IPhone 3G used's review (Mildly Interesting) 『This book was just okay for me. There is a quirky cast of characters who offer a glimpse of life in Edinburgh. The book is lighthearted, whimsical, and unfortunately, quite often... boring. I found the book amusing at times and McCall Smith did have a few keen observations on the human condition.』
(Really enjoyed this series) 『This book was originally written as a serialized novel, so every chapter must have something to keep the reader interested. It was certainly not deep heavy reading but if you are looking for a light "escape from reality book" this series may be for you- it was funny too! I read the entire series- they were all very enjoyable. I DID like the Ladies Detective Agcy series, but this book was not similar at all- I am impressed with Mr Smith's "range" in creating characters for his books. I am not a fan of all of his work though, as I did not like the Sunday Philosophy club.』
(Edinburgh is His Muse) 『I loved this book. I loved the main point of view: that of a young girl who's "on her second gap year," who's trying to find her way and ends up working in a gallery for a diffident young man. I also think the episodic quality of the narrative worked. After I read the introduction, I understood that McCall Smith was writing for serialization, and set the project up as a kind of challenge to himself, to see if he could pull it off without resorting to weekly "cliffhanger-type" chapter endings. I think he is too subtle a writer to resort to that, anyway.
McCall Smith never strives for effect. Yet there are set pieces here (like Bruce stealing a pair of undies from his boss's "dryer room") that had me laughing out loud when I read them (on a plane from Chicago to the San Francisco Bay Area). I read the book straight through, over two plane flights. Honestly, I couldn't put it down, towards the last 50 or so pages.
OK, the ending may have been a little unsatisfactory. But there is a hint, just a hint, of what might happen to the young girl, who I came to feel enormous sympathy for.
Another thing about this book: if you've never been to Edinburgh (I haven't), you will feel like booking your next vacation there.』
(Too fractured for my taste) 『When a friend let me borrow the first three books in this series, I thought I was set for a long while. Not so. I couldn't even finish this book, let alone go on to Espresso Tales or Love Over Scotland (44 Scotland Street).
I think it is the nature of serial writing itself that doesn't work for me. I'm a "buy and hold" kind of reader. When I encounter someone I like in a book, I want to stay with him or her. I didn't like jumping around every few pages from one narrator to the next.
After a while, these supposedly disparate narrators began to all sound alike to me -- even their thought patterns eventually merged into one. And their lives are just plain dull. Dull, dull, dull. My life is boring enough; in my reading, I'd like something to think about, something to dream about, something to cherish. After 50 pages or so, I thought to myself: Do I really care about any of these people? The answer was no, so I stopped reading. What a relief!』
(Dull and uninvolving) 『I couldn't even finish this one. Although I love Smith's "Ladies Detective Agency" series, ""44 Scotland Street" has none of the charm and personality of those books.
Partly, I think, is the locale. I have a preference for either historical mysteries or those set in remote, unusual or "exotic" locations. Somehow, an apartment in contemporary Scotland just doesn't cut it (the Highlands, maybe....).
Despite my enjoyment of his previous series, I've always felt that Smith's main talent isn't really his literary skills but in his ability to develop interesting characters and express his love of Botswana. Without those unusual characters and place, the result is a dull, "ordinary" book.
I may end up judging some books unfairly since I don't see them through to the end unless I'm really taken by them. But there are just too many really good books to spend time on the second rate ones. This book just didn't make the cut.』 『Bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith brings all the warmth of his extraordinary No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency books and the Sunday Philosophy Club series to this witty novel chronicling the lives of the residents of 44 Scotland Street in Edinburgh. Originally serialized inThe Scotsman,44 Scotland Streetis already an international sensation.
When twenty-year-old Pat rents a room from handsome and cocky Bruce, she inherits some delightfully colourful neighbours: Domenica, an insightful and eccentric widow; Bertie, a five-year-old who’s mastered both saxophone and Italian; and Irene, his overbearing mother. Pat’s new job at a gallery seems easy enough. Her boss spends most of his time drinking coffee in a local café and discussing matters great and small, and Pat’s duties are light. That is until she realizes that one oftheir paintings may be an undiscovered work of a renowned Scottish artist and she discovers that one of their customers may be in on the secret. Add to this a fancy ball, love triangles and an encounter with a famous crime writer, and you have Alexander McCall Smith’s entertaining and witty portrait of Edinburgh society.』
Kakaku：
Brilliance Audio Unabridged Lib Ed
Usually ships in 24 hours IPhone 3G used's review (Great Series!) 『This series is an easy read that keeps you interested with a mystery to solve along with relationships. Although there is romance, it's tasteful&keeps you wondering if the relationships will be lasting. The transition to each successive novel is smooth with just enough repetition that readers who are just starting with a later sequence can pick up&the novel makes sense. However, I ordered all of them starting with the first one through the last so far, #8. I'm so glad I did.』
(Great Series!!) 『This is a wonderful series by Debbie. It's hard waiting for the next one to come out. This series is a great escape while reading it.』
(Just OK) 『This is not one of Macombers best but the story line does carry you through. I was not really thrilled with it and don't know if I will continue to follow this series.』
(44 Cranberry Point) 『Cedar Cover doesn't disappoint in entertaining the reader, you can loose yourself completely in Ms. Macombers tale once again.』
(A Little Too Much Repetition) 『There just seemed to be too much rehashing of the previous books. If you have been reading this series from the beginning you already knew what Macomber was telling you in the first third of this book.
Cranberry Point finally ties up the story behind Max Russell and why he died at the B&B. Marriages and babies abound and a couple new love interests are sparked. And who would have thought that a dog and bachelor auction would ignite so much.
Besides the repeating of old stories lines, this book hit me a little wrong with the tone of voice of many of the women. I just wish that they didn't sound so whiney and unsure of themselves. Even Olivia, the judge, sounds whiney and at times pathetic. Macomber needs to get back on track and give these women some more strength and backbone.』 『Peggy Beldon Thyme and Tide B and B 44 Cranberry Point Cedar Cove, Washington
Dear Listener, I love living in Cedar Cove, but things haven't been the same since a man died in our B and B. Turns out his name was Max Russell, and Bob had known him briefly in Vietnam. We still don't have any idea why he came here and - most important of all - who killed him. Because it now appears that he was poisoned. I sure hope somebody figures it out soon!
Not that we're providing the only news in Cedar Cove these days. I heard that Jon Bowman and Maryellen Sherman are getting married. And Maryellen's mom, Grace, has more than her share of interested men! The question is: Which one is she going to choose? Olivia - I guess it's Olivia Griffin now - is back from her honeymoon, and her mother, Charlotte (who's in her mid-seventies at least), seems to have a man in her life, too. I'm not sure Olivia's too pleased…
There's lots of other gossip I could tell you. Come by for a cup of tea and one of my blueberry muffins and we'll talk.
IPhone 3G used's review (The ongoing life and times of the residents of 44 Scotland Street...) 『OK... So now I'm up-to-date with all the 44 Scotland Street novels since I completed Love Over Scotland last night. Alexander McCall Smith weaves together the lives of the occupants at 44 Scotland Street with all their charm and quirkiness. The best part is I'm already on hold at the library for the next installment due out in the next month. :)
When we last left the residents of 44 Scotland Street, things were not well in terms of them all keeping in touch. Bruce was leaving for London, Domenica was leaving to study pirates, and Pat was moving out since Bruce was selling the flat. Here we continue on with the life and times of the crew. Bruce is completely missing in action here. Unless he makes a reappearance in the next installment, his character is gone. Bertie is still being smothered by Mummy and analyzed by the therapist (who Bertie thinks is absolutely crazy). All he wants is to live the life of a normal six year old, but that's not Irene's plan. She has him auditioning for the Edinburgh teen symphony. Bertie's attempt at sabotage goes awry, however, and that leads to a few adventures that no one counted on. Pat is smitten by a boy she hardly knows from college, but there's a problem. His girlfriend happens to be Pat's flatmate at the new house, and she's rather possessive of Wolf. Matthew, Pat's boss at the art gallery, wants desperately to connect with Pat, but Pat wants nothing more than friendship... or so she thinks.
Angus is mourning the loss of Domenica to the Malacca Straits and her pirate study. Domenica's friend moves into the flat to watch it while Domenica is gone, and Angus is not quite sure how he feels about this new "friend". He also has a minor crisis of his own when Cyrus, his faithful four-legged companion, is dog-napped. Add in a few more side stories involving Big Lou and Bertie's dad (and the "recovered" car), and things are as strange as ever on 44 Scotland Street.
If you've read the other two installments and enjoyed them, you'll probably like this one too. There's a bit less activity at the building itself, but all the characters continue to evolve and grow (except as noted for Bruce). If you're coming into the series without that prior background, you'll probably wonder what's going on. As with the first two books, there's no real "beginning" and "end" to the story. It's just a slice of life with room for another installment at the end. Personally, 44 Scotland Street has now become a home away from home, and I look forward to the ongoing adventures of the group. 』
(Still a Bertie fan) 『It's painful to witness everything Bertie suffers at his mother's hands, but I really like him and I can't stop reading about him. I loved his time in Paris, and my favorite part of the book was his (extremely premature) audition for the Edinburgh Teenage Orchestra. Poor Bertie. I hope good things are in store for him, and I hope they happen soon.』
(Fun Stuff) 『True, this book is light reading but if you need something to lighten your mood I highly recommend this series. The ability to write seemingly effortless fiction is a gift that I don't disparage just because it isn't Hamlet. There is a need for all kinds of writing and humorous fiction is a type of writing that few do well.
Love Over Scotland is the best of the three books so far and I found the adventures of Bertie to be hilarious. Admittedly, Bertie is a bit over the top but any insistence on believability would just ruin the fun. I look forward to more adventures...』
(Treading lightly...) 『Wow! After reading all the other reviews, almost all 5 star for this book, I better tread lightly! I guess I better begin by stating that my family thoroughly enjoyed listening to No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series on tape and I was ready to love another McCall Smith read. That said, I found Love Over Scotland very easy reading, great for light, mindless, relaxing reading- and the chapters are really short making it possible to read a snatch here and there and come to a good stopping point every time.
However, some of the characters were most unbelievable. Come on, Bertie?? A six year old doing and saying and thinking all that he does? I understand precocious but this is absurd. A six year old traveling about Paris on his own and discussing philosophy with students from Sorbonne? It was disturbing to imagine him as a six year old.
Domenica traveling off to Malacca to live among pirates as an anthropologist and getting on just splendidly; it sounds entertaining and exciting but she was a bore.
The boring people, Matthew, Pat, Big Lou were, as characters, much more exciting for the believability factor.
I think McCall Smith has a following who will continue to read his books no matter, and he should be very thankful.』
("Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing") 『McCall Smith gives us a very interesting look at life and love as he waxes eloquently in this third book of the "44 Scotland Street" series. The vicissitudes of loves and life are truly illuminated in this book. The search for love and the various forms that it takes are at the heart of each of the character's adventures in this installment in the series.
Not all of the loves are successful. Some end tragically. Some never get off the ground. And most, as is true of love and life, come when least expected. As always, Smith seems to capture human behavior in his unique and insightful manner. Yet he could not have picked a more difficult topic. For many of us, we wonder what love really is anyway. Are we in love? How do we decide? How do we go about attaining it, if we don't have it? How do we deal with it when it ends? All these questions are touched on and illustrated by Smith in his inimitable manner.
What truly makes this book a wonderful piece of work by Smith is its intense realism. While perhaps more of the loves work out in his book than they do in life, not all of them do, and in that way, Smith describes a hugely important piece of behavioral science, the sociology of love. Of all the books in the "44 Scotland Street" series, this book is perhaps the best. Smith has developed most of these characters in his first two books and thus, they are ripe for tackling a subject as complex as love. The montage effect he achieves because of his short chapters that are serialized, allows for a variety of information and material constantly flowing past the reader as Smith develops the concepts that people use to deal with and evaluate and find love in their lives. The book is truly another wonderful creation by McCall Smith, who just seems to get more impressive as he continues to be more prolific. It is highly recommended to all readers of Smith and all seekers of love. 』
IPhone 3G used's review (Hail to Espresso Tales!) 『One of the things I most admire about Alexander McCall Smith is his ability to show his readers exactly who his characters are, and to do it so convincingly. This demonstrates no small degree of talent. This talent is enhanced by McCall Smith's real working knowledge of the worlds in which he, himself, has lived. An example of one of McCall Smith's best drawn characters (and my favorite) in this series is young Bertie Pollock. Bertie is a very bright young chap, though stifled to the point of almost total exasperation (for the reader, at least) by his excruciatingly rigid, controlling, neurotic mother (one expects the six-year-old to explode at any moment into full blown rebellion). Bertie appears able to interpret (though not always correctly) the events going on about him and this reader, at least, looks forward to the moment when Bertie is able to successfully extract himself from his mother's clutches. It's agony to `watch' the youngster work things out mentally, and, yet, be unable to break free from his invisible restraints. One of the clever ways McCall Smith demonstrates the dysfunctional state of the Pollock family is the fact that they have somehow managed to misplace their car. Can you imagine that?!
All the residents of 44 Scotland Street are interesting characters to read about, from narcissistic Bruce to wise Domenica to thoughtful Pat, even to Irene Pollock's detached statistician husband, Stuart. It is the human foibles and antics of these folks in the Scotland Street flat in Edinburgh's fair city who keep us readers enthralled in this series. We care about each of them to one extent or another and want to know what's going to happen to each of them. That is, after all, what good storytelling is about. This author completely and totally draws us in.
As the proud owner of all of McCall Smith's books, I expect to read them many times over during the years ahead. I do hope that one day (soon?) we will have the opportunity to learn more about those quirky folks in the sausage dog stories. I adore the humor, however opaque, in each of them. There are none others like them anywhere in literature.
Carolyn Rowe Hill 』
(Espresso Tales) 『Fascinating read. McCall Smith brought all the characters to life. I found myself on the edge of my seat most of the time wondering what would happen to Pat and Matthew, would Stewart help Bertie live like a normal little boy...? Just plain good stuff. I can't wait for the next one. 』
(Changes are in the wind for the 44 Scotland Street occupants...) 『Following my enjoyment of 44 Scotland Street, I picked up a copy of Alexander McCall Smith's sequel titled Espresso Tales. Still the same quirky characters as 44 Scotland Street, and still more of a "slice of life" book with no overall driving plotline. Fortunately, it's still a lot of fun following the players as their pompous attitudes and actions get pricked and deflated...
Bertie is in a major rebellion phase against his overbearing mother Irene. She's still trying to make progress with his psychotherapy, but she's more interested in the therapist than Bertie is. Bertie's father also figures out that he's failed his son in terms of standing up to mom, and is determined to reverse that trend and give Bertie a normal boyhood. But to do that, he has to disassemble Irene's "Bertie Project" against her will.
Bruce is convinced that he's ready to open a wine shop and become the next great wine merchant. Ah, but he needs money to do that. He manipulates a long-time wimpish friend (George) to join him in the idea and front the cash. Bruce plunges in thinking he knows everything, but as usual he's completely clueless as to what people really think of him. As the store gets closer to opening, he's in for a few surprises.
Pat has decided to attend Edinburgh University and stay at 44 Scotland Street. Her father loves this idea, as he's grown quite close to his daughter. Domenica manuvers Pat into a date with a coffee house waiter by the name of Peter. She's somewhat uncertain about Peter on a number of different levels, and his invitation to attend a nudist picnic with him doesn't help much. Domenica, on the other hand, is getting antsy for her next great adventure, and decides that a new study abroad is what she needs.
Matthew is surprising everyone by actually turning a profit at the art gallery. He still holds a candle for Pat, but Pat really doesn't see him in that same light. Matthew's world gets thrown into a complete tizzy when his father announces that he's dating someone who he intends to marry. Matthew's convinced that Janis is just out to get his father's money, and makes his objections pretty clear. But all is not as it seems, and he's in for a few surprises along the way.
And for the fans of Angus and Big Lou, they have their own adventures also...
Although I'm not a fan of "reality TV", I do enjoy the occasional book that goes down that path. The characters of 44 Scotland Street are so engaging and quirky that it's hard not to want to watch their lives unfold. Along the way, you see reality that's obvious to everyone except the person who's living it. Makes you wonder how much of that is in our own lives. I'm in possession of the 3rd installment, and I'm looking forward to starting it. The way this book ends makes you wonder how this cast of characters will be able to stay together...』
(A great summer read) 『Another great novel by Alexander McCall Smith- super novel that keeps you engrossed and wanting more when you get to the end.』
(A Taste Of Edinburgh) 『This book, the second in the "44 Scotland Street" series truly gives the reader's palate a taste of Edinburgh. Taking off from his first book, this one develops to a far greater degree those characters introduced in the premier book. McCall Smith has a way of capturing the Edinburgh environment which describes it as the unique and even quaint place that it is. There is no other place in the world like it.
The feeling of Scottish allegiance plays a large part in the descriptive short chapters that Smith creates. Because the novel is a series of serialized columns, each chapter is short and succinct. But each chapter has its own character, has a point to make and a flavor to project.
The reader will be introduced to deeper understanding of the original characters and their relationship to each other. In addition, Smith mixes his characters and their personalities so that there is nothing boring about the book. Rather, each reader will recognize types of people, yet they will be enhanced broadly by the uniqueness of the Scottish environment in which they reside.
Like all McCall Smith's writings, this book is truly a wonderfully descriptive and interesting portrayal of life in Edinburgh, and in fact, life itself, everywhere. Readers should not miss the opportunity to enjoy this fine piece of work develop by Smith in daily segments. It truly is a joy to read. 』
IPhone 3G used's review (Unbreakable life spirit in time of war) 『The author wrote a diary during his stay as a member of the allied occupational force in Naples after the allied liberation. The "liberators" turns out to be more corrupt and less disciplined by the fascists, and even the previous German occupiers. The civilian population suffered incredible privations from the corrupt and mafia influenced occupationary government, and from soldiers and bandits rampaging through the countryside. The author is gradually won over unbreakable spirit and adaptability of the Italians. The book is written in a direct and conversational tone that goes directly to the heart.』 『The author was a young intelligence officer when the Allies occupied Naples late in 1943. He kept a diary of his experiences and 30 years later published it as this story.
It plunges us into the heart of a city devastated by war: hunger and plague stalk the streets; mothers turn prostitute for food, soap or cigarettes; black markets are a way of life. Even nature goes haywire: Vesuvius erupts.
Through it all, the Neapolitans -- ingenuous, indomitable, full of life, in the midst of death -- adapt, and survive. NAPLES `44 is above all a tribute to their spirit, and their city.』
『Author Alexander McCall Smith became a worldwide sensation with his No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency novels. His award-winning wit is fully on display in this charming work. Here, in delightfully authentic sketches, are all the archetypes of Edinburgh society. There is the surveyor who dreams of a membership in Muirfield golf club. There is the pushy Stockbridge mother. There is the intellectual lady who sees herself as part of a much larger world. These characters and more confront issues of trust, love, and loss.』 fetish『 Naples'44 』
Norman Lewis
『Defining and demanding competence. Do anesthesiologists have responsibilities for incompetent colleagues? Physician health problems, competence and the addicted anesthesiologist.』
大満足！北国のホタテ・いくら・ボタンエビがぎっしり！
