
Off in a Boat
Neil Gunn(Author)
New Amsterdam Books (Publisher)
Published on 21. April 1998
Book
Paperback/Softback
348 pages
978-0-941533-98-0 (ISBN)
Description
In 1937, the Scottish writer, Neil Gunn, gave up his job in the civil service, sold his house in Inverness, and bought a boat. With his wife and his brother John, he set off on a three-month voyage around Inner Hebrides.
The boat had outlived its first youth, and its engine was somewhat cranky; she went tolerably under sail. These are not high recommendations, but for Gunn, and at times his fellow voyagers, the vessel was an argosy of freedom, of adventure and misadventure-for they were fairly inexperienced sailors, and the waters of the region are by no means placid.
Gunn was a Scots nationalist in a sense that goes far beyond the political, even though he thought that an independent Scotland was the only proper basis for a reasonable civilization. He was by nature poetic, uplifted or cast down by changing skies, seascapes, and shores. His descriptions of those things, including their moods, are remarkably evocative. And he is also a passionate historian of his country, exalting its possibilities, anathematizing its shortcomings. The book is illustrated with Daisy Gunn's photographs taken on the voyage, which are palpably amateur but wonderfully telling.
The boat had outlived its first youth, and its engine was somewhat cranky; she went tolerably under sail. These are not high recommendations, but for Gunn, and at times his fellow voyagers, the vessel was an argosy of freedom, of adventure and misadventure-for they were fairly inexperienced sailors, and the waters of the region are by no means placid.
Gunn was a Scots nationalist in a sense that goes far beyond the political, even though he thought that an independent Scotland was the only proper basis for a reasonable civilization. He was by nature poetic, uplifted or cast down by changing skies, seascapes, and shores. His descriptions of those things, including their moods, are remarkably evocative. And he is also a passionate historian of his country, exalting its possibilities, anathematizing its shortcomings. The book is illustrated with Daisy Gunn's photographs taken on the voyage, which are palpably amateur but wonderfully telling.
Reviews / Votes
Exhilarating.... Gunn's joy is infectious. -- Euan Cameron * The Independant * Scotland's greatest novelist of the century. * The Book Reader * The most important Scottish novelist of the 20th century. -- Trevor Royale, editor of <I>The MacMillan Companion to Scottish Literature<I>More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
494 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-941533-98-0 (9780941533980)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions


Person
Neil Gunn is recognized as one of Scotland's foremost writers. In recent years, many of his books have been re-issued, including two volumes of criticism and half a dozen novels.