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Smiling Shelves

Waverley [Review]

10/4/2014

2 Comments

 
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When I was creating my list for the Classics Club, I knew I wanted to include something by Sir Walter Scott. I've already read and enjoyed Ivanhoe and Rob Roy, and I knew Scott had plenty of other books to discover. I did some investigating and settled on Waverley. It was about the Jacobite rebellion of 1745. Ever since I traveled to Scotland in 2007, I've been curious about the Jacobites.

Little did I know when I picked Waverley that I was choosing a momentous book in literary history. Waverley was Scott's first novel. Previously, he had only published poetry. Waverley and its successors were international bestsellers. It established the novel as a serious form of literature. And it created the genre of historical fiction. Before Waverley, there had been history and fiction, but it took Sir Walter Scott to combine them into historical fiction and make the genre widely popular.

Waverley tells the story of Edward Waverley, the nephew of an English lord who, pretty much through his own naiveté, finds himself fighting on the side of the Jacobites and Bonnie Prince Charlie Stuart. Like Catherine Morland of Northanger Abbey, Waverley read too many romances as a child, and now he is drawn to the romance of Scotland. He finds love and a brotherhood that changes the course of his life.

Despite being about a rebellion, there isn't a ton of action in this book. It's rather slow-paced, with plenty of notes in the back to refer to in order to figure out exactly what Scott was trying to say. This book isn't for everybody; some would probably find it boring. But I definitely enjoyed discovering Scotland in the mid-1700s and experiencing this piece of literary history.

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2 Comments
fiddlrts link
10/5/2014 12:44:38 pm

I have not read Waverly, although I do own it and quite a few other obscure Scott novels in old editions my wife and I have found here and there. Of his more famous ones, I would highly recommend The Talisman (about the crusades) and Kenilworth (about Elizabeth I). My favorite (so far) of the less well known novels is Quentin Durward, which isn't much about Quentin himself, but about Louis XI of France, a delightfully complex and conflicted character in Scott's version. Second would be Heart of Midlothian, which stars an admirable and strong heroine.

If you are fond of poetic storytelling, The Lady of the Lake is fun.

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Julie @ Smiling Shelves link
10/6/2014 01:28:21 pm

Thanks for the recommendations. I've heard of Kenilworth, but not the other books you mention. I love learning about history through historical fiction - especially when it's written by the creator of the genre!

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    My name is Julie, and I own a lot of books. As in, they are stacked on the floor because I've run out of room on the shelves. And those shelves? There are so many books on them that they smile -- not sag; smile. This blog will cover book reviews and all manner of other bookish things.

    You can contact me at julie@smilingshelves.com.

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