BS? 'No Great Mischief'- One Great Book

Subject: BS? 'No Great Miscief'- One Great Book
From: GUEST
Date: 04 May 03 - 01:12 PM

The book "No Great Mischief" by Allistair
Macleod is one of the most touching books I
have ever read.


For those with even a passing interest in
life Atlantic Canada(Centering on Cape
Bretton),of some of the Scotts who emigrated
there ( Members of Clan Rhuda), their
history and family ties, their rivals and
friends, music , living by the sea, political
and economic dislocation,life in general,
great story telling, and the heart breaking
faithfulness of dogs, well this book is well
worth seeking out.

I read The Shipping News which has many
similar themes, I found this book just
touched me more, more deeply and more simply.
It was simply one of the most satisfying
reads I have had.

I will now put the book on the shelf and wait
just long enough for a few of the details to
fade so I can pick it up and read it again,
and again, and......



Whack fall the day- Nick Nick

Subject: RE: BS? 'No Great Miscief'- One Great Book
From: Peter T.
Date: 04 May 03 - 04:20 PM

One of the great Canadian authors. His short stories are equally, if not more, beautiful, powerful.

yours, Peter

Subject: RE: BS? 'No Great Miscief'- One Great Book
From: Miken
Date: 04 May 03 - 04:42 PM

I certainly agree,guest nick nick; I read it about six months ago and many of the images remain. His short stories mentioned above are available in a volumn titled "Island" published by Vintage Int. press in March of 2002. Equally as fascinating as No Great Mischief and centered on Cape Breton also.
Mike

Subject: RE: BS? 'No Great Miscief'- One Great Book
From: GUEST
Date: 05 May 03 - 07:55 AM

Alistair MacCleod is the best writer in Canada and Has been for many years. He has never gotten the recognition he deserves. His "Lost Salt Gift of Blood" is fabulous. I suspect that he is unknown outside of Nova Scotia and it is a real shame.

Subject: RE: BS? 'No Great Mischief'- One Great Book
From: GUEST,James
Date: 06 May 03 - 07:17 AM

Yes, it certainly is. The fact that only five people have responded to this thread saddens me as I think this writer has been very neglected by his countrymen .

Subject: RE: BS? 'No Great Mischief'- One Great Book
From: greg stephens
Date: 06 May 03 - 08:26 AM

Well. I read the book in Stoke, England so it is has travelled about a bit. I thought the book was extrordinarily interesting, if a bit marred by the trans-Atlantic "all Scots have red hair and speak Gaelic" school of writing. I have slight doubts about the "No great mischief" Wolfe quote. I have no great admiration for the English officer classes, but I'm not sure if he was being as callous as you might think. Sardonic humour is pretty common in the military.

Subject: RE: BS? 'No Great Mischief'- One Great Book
From: Peter T.
Date: 06 May 03 - 09:02 AM

I hardly think he has been neglected by his countrymen. I attended a reading he gave in Toronto about a month ago and the place was packed with about 200 people. yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS? 'No Great Mischief'- One Great Book
From: GUEST,pdc
Date: 06 May 03 - 11:33 AM

This book has been one of the main choices for book clubs across Canada, according to library statistics. Sorry I don't have a link.

Subject: RE: BS? 'No Great Mischief'- One Great Book
From: GUEST,James
Date: 06 May 03 - 01:51 PM

I mean that he is neglected in the sense that he does not seem to get the national exposure of Yan Martel, or Atwood or some other Canadian Authors. I heard him speak in Toronto some time ago and yes, there were several hundred people in the audience. From my observation, most of them were Maritimers.

Subject: RE: BS? 'No Great Mischief'- One Great Book
From: Ernest
Date: 06 May 03 - 02:05 PM

I agree, a great writer and a great book. Right now I`m in the middle of "Island", which is fascinating as well.
What I liked most of "No great mischief" are the quotation about the family dogs (trying too hard and caring too much) and the scene, where he describes the fiddle session among the miners.
Yours
Ernest (who finally became a member ...)

Subject: RE: BS? 'No Great Mischief'- One Great Book
From: Mudlark
Date: 06 May 03 - 04:01 PM

Thanks for the recommendation, Nick. Although I'm a lot farther south and on the Pacific this sounds like a book I want to read.

Ernest...welcome to Mudcat as a full fledged member!

Subject: RE: BS? 'No Great Mischief'- One Great Book
From: Zhenya
Date: 07 May 03 - 02:39 PM

Thanks for starting this thread. This is a wonderful book, one of my favorites ever. I'm reading Island right now as well.

For the record, I found out about this author when he was featured on the front page of the New York Times book review, about the time Island came out in hardcover. (I waited for the paperback, but I ended up buying the hardcover of No Great Mischief AFTER reading the paperback, so I'd always have a readable copy.) I suspect I will end up doing this with Island as well, as I've really liked the stories I've read so far. (about 4). I agree he doesn't seem to have the recognition he deserves

I also liked the "session" scene with the Cape Breton and French Canadians in the mining camp. I even recognized some of the tune names! I read this novel about a year ago, but still remember a lot of the scenes. (Well, I have picked up the book to look at certain things from time to time.) Highly, highly recommended!

Subject: RE: BS? 'No Great Mischief'- One Great Book
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Mar 04 - 08:46 PM

Reading "no great mischief", was an amazing experience. The authors words are beutifuly captivating, and mesmerizing.

Subject: RE: BS? 'No Great Mischief'- One Great Book
From: Amos
Date: 15 Mar 04 - 08:51 PM

Indebted to you for providing me with his name. I aim to track down all his books.\

A

Subject: RE: BS? 'No Great Mischief'- One Great Book
From: GUEST,pdc
Date: 16 Mar 04 - 01:14 AM

Indeed, No Great Mischief, and Island, both of which I own and have read and re-read, are marvellous. I think that the reason Macleod has had less press than other authors here is that he writes so slowly, so isn't as prolific as some of the others. But his slow, quiet writing is meticulous, and as polished as a pearl.

Although my favourite Canadian writer is Robertson Davies, Macleod is certainly up there in the top ten.

Subject: RE: BS? 'No Great Mischief'- One Great Book
From: Zhenya
Date: 15 Mar 06 - 10:42 PM

I just came across this today (see blue clicky) - you can listen online to Alistair Macleod reading one of his stories, and excerpts from No Great Mischief. There's a short discussion with him afterwards as well.
Zhenya


Alistair Macleod reading

Subject: RE: BS? 'No Great Mischief'- One Great Book
From: Zhenya
Date: 28 Oct 09 - 10:24 PM

10/28/09 - Just saw this online, while looking for something else:


No Great Mischief the greatest
Alistair MacLeod's novel gets top spot in new book, Atlantic Canada's 100 Greatest Books

The Cape Breton Post
By Laura Jean Grant
Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — Ten years after it was first published, Alistair MacLeod's No Great Mischief has been recognized as the greatest Atlantic Canadian book of all time.
A newly released book, Atlantic Canada's 100 Greatest Books, by Trevor J. Adams and Stephen Patrick Clare, names MacLeod's novel as the consensus choice for the number one spot.
"I was very flattered and I was very pleased and surprised. It's very nice to be recognized by such a wide sample of readers and critics and so on," said MacLeod, who was born in Saskatchewan but spent much of his childhood in Cape Breton. He now divides his time between Windsor, Ont. and Dunvegan, Inverness County.
In the decade since its release, No Great Mischief has earned widespread praise and numerous awards, including the world's richest prize in fiction, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
MacLeod is pleased the book has struck a chord with so many people but says it's difficult for him to pinpoint exactly why it resonates with readers.
"It's very hard for me to assess that, but I think obviously what I was trying to say has reached a lot of people and so I'm very pleased," he said. "Sometimes as a writer, you're kind of sending out messages in a bottle and so you're glad when the bottle washes up on shore and people read the contents."
Two of MacLeod's other books, The Lost Salt Gift of Blood, and Island: The Collected Stories are also in the top 15, while several other Cape Breton authors and books are represented in the top 100 including Ann-Marie MacDonald's Fall on Your Knees at number five, A Forest for Calum by Frank Macdonald at number 75, and D.R. MacDonald's Cape Breton Road at number 79.
Adams said he and Clare surveyed people in the publishing and literary industry as well as everyday readers to determining the top 100.
"When we started pulling our rankings together we sent out e-mails to dozens of people inviting them to submit their picks — anyone from Canadian lit professors to other writers — and we encouraged them to spread it along to anyone who was interested," he said. "Votes came in from all over the place and by the time it was all said and done we had 700-plus votes ... nominating a total of about 2,000 titles."
From there, they began ranking books on the number of votes each got, taking into consideration all the feedback, as well as their own editorial opinion.
But the books that topped the list were fairly obvious, said Adams.
"In the top 10, in particular, it's really pretty straight by the number of votes they got. Number one, No Great Mischief, was the clear number one. It wasn't even close. Anne of Green Gables was a close second, but No Great Mischief, it required no thought ranking it number one. It was the consensus pick really," he said. "It works on so many different levels. Just from a purely technical perspective, it's an extremely well-written book. Alistair MacLeod is just a craftsman with the English language. There's no wasted words, you'll never find a grammatical error or misusage. It's just really cleanly, smoothly written."
Adams said he and Clare hope their book becomes a starting point for more discussion on Atlantic Canadian literature.
"This is a topic that anyone who picks up the book is going to have their own opinions on and while we tried to really represent a diversity of opinions in here ... we're not naive enough to think that people are going to accept it as the word of God," he said. "We're expecting a lot of debate around it and that's great. We're big believers in Atlantic Canadian literature so anything that gets people thinking and talking about that, we're very excited about."
Atlantic Canada's 100 Greatest Books is now available in stores and will be officially launched early next month in Halifax.

Subject: RE: BS? 'No Great Mischief'- One Great Book
From: katlaughing
Date: 28 Oct 09 - 11:13 PM

Thanks for the reminder about this book. I'd meant to order it years ago. Have now done so at paperbackswap.com. Thanks!

Subject: RE: BS? 'No Great Mischief'- One Great Book
From: meself
Date: 28 Oct 09 - 11:41 PM

I know I'm in a distinct minority - possibly a minority of one - but I just don't think it's that great a novel. Granted, it has some wonderful scenes and bits and pieces - but to my mind that is largely what it is, a pastiche that just doesn't hold together the way I want it to.

I speak as a great admirer of MacLeod's short stories; I've met the man; I've driven that route between Windsor and Toronto countless times; I've seen and met the Mexican migrant-workers; I've fiddled and drunk with Natives, French-Canadians, and Cape Bretoners; I'm half-Cape-Bretoner myself - but I don't feel it's a particularly strong novel. Sorry!

The 'greatest Atlantic Canadian novel of all time'? Nope. Maybe The Mountain and the Valley, by Ernest Buckler.

Subject: RE: BS? 'No Great Mischief'- One Great Book
From: GUEST,Maoam?
Date: 09 Nov 09 - 12:48 PM

Definately not the best Atlantic Canadian Novel of all time, but certainly an excellent piece of writing. The themes tackled, coupled with the way MacLeod delivers the story amounts to a wonderful blend of 'no holds barred' storytelling and a well formulated family/roots/contrast story.

Subject: "Best" and "Top X" are opinions, not measurements
From: OtherDave
Date: 06 Dec 09 - 10:00 AM

Alistair MacLeod no more believes all Scots are red-headed and speak Gaelic than he believes the moon is made of leftover batter from the International House of Pancakes. He does know there are red-headed Scots, and red-headed Canadians whose roots go back entirely to Gaelic-speaking Highlanders.

He knows something about contemporary Scotland--he lived in Edinburgh and set his children to local schools. With his "Protestant" family name, this cradle-Catholic Canadian learned about sectarian and class divisions that don't occur to people who see Scotland as a combination of Brigadoon and Gaelic Disneyland.

I'd argue that he's at least as interested in what rises from the roots as in the roots themselves. The roots he knows are mainly those of Scottish-descended Cape Bretoners. In the story he read on Dec. 4, 2009, at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC, when he accepted the PEN/Malamud award for short fiction (awarded to him and to Amy Hempel), he described hard lives and hard choices, and the reality that sometimes there's no satisfactory choice but you still have to choose.

The best aspect of a "Top X" list is that it can be an invitation to discovery.

Subject: RE: BS? 'No Great Mischief'- One Great Book
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 18 Nov 11 - 12:51 PM

Better late than never...I just finished it this morning. Hutch, one of our session regulars, loaned it to me last Friday.

I found it quietly wonderful. As powerful as the ocean is under a calm surface.

Now I want to read everything else he's written.

My favorite Canadian author has been Robertson Davies, but "No Great Mischief" is high on my list of favorite novels. Right up there nudging Robert Hellenga, Geraldine Brooks, Julia Glass...

Linn

Subject: RE: BS? 'No Great Mischief'- One Great Book
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 19 Nov 11 - 02:08 AM

I missed this thread earlier but I must step in and state a few thoughts. As a Cape Bretoner descended from those "red headed Scots" I would like to testify that MacLeod's characters are based on the people that he knows so well. We still live and breath on Cape Breton Island as our ancestors did in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland two centuries ago. Some of us still speak the Gaelic tongue of our forebearers, so we are no stereotype. Our music and culture still reflects that of the Celtic tribes from which we descend. Cape Breton remains to this day the most western of the Hebrides and that is simply who we are!
Other authors who write with a similar insight are Lindon MacIntyre and Frank Macdonald.