Waverley

Book quality "Good" was really "Poor". Notes in ink written throughout the book. Too many to gift book as intended.

Waverly is the granddaddy of all historical romance novels. It was published anonymously in 1814 in Edinburgh. Its author was Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) the famous poet. Among his many lyrics were "The Lady in The Lake" and "Marmion." By 1814 his poetic star was fading while that of his rival Lord Byron was ascending into the heavenly realms of literary glory. Scott decided to take up novel writing producing over twenty famous novels. Waverly is the first in the Waverly novels series. It is notable for many reasons: 1. Scott's book is considered to be the first major English historical novel. Scott sets his book during the time of Bonnie Prince Charlie's quest to seize the throne of Great Britain for the Stuart dynasty. His opponent was the Hanover ruler George II (1714-27). 2. Scott wrote of war, adventure and love in a way to attract male readers. He shows us that novels are not to become the sole baliwick of feminine authors such as Jane Austen, Jane Porter, Marie Edgeworth, Fanny Burney and others of that scribbling sisterhood of authors. 3. Scott helped introduce the highlands and lowlands of Scotland to readers in England. Scotland became part of Great Britain following the union of 1707 but many English people were unfamiliar with their fellow citizens living north of the River Tweed. 4, Scott influenced the works of such later literary giants as Charles Dickens, Honore de Balzac and James Fenimore Cooper. And yet....! Scott has grievious faults as a novelist! Consider: 1. His books are very hard to read in the twenty-first century due to their use of abstruse Scottish dialect, the mixing of Latin and Greek quotations and the author's wide use of classical references unfamiliar to a modern audience. 2. Scott's plots are hard to follow and overcomplicated. He is not good at drawing multidimensiional human beings. All of the characters in Waverly are cardboard figures. 3, Scott often interrupts the story to make authorial comments and engages in long digressions on Scottish history and customs. These comments may enlighten but they may also bore! 4. Scott's two major love interests in Waverly are Flora MacIvor and the lowland maide Rose. Both of these women are portrayed as if they were placed on a pedestal. They are not well drawn human beings. With all of his faults I still give Scott a five star recommendation because of the importance of Waverly in the long procession of the great novels of English Literature. He deserves reading and the man could introduce to a way of life that is foreign and exotic.

Sir Walter Scott began WAVERLEY, his first novel, in 1805. Years later, after his move to his dream home Abbotsford near the border with England, he found his manuscript while rummaging in a fishing tackle box. He then brought the world's first historical novel to a conclusion in 1814. Abe Lincoln read Walter Scott. His children entertained their mother re-enacting scenes from the WAVERLEY series of novels. I wonder therefore if Lincoln's "Four score and seven years ago..." does not echo WAVERLEY's frequently repeated sub-title, " 'Tis Sixty Years Since." WAVERLEY is narrated as from 1805, the year it was begun, and for both it and the Gettysburg Address, a reader inevitably starts calculating backwards. What date are we talking about? Ah,1745 for young Edward Waverley. We know (as he does not) what turmoil he is letting himself in for when he rides into the Highlands -- the last hurrah of the legitimate Stuart dynasty. And 1776 for Abe Lincoln meant the Declaration of Independence. In 1745 "auld" Scotland almost disappeared in defeat. In 1776 Hanoverian Britain began its retreat from North America. Scott tells us in i.1 (p. 5) that in 1745 our ancestors expressed their anger directly, by taking up arms. But in 1805/1814 his generation was more indirect, taking enemies to court. This very great novel should be read for sheer entertainment, for its characters, for the omnipresent black bears of the Baron of Bradwardine and for its love story. But I suggest that we read it as well as history and geography. Are we up for the sounds of broad Scots language? For a smidgen of Highland Gaelic (which Scott barely knew)? To learn about doch and dorroch and the stirrup-cup? Through hundreds of details of what Scotsmen ate, how they dressed, how beautiful were their mountains and waters near Perth, Walter Scott brought Scotland to life in England and throughout Europe and in the USA. WAVERLEY makes us take Scotland, the real Scotland of history, seriously. We see its educated Catholic Highlanders sending their children to study in France and Italy. Bonnie Prince Charlie lost only one battle of several, but it was enough to secure Hanoverians their throne. We sense that the transition, however awful, was inevitable from fiercely independent Scotland to an uncomfortable, demoted "North Britain" within a prospering, peaceful United Kingdom of middle-class shopkeepers. Walter Scott makes us ask what if any history has to teach us. Not only is WAVERLEY the first historical novel. It is also the first political novel. We see dimly how a generally dismal set of rulers, the Stuart dynasty, could continue to win men's loyalty to a lost cause. In a later novel, also about Prince Charlie 20 years later, we read of a Scottish family named REDGAUNTLET whose fate was always to be on the losing side. What makes subjects or citizens alike glory in losing for political principle? Mark Twain wrote as if all Walter Scott cared about were kings and dynasties, knights,

With Waverly, Sir Walter Scott virtually invented the historical novel. The story is based around mostly fictional characters that participate in the Jacobite uprising in 1745 in Scotland. It's also the story of friendships, courage, divided loyalties and of course love. Edward Waverly, the hero gets unwittingly caught up and swept along in a marvelous drama in which he comes of age. As the book progressed I also found myself getting more caught up in the novel and its characters. For me, that's the mark of a very good book.Both the author and editor's notes were very helpful and I used them often.Enjoy!