BOOK REVIEW: The Golden Bird by George Mackay Brown
Poetic simplicity characterises Brown’s style in these tales of the Orkney islands and their hardy, pragmatic inhabitants. A masterful storyteller, Brown chronicles a people confronted with the gradual encroach of modernity, feuds which transcend generations, and the trials and tribulations of family honour. This is a subtle, beautifully-drawn portrait of the islands, rugged land and “wrinkled sea”; nature becomes as much a character as the down-to-earth islanders. The Golden Bird is at heart about the relationship of a people to its land. They live and they die, respectful yet uncowed by the power of the unchanging rocks and sea. The human stories weave together, love vying with loss, but behind them Brown conjures the constant lull of the sea, the call of skuas. He has created a touching memory-book of the islands, charmingly beautiful, yet tinged with the sadness of cultural loss, of a people changed. A soulful, intimate read.
No comments:
Post a Comment