Catch Hold Of The Crofter And The Laird Authored By John McPhee Compiled As Text

need more like this, MacPhees accounts work by dream logicwhich is the inverse of nonsense, A sentence may seem not to lead to its successor, and yet theres no other sentence that could take the next ones place.
Subject matter changes from geography to myth to history to local finance to weather page by page, and yet the evolution of concepts feels clear even though theres no connective tissue visible.
Theres no overarching argument, no bullet list of takeaways, and yet for all thatbecause of all thatone leaves with the feeling something consequential has been said.
Set in the lates on the Scottish island of Colonsay where the author has relocated his family from the States.
He writes descriptively about the inhabitants of the island, the landscape and the history, albeit a bit haphazardly at times.
It's a reflection of the time of writing I suppose, but there was almost no mention of the family's personal experiences and only ever his of living in such a different environment.
The characters described on the island are also almost exclusively the men, Written in different circumstances, on different islands in different eras, but the contrast is very stark compared to Tamsin Calidas' "I am an island", which is written from the female perspective of island life.
A croft is less than a farm, only forty acres, The laird is the owner, in this case the owner of the entire island of Colonsay, Hear it from one of the islanders, "Some crofters don't work their crofts, They have a cow, a few sheep, That is all. My father was always one for working the croft, When I took it over, I kept it going, It's not right to let the land be neglected, I'm quite happy here. I make out, so long as the shore's handy and such like, But if you expect many things in life, crofting isn't the way to get them, Crofting cannot keep up with the times, Most people expect more than the bare necessities of living now, And crofting is not a livelihood, It's an existence. " Surprisingly the temperature doesn't get extemely cold, rarely below, but hardly ever above, So staying warm and dry is a constant gathering of driftwood, careful measuring out use of coal, and repair of roof leaks.
Now throw in Scottish churlishness, gossip as a way of life, and knowing everything about allpeople on an island the size of Minneapolis.
Fascinating. Not even Sir Walter Scott could exaggerate the romantic beauty of that lake and mountain country penetrated by fjords that came in from the seas that were starred with islands.

John McPhee

I expected something like a coherent description of life on a Hebridean island from beginning to end, perhaps sprinkled with comparisons to life in America and the authors realisation that life on that island was heaven, or something of that sort.
What I got was a collection of stories about the people on Colonsay, each illuminating some part of their way of life, and McPhees various encounters with them equally illuminating stories that, when so flawlessly woven together, somehow became a whole that I wished were much longer than it is.


I have never read anything by McPhee before, but after this one I am eager for more.
His writing is simple and without judgment you never truly get an idea of his opinion of this or that person, this or that event, but are presented with the facts as they are and then you can form your own opinion or just enjoy the read.
That is quite impressive to me, McPhee has got himself a new admirer, It is clear, however, that he has fallen in love with the environment found on Colonsay and you probably will, too, if you read this.


/NK
The Crofter and The Laird John McPhee
John McPhee employees a writing module quite unlike any other that I have seen.
People either like McPhees work or they dont, I enjoy his informative, no glitz, “just the facts” nonfictional storytelling, I learn things from reading McPhee that I would learn nowhere else, and I enjoy this offthebeatenpath stroll.
The Crofter and The Laird is no exception,
McPhees roots trace back to a place where time stands still, or at least is irrelevant as we have come to know it.
His relatives still live life as their ancestors did on the isle of Colonsay,miles west of Scotland.
McPhee decides that for this writing adventure that he does not want to forget his relatives, nor the lifestyle, hardships, or simplicity of their lives.
So, he, his wife and two daughters whom have grown to be authors, also move to the isle of Colonsay to reconnect with his family and their lifestyles.

IMHO, it is a very entertaining story told only as McPhee can tell a story, I must admit that it would seem very improbable for people and kin to hold on and wish to continue living a life so hard, and yet so simple, where everyone is defined and held to what they contribute to their homeland, a relatively small parcel in the geography of the world.
There are no vagrants in Colonsay, Everyone and everything serves a purpose of being there, We live in a fastpaced world where we tear or peel away at what we will serve the family for supper where they gather and discuss the world of Facebook, Twitter, and other social platforms found on their Apple cell phones.
The children drink powdered milk in Colonsay, The people are profoundly dependent on the boats that come and go to the island not all that often.
Supper is usually some sort of stew made over the fire that may be drying your clothes also.
Budgeting for the year takes a very sharp pencil where money is so precious of a commodity.
It is no wonder that there are generation problems due to the children not caring to live the same livelihood of their parents.

McPhee throws in some very interesting storytelling along the way, as he always does, It doesnt matter if he is writing of a river boat, an outcrop along I, a milk tanker, or a womans duties in Colonsay, McPhee makes it interesting.
If this type of writing appeals to you then pick up The Crofter and the Laird, It will make an interesting derailment in your normal reading material, I award John McPhee astar on this one,
Returning in the late's to the Hebridean island of his ancestors, Colonsay, off the west coast of Scotland, with wife and children in tow, John McPhee lived and wrote there for several months.
He delved into the lives and quirky personalities of theor so people who still lived there, on their isolated island owned by an English

"laird" who only visited there in the summertime.
Baron Strathcona, whose greatgrandfather Donald Smith rose from humble origins to later make his vast fortune in Canadian railways and even to drive the last spike in the line that finally completed the crosscountry railroad that linked east coast to west coast, was not necessarily enamored of his role.
It turned out that playing the part of feudal lord was no longer very financially viable, especially since the laird collected rather paltry rents and was saddled with the costs of maintaining the homes of his islander tenants.
The source of the islanders' livelihood was not very clear government and tourism, with a dash of farming but at at rate it was enough to keep body and soul together but not enough to keep their children from fleeing the island when they came of age.


My own ancestors came from another island of the Outer Hebrides, South Uist, to the northwest of Colonsay, before very sensibly emigrating to Canada.
So, I took a particular interest in this book, for its portrait of the lives of these Scots a couple of generations ago, a way of life that is no doubt already gone and replaced with a new, less isolated and more prosperous one.
McPhee does a remarkable job of making his way into this society, and recording what he sees and hears with a style that tends more to the novelistic that the traditional nonfiction form.
He also spends no small amount of time also exploring the history of this island and its many myths, and it's all a bit meandering, but if you're not in a hurry, you'll decidedly enjoy this book.
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