Highland River by Neil M Gunn
Written in prose as cool and clear as the water it describes, Highland River is one of Neil Gunn's most lyrical and popular novels. Winner of the James Tait Black Memorial prize when first published in 1937, it has over the years become established as one of the greatest pieces of twentieth century Scottish fiction. The 'northern river' of the title is the physical and spiritual focus of the novel and the source to which Kenn, the central character returns. Looking back over his life from the disillusioned thirties, the river becomes symbolic of both what has been lost and what has endured. From an idyllic childhood spent in the Highlands through the terrible slaughter of the First World War, Kenn's reminiscences eventually lead him back to the river that has haunted his imagination for so many years. Its effect on him is profound and the culmination of this poetic masterpiece.
Looked at either as a sage of the spirit or as a story dressed in all the circumstances of Higland loveliness, Mr Gunn's book has a deep and moving appeal* * Evening Standard * *
Highland River is a novel of unusual distinction. * * Irish Independent * *
This book must be read as one would listen to music ... scenes are projected with a crystal clarity, sharply defined, with an odd double quality of intense immediacy and a sort of enclosed detachment. * * Times Literary Supplement * *
Highland River is a novel of unusual distinction. * * Irish Independent * *
This book must be read as one would listen to music ... scenes are projected with a crystal clarity, sharply defined, with an odd double quality of intense immediacy and a sort of enclosed detachment. * * Times Literary Supplement * *
Neil Miller Gunn was born in Dunbeath, one of the nine children of 'bookish' Isabella Miller, and James Gunn, a fishing skipper of local renown. In 1911, he began 26 years as an excise officer, many of them at whisky distilleries in the Highlands and the Islands. In 1921, Gunn married Jessie Frew. The first of his 21 novels, The Grey Coast, appeared in 1926. In 1937, the acclaim won by his seventh, the prize-winning Highland River, encouraged him to resign his excise post and write full-time. Gunn's wife died in 1963, and he lived alone in the Black Isle until his death. Since then, his standing as one of Scotland's finest novelists had become even more firmly established, and the Neil Gunn International Fellowship has been founded in his honor.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780862413583 |
| ISBN 10 | 0862413583 |
| Title | Highland River |
| Author | Neil M Gunn |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Canongate Books |
| Year published | 1997-01-01 |
| Number of pages | 256 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |