Touching story. Wonderful storyteller. Genuine characters. Vivid surroundings. ( )

Excellent ( )

Had never heard of this book till a friend said it was her favourite read ever...I see what she means.
A 50-something dentist goes to visit his alcoholic brother in an insalubrious Toronto boarding house. In succeeding chapters, he recalls incidents in their shared life. Moving back and forth through time...a conversation here, an event there....going back even further to the family mythology of their first Scottish forebears to migrate to Canada...this is the most tremendously moving novel.
The thing that stood out for me was how the writing is SO superb that he can wring your heart, even for characters who have barely appeared. Brother Colin is hardly mentioned until...an event occurs....yet that doesnt stop the reader being completely caught up in the trauma. Subsequent references to him just add to it.
Although a family memoir, Macleod is also aware of the experience of immigrants...from the Mexican fruit-pickers to the Vietnamese facing US aggression and the Masai...encountered on an African holiday...being pushed out. He links these to his own family, fleeing the problems in Scotland for more difficulties in the harsh new life. The first Highland soldiers, serving under a sceptical General Wolfe, were seen as without value, it being, in his view, "no great mischief if they fall". And as the Gaelic-speaking clan in Canada come to face death, jail, violence,antipathy, maybe they feel the modern world views them similarly.
One of best books I've ever read. Got it from library but will order my own copy to keep..Superb writing. ( )

No Great Mischief comes from a letter from General Wolfe about the Highlanders fighting with him to take Quebec. The full quote is "no great mischief if they fall" as he didn't regard the Scots highly. The book by Alistair MacLeod tells the story of a MacDonald family branch that comes to Cape Breton to settle. Living off the land and sea, it is a hard life. They follow their customs, speak Gaelic, and play the music of the Highlands.
Alexander MacDonald is a twin with his sister who are the youngest of a family that undergoes a terrible tragedy. Raised by his grandparents, he tells the story of his family with frequent flashbacks from his current life as a well-to-do dentist.
It is a story about family and tradition. There's a quote repeated throughout the book: 'All of us are better when we're loved.' No matter their difficulties, these people stuck together through good times and bad.
Mr. MacLeod's writing is lovely. He has a style of writing much like a tone poem. Each paragraph is a new painting set before the reader to savor and absorb. I'm usually a fast reader, but I found myself taking my time through this story, sometimes only reading a page and putting the book aside, the better to reflect.
One of the classics of Canadian literature, No Great Mischief is a book to be cherished and reread. ( )

A beautiful book about a family in/from the Canadian Maritimes, their hard lives, their loves and the land itself. This man can WRITE! Every sentence is a poem. You feel what they feel, smell what they smell and love what/who they love! ( )