And the Land Lay Still

Coming from a Scots family I recognise many of the people depicted in this book which was part of what kept me reading;the journey was not new to me.Online observers have noted that the 'spy' section in the middle is overlong-a fair comment.I thought the novel resembled a soap opera when it was at it's weakest but when it rose above this level it was often sublime.Less dry than 'Joseph Knight' and a lot more rooted in reality than 'the fanatic'. Recommended.

This is one of the best and bravest books to hail from Scotland in many years.It portrays the social and political developments over the last 50 years that have seen Scotland move from being a fixture of the UK that the British government took for granted - setting up a nuclear power station and a nuclear submarine base, for example, which it would never have dared to do in England - to a confident reborn nation on the eve of a referendum on independence.This change - which saw Scottish nationalism develop from a fringe movement to a threat to the British state - is seen through the lives of a dozen or so characters whose socialist, conservative and nationalist beliefs adapt to circumstances at home and abroad.The leitmotif is a loner who becomes mentally unhinged after being held prisoner by the Japanese in WW2 and cannot cope with life back home. He abandons his family and disappears, symbolizing the free spirit of the Scot that is, alas, often self-destructive.Much of the dialogue is in Scots, a rare sign of self confidence among Scottish writers and Scotland is the setting for virtually the whole book*. In fact, the weakest parts of the novel are those set in London where Scots high fliers have had to go for over 300 years as the seat of power moved from their homeland to England.The rest is set in the cold free air of Scotland's hills and forests, the northwest Highlands, the industrialized rural wasteland of Fife, the feudal moors of the Anglo-Scottish establishment in Perthshire, run-down parts of Glasgow and posh parts of Edinburgh.The religious gap that has split parts of Scotland for too long is perhaps underestimated.I really liked this book but it is by no means a great piece of literature. Many of the characters are not as strongly developed as they could be and the political and social developments are often inserted rather clumsily.Some characters, like the Edinburgh doyenne, Jean Barbour, are more symbolic than real and giving an undercover agent the name "James Bond" was just plain silly and detracts from a serious issue.The attempts at political correctness, with a strong gay dimension, are also a bit clunky and the sexual antics that bring a Tory MP's career to an end are almost laughable.I can't see many people who are not Scots liking this book but I don't think it was written for them. It is set to become a classic.*I imagine Roberston is having a go at William Boyd when he refers to a Scottish writer whose books are "set in Italy, France, America and England and not in Scotland."

This is an amazing work which although it is an novel portrays an actual period of Scottish life which is completely authentic and very nostalgic for those who lived then. And the Land Lay Still

This is not my usual choice of book (I am a creature of habit) but every now and then I read random reviews and go 'off piste' to try a new author. I am so glad I came across James Robertson. I read "Joseph Knight" which was riveting and I chose this book on the strength of the reviews; I wasn't disappointed. The range, depth and scale of the book is incredible. Each character is finely drawn, each situation gritty and compelling. James' grasp of place and time makes for a fascinating and heart rending saga, Jack Gordon in particular leapt off the page for me. Once I started it I could hardly put it down...you know that feeling when you are itching for a quiet moment so you can dive back in? An amazing read...treat yourself!

I can't believe this won an award. I thought it would never end, it plods along at the most mind numbingly tedious pace. None of the many characters has a genuine ring to them and the use of Scots vernacular seems self consciously cringe-inducing. Trying too hard to be PC, it crowbars historical events into the story lines will all the subtlety of a wrecking ball. Can I have an award for finishing it, please?

This is a truly wonderful book. At one level it is a sweeping epic take on the decades after the last War but at another it also shows real, well drawn characters, their lives, hopes, loves ,dreams and disappointments within the bigger story. As such it reminds me of Count Lev Tolstoy's War and Peace. The reader is made aware of the events that got post- war Scotland to the present time, tracing, it would seem, the national greater self-awareness to two events in the early fifties, the theft of the Stone of Destiny and the debacle of the only postbox in Scotland ever to have the legend EIIR on it

I loved this book so much. It was about my life and times and things I knew - the mining villages and towns, the cities, the people. It was a very emotional experience reading this book, and I shed a few tears. It was immense.

It's not an easy read but worth the effort of staying with it. It's one persons view is rough the eyes of a fictional character of the social history of Scotland over the last fifty years. It causes the reader to stop and reconsider the road they've travelled, and for the younger reader it helps to explain how our recent history has led us to where we are.