The Reavers

by: George MacDonald Fraser

Published by: Anchor Books

Reviewed by Julie Failla Earhart

Every book has its reader; the person who loves its style, subject, plot, and message. After I read the “Foreword” and the first chapter/section and skimmed the remaining two hundred-fifty pages of the late George MacDonald Fraser’s last novel, The Reavers, I quickly realized that the book was not written with me in mind.

If I was giving stars for well-written, I could give this book five stars. I’ve been trained to know writing, and I can tell you, dear reader, that The Reavers is well written. Ye gads! I’ve fallen into GMF’s (George MacDonald Fraser) style. However, if I was to recommend this historical comedy to a friend, I’d have to, in good conscious, tell my reader buddy that it was one star. Unless of course I knew they liked Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

I knew I was in trouble with the foreword’s first two sentences: “This book is nonsense. It’s meant to be.” I’m a rather serious person and nonsense isn’t my cup of tea.

I can tell you from reading the first chapter/section four times, that it is supposedly a summary of historical events. Written in a sort of stream-of-consciousness style, the sentence lengths rival that of any of Virginia Wolff and William Faulkner’s stuff. They go on and on and on…kind of like the Energizer Bunny.

I can also tell you that, based on the book jacket summary, that “it’s the turn of the seventeenth century (sort of) in the wild borderlands of Scotland.” I even found that summary nonsensical. It reads well and sounds quite interesting, but the plot and style failed to capture this hapless reader.

Armchair Interviews says: This is the author’s last book as he died in 2008 on the Isle of Man.