From the Bookshelf of Around the World…

His Bloody Project: Documents Relating to the Case of Roderick Macrae

Graeme Macrae Burnet

Discussion: Europe

Discussion leader: Lilisa

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 69 topics — 183 comments total

Europe

Ireland - County by County
By Andrea , Slow but steady · 2 posts · 7 views

last updated Jun 23, 2023 08:38PM

Ukraine reading ideas
By Andrea , Slow but steady · 7 posts · 14 views

last updated Mar 05, 2022 06:49PM

What Members Thought

Aug 12, 2016 Jibran rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: british

An excellent novel not just for its fascinating historical setting, but for the novelty of its form and its delicate coverage of the larger social, political, and personal themes that blend seamlessly into a topnotch criminal investigation.

I am not qualified to opine on its historical authenticity, or how well the characters fit into their historical clothes, but it strikes me as "true" - as true as fiction can be - for its remarkable fidelity to its time and place. Its structure also gives it An excellent novel not just for its fascinating historical setting, but for the novelty of its form and its delicate coverage of the larger social, political, and personal themes that blend seamlessly into a topnotch criminal investigation.

I am not qualified to opine on its historical authenticity, or how well the characters fit into their historical clothes, but it strikes me as "true" - as true as fiction can be - for its remarkable fidelity to its time and place. Its structure also gives it an illusion of a true story, not least because the narrative is modeled as a research project conducted by the author's double. But of course it's all fiction.

It revolves around Roderick Macrae, a bright 17-year-old son of a crofter born in an isolated stretch of Scottish Highlands, who willy-nilly murders his neighbour along with two other people. One hundred fifty years later a researcher unearths a memoir ascribed to the murderer and reproduces it verbatim along with an excerpt from the prison doctor, one Dr. Thomson, and an account of the subsequent court proceedings as reported in the press at that time to establish the real motive for the murders.

A whole array of forces bear down upon the apparently idyllic life in the thinly-populated villages in a corner of Scottish Highlands, a place that forms part of the estate of a landlord, where the family has lived for generations to grow crops for season-to-season survival. As a defence against their hard existence, tyrannical feudal practices, and lack of opportunities to break free and go away, the people have developed a kind of fatalism accentuated by unreasoning adherence to easy religious explanations, not in small measure encouraged by their Church leaders, to justify their plight. It is in this milieu that our protagonist-murderer is born and who showcases signs of an existential view of life that will soon go off the rails. His resignation to reality and refusal to reflect on his own actions lend him a Meursault -like quality which is disturbed only when in his view his most heinous transgression is touched upon, and that crime is not the committing of triple murders.

The language is more sombre than deadened and the dreary tone is at home with the narrative voice, the life-changing events taking place in Roderick's life could not have been adequately evoked with a less serious writing. The author has made no attempt to reproduce the Highlander patois in dialogue (not a criticism), but more than that, Roderick's "memoir" is written in standard mid-19th century language which decently educated middle class people might have used, not someone from a Gaelic-speaking godforsaken Highland hamlet, however bright a student he might have been at the elementary village school, which is where one might say it's a tad affected. The author has anticipated the criticism and made a sly attempt in the fictional "preface" to the "murderer's memoir" to explain away the discrepancy by casting "doubt" on its authorship. That's a literary trick some might object to. I have further criticisms but I can't do that without spoilers so I'm hiding it.

(view spoiler)

It's a serious story but, due to historical distance, its earnestness itself provides material for comic relief, e.g; Dr Thomson's memoir is titled "Travels in the Border-Lands of Lunacy" (LOL!) referring to the isolated and thinly-populated parish of Applecross and the village of Culduie whence Macraes come, and his curious mix of medical qualification as a leading criminologist of his times, his condescending views about the lower classes, and presumptive, flippant comments about the women he meets gave me inadvertent laughs. Also the theatrics of journalism of the times as the court proceedings are reported in the dailies provide humour in an otherwise grim story.

I'm not a reader of genre crime fiction but I like this kind of stuff. Now, shall we call it literary crime novel - literary - a word loved and dreaded in equal measure, depending on which side of the divide you come from.

4.5/5 ...more

271 likes · Like · see review

Dec 27, 2016 Karen Witzler rated it really liked it

Shelves: man-bookerish

Reminds me so much of Richard Wright's Native Son. ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Aug 05, 2021 Rusalka rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, mystery, own, uk, mudder, ylto-challenges, tourist-atw

I must say, I seem to love the trope of in the first few pages finding out whatever thing has happened, and then the rest of the novel is the impending dread and trudge towards that. The tension of the inevitable but the wish that it doesn't happen is hypnotic.

This book I will say had it's flaws, which probably were more noticeable as so many friends and book clubbers have raved about this book for the past few years. It was a good book, obviously! But just moderating down the hype here, it wasn ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Aug 24, 2017 Carolyn rated it really liked it

For being a compilation of original documents and court proceedings, it was quite riveting. I was pretty shocked and I still am undecided about how it all turned out...

Like · see review