The Master of Ballantrae: A Winter's Tale (The World's Best Reading)

The Master of Ballantrae: A Winter's Tale by Robert Louis Stevenson The book is full of adventure, romance, sorrow, and revenge. I highly recommend this book. I am sure it will capture your attention as it did mine.

First, to point out a deficiency in this title's listing--it is certainly not intended for a Young Adult readership. Despite Stevenson's reputation as an author of "boy's books," he proves in THE MASTER OF BALLANTRAE that he is a pyschological novelist of the first order. In fact, in reading this retelling of the Jacob and Esau myth, I was struck by the novel's surprisingly modernistic qualities, and cannot help but wonder if Joseph Conrad did not read and admire this story. The multiple points of view and the subtle attention to psychology and symbolism truly puts this book a generation ahead of its time. This book is no TREASURE ISLAND or even KIDNAPPED, and concludes ambiguously and one could argue bleakly. But despite that, or perhaps due to it, THE MASTER OF BALLANTRAE is one of the all-time great historical romances in English Literature. Not to be missed.

I have always liked everything written by Stevenson, but The Master of Ballantrae far outstrips everything else. It is a subtle insight into human nature, and a great adventure story as well. The episodes are majestic, and the story, though bleak, is very touching. I have read it many, many times and think more of it the more I read it (to paraphrase Mackellar on page 1).

I am a big fan of Robert Louis Stevenson, and I think that "The Master of Ballantrae" is his best novel. It has interesting character studies and its exciting story is set in a great variety of locations. It has good adventure plus a very haunting quality to it, and is one of those books that I enjoy re-reading.