingness to take risks, emotional as well as physical, it’s still pretty damn good.
March 29, 2015
I love love love the original Buchan. First read the copy that was my dad's 10th birthday present from his granny as a precocious 8 year old child, and probably didn't understand half the vocabulary or sentiments, but have re read several times since. Still great as an adult, although I don't have to say Scotland has moved on from the 1920s. Grieg obviously loved it too - it was a great idea to try and modernize it, and his plot and land descriptions are very good, but I personally found something about his characters' dialogue stilted and off key throughout (I'm a native of Dee valley so....). As a consequence, I couldn't relate to any of them. Real pity
April 24, 2015
A fantastic re-telling of Buchan's classic for the modern day.... Mr Greig is a dab, deft hand at conjuring up images of the Scottish countryside, the people, and their lingo in his masterful prose, and skillfully refashioning the characters and working in new elements that modernise the story and make it an irresistible read...
March 16, 2013
One of my favourite all time books - a kind of adventure story for grown ups with bonus left wing overtones
March 21, 2023
The judgement of history has not been entirely kind to the First Baron Tweedsmuir, as John Buchan became known following the ennoblement that accompanied his appointment in 1935 as Governor General of Canada. Now remembered principally for his thriller, The Thirty-Nine Steps, a classic rollicking spy story that has been brought to the cinema or television screen many times (though never once in a version that does justice to, or even replicates the plotline of, the original), Buchan is often pilloried as the embodiment of the worst vices of Britain's imperial past. This is, I think, unfair. It is true that some of his characters offer what now appear to be regrettably racist remarks, though they were sadly representative of views more widely prevalent at the time of his writing.
Despite the enduring success and popularity of The Thirty-Nine Steps, and the other novels featuring the slightly wooden and self-regarding heroism of Richard Hannay, I consider that his abiding masterpiece is John Macnab, one of my favourite novels ever. Even this marvellously written book does not escape from critical consideration entirely unscathed. Buchan's prose is beautifully pellucid, concise and elegant, and lends an effortless grace to the story. It is, however, a paean to an age of Corinthian values largely of Buchan's own imagining. One feels that even the finest knights of King Arthur's Camelot might have struggled to live up to the values espoused by Sir Edward Leithen and his comrades. That is, of course, no reason not to try, and the book resonates with nobility without ever falling prey to the cloying self-righteousness that might so readily have claimed it if Buchan had not been such a masterful writer and observer of the human condition.
Andrew Greig's novel The Return of John Macnab brings Buchan's Corinthian view bang up to date, with three friends deciding to revive the poacher's challenge in a manner appropriate for the end of the twentieth century. The three challengers are of a very different cast from Buchan's trio. Neil Lindores is the analogue for Sir Edward Leithen, the intellectual power house (- yes, a quiet Buchanesque pun for the cognoscenti) and emotional touchstone of the new trio, and perhaps bears the closest resemblance to a Buchan character. He is partnered with Alasdair Sutherland, a former Special Services operative, and Murray, a would-be political activist who has gradually lost his fire as family responsibilities exert their force. This is to be the last major prank for the three of them before middle age take its toll.
Following Buchan's original, the three issue challenges to a selection of Highland landowners signed in the cognomen 'John Macnab' undertaking to bag a salmon, brace of grouse and a stag respectively. The three estates to which the challenges are issued are, however, rather different from those in Buchan's novel: the first is owned by a Moroccan prince, the second by a consortium of billionaires headed by a Dutch merchant banker, while the third is the royal estate of Balmoral.
In Buchan's book, the driving force behind the challenge was the feeling of ennui suffered by the three would be poachers. In Greig's novel, there are slightly different motives behind the prank. Neil has been burdened by grief following the sudden death of his wife four years earlier; Alasdair is driven by misdirected rage arising from his failing relationship with his wife; Murray wants to strike a blow for the rights of the common man, and to puncture the hegemony of absentee landowners over much of the land in the Highlands.
Buchan's three campaigners find themselves being helped by Fish Benjie and, later, Crosby, a journalist who is also 'a bit of a sportsman'. Greig's three protagonists find themselves unmasked early on by Kirsty Fowler, a local journalist who is fleeing from demons in her own past and who more or less hijacks their plans, with devastating consequences.
Although not written in prose quite as beautiful as Buchan's, Greig's novel stands as a rattling good read in its own right, and a powerful act of homage to the earlier work. I rather fancy that, given suitably sympathetic treatment, they might both make enchanting films.
For anyone wishing to know more about both books I would refer you to John Corbett's glorious review, written in Lowland Scots dialect available at:
www.arts.gla.ac.uk/scotlit/asls/John_....
Despite the enduring success and popularity of The Thirty-Nine Steps, and the other novels featuring the slightly wooden and self-regarding heroism of Richard Hannay, I consider that his abiding masterpiece is John Macnab, one of my favourite novels ever. Even this marvellously written book does not escape from critical consideration entirely unscathed. Buchan's prose is beautifully pellucid, concise and elegant, and lends an effortless grace to the story. It is, however, a paean to an age of Corinthian values largely of Buchan's own imagining. One feels that even the finest knights of King Arthur's Camelot might have struggled to live up to the values espoused by Sir Edward Leithen and his comrades. That is, of course, no reason not to try, and the book resonates with nobility without ever falling prey to the cloying self-righteousness that might so readily have claimed it if Buchan had not been such a masterful writer and observer of the human condition.
Andrew Greig's novel The Return of John Macnab brings Buchan's Corinthian view bang up to date, with three friends deciding to revive the poacher's challenge in a manner appropriate for the end of the twentieth century. The three challengers are of a very different cast from Buchan's trio. Neil Lindores is the analogue for Sir Edward Leithen, the intellectual power house (- yes, a quiet Buchanesque pun for the cognoscenti) and emotional touchstone of the new trio, and perhaps bears the closest resemblance to a Buchan character. He is partnered with Alasdair Sutherland, a former Special Services operative, and Murray, a would-be political activist who has gradually lost his fire as family responsibilities exert their force. This is to be the last major prank for the three of them before middle age take its toll.
Following Buchan's original, the three issue challenges to a selection of Highland landowners signed in the cognomen 'John Macnab' undertaking to bag a salmon, brace of grouse and a stag respectively. The three estates to which the challenges are issued are, however, rather different from those in Buchan's novel: the first is owned by a Moroccan prince, the second by a consortium of billionaires headed by a Dutch merchant banker, while the third is the royal estate of Balmoral.
In Buchan's book, the driving force behind the challenge was the feeling of ennui suffered by the three would be poachers. In Greig's novel, there are slightly different motives behind the prank. Neil has been burdened by grief following the sudden death of his wife four years earlier; Alasdair is driven by misdirected rage arising from his failing relationship with his wife; Murray wants to strike a blow for the rights of the common man, and to puncture the hegemony of absentee landowners over much of the land in the Highlands.
Buchan's three campaigners find themselves being helped by Fish Benjie and, later, Crosby, a journalist who is also 'a bit of a sportsman'. Greig's three protagonists find themselves unmasked early on by Kirsty Fowler, a local journalist who is fleeing from demons in her own past and who more or less hijacks their plans, with devastating consequences.
Although not written in prose quite as beautiful as Buchan's, Greig's novel stands as a rattling good read in its own right, and a powerful act of homage to the earlier work. I rather fancy that, given suitably sympathetic treatment, they might both make enchanting films.
For anyone wishing to know more about both books I would refer you to John Corbett's glorious review, written in Lowland Scots dialect available at:
www.arts.gla.ac.uk/scotlit/asls/John_....
May 10, 2024
Meine Meinung von 2008:
Mit John MacNab hat John Buchan einen Klassiker für jeden Wilderer geschrieben: drei gelangweilte Mitglieder der High Society wollen wieder etwas erleben. Sie beschließen, in drei schottischen Ländereien an drei Tagen entweder einen Lachs zu fangen oder einen Hirsch zu erlegen und teilen das den jeweiligen Landbesitzern in einem Brief mit, den sie mit John MacNab unterschreiben. 1995 beschliessen drei Freunde John MacNab wieder aufleben zu lassen. Sie planen ihre Aktion perfekt durch und kalkulieren alle möglichen Schwierigkeiten ein. Doch sie haben nicht mit einer jungen Journalisten mit scharfen Augen und viel zu viel Zeit gerechnet...
Schon im Vorwort zu John Buchans Erzählung schrieb Andrew Greig, dass er und sein Freund oft darüber sprachen den legendären Wilderer wieder aufleben zu lassen. Doch der Freund kam in den Bergen Tibet ums Leben und so konnte John MacNab nur in Greigs Phantasie wieder auferstehen. Dabei ist es dem Autor gelungen die Geschichte aus den zwanziger Jahren in die heutige Zeit zu versetzen. Wieder sind es drei Freunde, die am Wendepunkt ihres Lebens stehen udn das Gefühl haben etwas Aussergewöhnliches tun zu müssen um aus ihrem Trott auszubrechen. Doch diesmal sind ihre persönlichen Probleme vielschichtiger als die der ursprünglichen MacNabs. Auch Kirsty die den drei schnell auf die Schliche kommt hat ihre eigenen Motive um der vierte John MacNab zu werden.
Doch die Zeiten haben sich seit dem letzten Mal sehr geändert. Die vier Wilderer müssen erkennen, dass es nicht nur für sie einfacher ist zu wildern, sondern dass sie mit modernen Mitteln auch leichter aufgespürt werden können. So beginnt ein spannendes Katz und Maus Spiel in dem sie immer drei Schritte voraus sein müssen. Im Verlauf der Erzählung beeinflußt ihre Abenteuer immer mehr ihr Leben und sie können sich endlich ihren Problemen stellen.
Das Besondere bei diesem Buch ist dass Andrew Greig sowohl als Beobachter als auch als Autor in Erscheinung tritt. Gleichzeitig beschreibt er, wie Jahre nach dem zweiten John MacNab die Beteiligten darauf zurück blicken. Das hat mir besonders gut gefallen.
Meine Meinung von 2009:
Das Buch hat mir beim zweiten Lesen genauso gut gefallen wie beim ersten Mal. Diesmal habe ich allerdings auf andere Dinge geachtet. Vieles in der Erzählung kam mir bekannt vor. Nicht, weil ich das Buch schon einmal gelesen hatte, sondern weil ich Ähnliches schon in anderen Erzählungen von Andrew Greig gelesen habe. Er bringt viel persönliches ein. Alisdair erinnert mich sehr an den jungen Andrew Greig, der seine erste Erfahrungen im Himalaya gesammelt hat. Der Tod von Neills Frau berichtet von seiner persönlichen Katastrophe. Und die drei Männer, die ihrer verlorenen Jugend hinterher träumen und hinterher trauern sind seine Ebenbilder, wie er nach langer Krankheit erst wieder lernen musste, das Leben zu genießen.
Mit John MacNab hat John Buchan einen Klassiker für jeden Wilderer geschrieben: drei gelangweilte Mitglieder der High Society wollen wieder etwas erleben. Sie beschließen, in drei schottischen Ländereien an drei Tagen entweder einen Lachs zu fangen oder einen Hirsch zu erlegen und teilen das den jeweiligen Landbesitzern in einem Brief mit, den sie mit John MacNab unterschreiben. 1995 beschliessen drei Freunde John MacNab wieder aufleben zu lassen. Sie planen ihre Aktion perfekt durch und kalkulieren alle möglichen Schwierigkeiten ein. Doch sie haben nicht mit einer jungen Journalisten mit scharfen Augen und viel zu viel Zeit gerechnet...
Schon im Vorwort zu John Buchans Erzählung schrieb Andrew Greig, dass er und sein Freund oft darüber sprachen den legendären Wilderer wieder aufleben zu lassen. Doch der Freund kam in den Bergen Tibet ums Leben und so konnte John MacNab nur in Greigs Phantasie wieder auferstehen. Dabei ist es dem Autor gelungen die Geschichte aus den zwanziger Jahren in die heutige Zeit zu versetzen. Wieder sind es drei Freunde, die am Wendepunkt ihres Lebens stehen udn das Gefühl haben etwas Aussergewöhnliches tun zu müssen um aus ihrem Trott auszubrechen. Doch diesmal sind ihre persönlichen Probleme vielschichtiger als die der ursprünglichen MacNabs. Auch Kirsty die den drei schnell auf die Schliche kommt hat ihre eigenen Motive um der vierte John MacNab zu werden.
Doch die Zeiten haben sich seit dem letzten Mal sehr geändert. Die vier Wilderer müssen erkennen, dass es nicht nur für sie einfacher ist zu wildern, sondern dass sie mit modernen Mitteln auch leichter aufgespürt werden können. So beginnt ein spannendes Katz und Maus Spiel in dem sie immer drei Schritte voraus sein müssen. Im Verlauf der Erzählung beeinflußt ihre Abenteuer immer mehr ihr Leben und sie können sich endlich ihren Problemen stellen.
Das Besondere bei diesem Buch ist dass Andrew Greig sowohl als Beobachter als auch als Autor in Erscheinung tritt. Gleichzeitig beschreibt er, wie Jahre nach dem zweiten John MacNab die Beteiligten darauf zurück blicken. Das hat mir besonders gut gefallen.
Meine Meinung von 2009:
Das Buch hat mir beim zweiten Lesen genauso gut gefallen wie beim ersten Mal. Diesmal habe ich allerdings auf andere Dinge geachtet. Vieles in der Erzählung kam mir bekannt vor. Nicht, weil ich das Buch schon einmal gelesen hatte, sondern weil ich Ähnliches schon in anderen Erzählungen von Andrew Greig gelesen habe. Er bringt viel persönliches ein. Alisdair erinnert mich sehr an den jungen Andrew Greig, der seine erste Erfahrungen im Himalaya gesammelt hat. Der Tod von Neills Frau berichtet von seiner persönlichen Katastrophe. Und die drei Männer, die ihrer verlorenen Jugend hinterher träumen und hinterher trauern sind seine Ebenbilder, wie er nach langer Krankheit erst wieder lernen musste, das Leben zu genießen.
October 17, 2022
Better than the original!
I recently re-read Buchan's Macnab, and somehow found myself vaguely disappointed compared to my first reading some 20 yrs ago. Sometimes happens, resonance no longer kicks in with the passage of time.
Then jumped straight into The Return and was not disappointed. Loved the sly style and the technical advancements in sports and recreation (to elaborate would risk being a plot spoiler!) since Buchan's day.
A bit of a tonal change ahead of 3rd challenge jarred somewhat and ending contrived, hence 4 star not 5 star.
Great setting, plot retains its integrity, main difference is the people are seriously damaged goods. This is not a mere remedy for ennui.
Highly recommended.
I recently re-read Buchan's Macnab, and somehow found myself vaguely disappointed compared to my first reading some 20 yrs ago. Sometimes happens, resonance no longer kicks in with the passage of time.
Then jumped straight into The Return and was not disappointed. Loved the sly style and the technical advancements in sports and recreation (to elaborate would risk being a plot spoiler!) since Buchan's day.
A bit of a tonal change ahead of 3rd challenge jarred somewhat and ending contrived, hence 4 star not 5 star.
Great setting, plot retains its integrity, main difference is the people are seriously damaged goods. This is not a mere remedy for ennui.
Highly recommended.
February 28, 2020
This book won't be for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed it having spent every summer of my childhood in the highlands of Scotland... not to mention it's the land of my birth and where I went to boarding school.
August 4, 2017
Prank heist adventure in the Scottish Highlands. This is a retelling of the original book from the 1920s. Has a Thomas Crowne Affair feel to it. Fun summer read.
October 14, 2024
A bit bizarre. Never read the original but it kept me engaged and he writes well but not one I would recommend to lots of people. Very Scottish and all about poaching.
February 4, 2017
On the positive side, it is a bright idea to update the Buchan novel, and Greig has cleverly brought it into a modern setting. It has more of a political edge, but remains a page-turner. He has a real feel for the modern Scottish Highlands, and a deep knowledge of mountains and mountain sports.
Some of the descriptive writing is good, reflecting his background as a poet. His philosophical reflection on metaphors for life – not like the sand disappearing through an hour-glass, but like a tree putting on rings of experience, and at its broadest before dying – was engaging.
Kirsty - taking on and developing the journalist role played in the original by Crossby - is an excellent and very intriguing character. Her relationship with Neil, and Neil’s struggle to move on from the death of his wife, has the stamp of authenticity.
The author creates a fine climax, with a real sense of drama and danger of death (although the gravity of the danger jarred with the jesting tenor of the rest). And the cameo appearance of Prince Charles is amusing.
Alas, we also had plenty to say on the negative side. The relentlessly jaunty, would-be-youthful, tone grates. Some of the dialogue hits false notes. The coherence of the tale is lost as he endlessly explores the relationship problems of the protagonists. He even indulges in some passages of Housemanesque self-pity on behalf of a narrator who, confusingly and unnecessarily, does not identify himself until the end. And it grates to have the novel end with a plug for the follow-up.
Kirsty and Neil do seem real characters with an interesting hinterland (perhaps based on people known to the author or his own experience). However, most of the other characters are either stereotypes (Murray), implausible (Alasdair and Jane and their unconvincing reunion on the moors), or politically correct (the lesbian Shonagh and the Arab Aziz). And does he need to harp on so obsessively about Buchan’s praise of boys and small-breasted women?
There was a feeling that Greig – who started off writing poetry and climbing literature, and had written a good book on golf courses - was not too comfortable writing fiction. Perhaps that was why he had hit on the idea of doing a “remake” of the plot of someone else’s book? …..
This is an extract from a review at http://monthlybookgroup.wordpress.com/. Our reviews are also to be found at http://monthlybookgroup.blogspot.com/
Some of the descriptive writing is good, reflecting his background as a poet. His philosophical reflection on metaphors for life – not like the sand disappearing through an hour-glass, but like a tree putting on rings of experience, and at its broadest before dying – was engaging.
Kirsty - taking on and developing the journalist role played in the original by Crossby - is an excellent and very intriguing character. Her relationship with Neil, and Neil’s struggle to move on from the death of his wife, has the stamp of authenticity.
The author creates a fine climax, with a real sense of drama and danger of death (although the gravity of the danger jarred with the jesting tenor of the rest). And the cameo appearance of Prince Charles is amusing.
Alas, we also had plenty to say on the negative side. The relentlessly jaunty, would-be-youthful, tone grates. Some of the dialogue hits false notes. The coherence of the tale is lost as he endlessly explores the relationship problems of the protagonists. He even indulges in some passages of Housemanesque self-pity on behalf of a narrator who, confusingly and unnecessarily, does not identify himself until the end. And it grates to have the novel end with a plug for the follow-up.
Kirsty and Neil do seem real characters with an interesting hinterland (perhaps based on people known to the author or his own experience). However, most of the other characters are either stereotypes (Murray), implausible (Alasdair and Jane and their unconvincing reunion on the moors), or politically correct (the lesbian Shonagh and the Arab Aziz). And does he need to harp on so obsessively about Buchan’s praise of boys and small-breasted women?
There was a feeling that Greig – who started off writing poetry and climbing literature, and had written a good book on golf courses - was not too comfortable writing fiction. Perhaps that was why he had hit on the idea of doing a “remake” of the plot of someone else’s book? …..
This is an extract from a review at http://monthlybookgroup.wordpress.com/. Our reviews are also to be found at http://monthlybookgroup.blogspot.com/
July 5, 2014
Neil, the main character in The Return of John Macnab, is a terrific laidback half-dreamer half-cynic. He has been emotionally numb since the sudden unexpected death of his wife Helen four years earlier. Although he hasn’t sunk into a cold and misanthropic retreat from the world, he has not been really alive until the mid-life crisis escapade that he hatches with three of his old climbing buddies. ”Neil walked towards the Atholl through the end of the gloaming. The hills were black humps against a paler sky and the night air was blowing hills and heather and adventure down into the valley… He’d been becalmed, stuck, for a long time. Ever since Helen. Now he felt like a wind-filled sail.”
As in Andrew Greig’s Electric Brae, there are a few caustic observations on the state of the author’s nation. Describing the dated decor of the local hostelry, he observes on a wall “another stag’s head, absurd and so familiar, its stilled cry something else about his country that was true.” There is also plenty good stuff on the archaic reality of land ownership in Scotland and the struggle for access rights. All is delivered, though, not in a hectoring, pompously self-righteous tone but rather with a quiet, understated passion.
The Return of John Macnab is wonderfully written, funny and sad and uplifting.
As in Andrew Greig’s Electric Brae, there are a few caustic observations on the state of the author’s nation. Describing the dated decor of the local hostelry, he observes on a wall “another stag’s head, absurd and so familiar, its stilled cry something else about his country that was true.” There is also plenty good stuff on the archaic reality of land ownership in Scotland and the struggle for access rights. All is delivered, though, not in a hectoring, pompously self-righteous tone but rather with a quiet, understated passion.
The Return of John Macnab is wonderfully written, funny and sad and uplifting.
May 19, 2012
This is a modern day version of John Buchan's hugely enjoyable 1930s novel John Macnab, in which three London gentlemen attempt to dispel their summer ennui by adding a bit of spice to their comfortable, privileged lives. They present themselves as John Macnab and issue a challenge to three Scottish landowners: that they will poach a salmon and two deer from their estates and then deliver the ill-gotten gains back to their owners without being caught. Andrew Greig's version manages to retain all the adventure, wit, humour and romance of the original while adding a few ingredients of his own: a far more diverse and fully realised set of characters, beautifully poetic language, political edge, philosophical musings and a moving story of loss and renewal.
Ideal for holiday-reading in Scotland, while you sit in your freezing cottage and peer out through the rain and mist, which clears occasionally revealing a glimpse of heathery hill-top and the odd shivering highland coo....
Ideal for holiday-reading in Scotland, while you sit in your freezing cottage and peer out through the rain and mist, which clears occasionally revealing a glimpse of heathery hill-top and the odd shivering highland coo....
December 13, 2014
A rollicking, rip-roaring Highland adventure story that isn't just a boys' own adventure. I haven't read the original Buchan book, but that didn't diminish my enjoyment, indeed, much as I love Buchan, this book carefully avoids, if not subverts many of the conservative attitudes and values in Buchan that I frequently have difficulties with. All the characters are well drawn, the plot is inventive (not having read the original I am not sure whether that is down to Buchan or Greig), and I could see it making a great movie.
August 7, 2014
I enjoyed the John Buchan novel so I thought I would try this modern (1996) version. It was an exciting read though I was a little disappointed with the ending. I doubt I will read any more of this author's books.
February 16, 2015
A proper yarn with lovely lovely writing to be enjoyed from start to finish. Complex characters and great plot and if you're a John Buchan fan too like I am… :-) got another Andrew Greig lined up right here :-)
May 16, 2018
A second , or maybe third, read and as entertaining as before. This time the appreciation of the writing increased. As ever.
March 15, 2015
An entertaining read. Must look for the original John Buchan tale!
June 21, 2015
A most enjoyable yarn written by a master wordsmith.
May 4, 2011
A brilliant Scottish caper.
February 21, 2013
Wonderful!
November 1, 2017
A great funny adventure regarding the poaching in Scotland and the great issues of private property in Scotland and the fact that there no really private land everyone is allowed to walk or cross into a property without getting an offence for trespassing!
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