Product Description

From its first publication in 1816 Rob Roy has been recognised as containing some of Scotts finest writing and most engaging, fully realised characters. The outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor was already a legendary, disputed figure by the time Scott wrote a heroic Scottish Robin Hood to some, an over-glamorised, unprincipled predator to others. Scott approaches Rob Roy indirectly, through the adventures of his fictional hero, Frank Osbaldistone, amid the political turmoil of England and Scotland in 1715. With characteristic care Scott reconstructs the period and settings so as to place Rob Roy and the Scotland he inhabits amid conflicting moral, economic and historical forces. This edition features, besides a new critical introduction and extensive explanatory notes, an essay outlining clearly the novels historical context and a glossary of Scottish words and phrases used by Scotts colourful, vernacular characters.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #109111 in Books
• Published on: 1997-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

About the Author
Ian Duncan is Barbara and Carlisle Moore Professor of English at the University of Oregon.

Customer Reviews

Superb!
Few men can be credited with inventing an entire genre, but Sir Walter Scott is one of them. His ingenious intertwining of history and fiction created a type of novel that endures to this day.

And in Rob Roy, it is easy to see why. Yet the mechanism of history occupies only a secondary position; it is the young Francis Osbaldistone who occupies centre stage. His colourful adventures unfold in a flurry of action, the narrative stiffened by Scott's wonderful fluency and sublime descriptive powers. Combine this with the suspense and uncertainty surrounding Diana Vernon and Rob Roy in particular, and it would be difficult to imagine a more pleasing novel.

Certainly, Rob Roy is not as exuberant as Scott's other great work, Ivanhoe, but this is of little consequence. The book is an intricate tapestry of romance, adventure and mystery that simply oozes the irresistible charm of a masterpiece.

break through the pain barrier
Getting into this book means wading through an opening few scenes of London accountancy. It hurts, but it works

Once you have gotten through the early sections you follow the hero northwards, until you find him racing through the highlands and striving for the right to marry the beautiful, enigmatic and sly Di Vernon.

Not essentially a book about Rob Roy, although he does have a leading role. It is about the world of Rob Roy, which is full of brave, adventurous and unpredictable highlanders.

Scott - The Acquired Taste
Don't get me wrong, I love Nineteenth century fiction, but this novel leaves me bewildered at Scott's reputation. It hasn't travellled well (Austen's vintage is still full-bodied), but accepting the anachronisms, very little works for me. The characters are more stereotyped than a cowboy movie where the bad guys wear black hats. The whole thing felt lumpen and lifeless. I've read Ivanhoe and felt the same. Maybe I like Dumas too much.......