The Lewis Man
Most questions come from Allan Massie’s review of the book in the Scotsman.
1 Do you think the title is appropriate? Who do you consider to be “the Lewis Man?”
2 Massie says
“It’s about the weight of the past, failed relationships, lives gone wrong and the ill-treatment of children. It may also be called a hymn in praise of the beauties of the islands and the miseries of their weather. There is a great deal of description of landscape and the elements, too much perhaps for some tastes, but you can always skim these paragraphs”
Do you agree? Are there any other elements you might include?
3 Much of the narrative depends on the portrayal of a dementia sufferer? What do you think of the portrayal or treatment of this subject?
4 “The denouement of the plot is melodramatic and depends highly on coincidence. It tests the reader’s credulity, especially in the final scenes. Nevertheless this is acceptable. It is the Buchan recipe: a plot which is improbable but stops just short of the impossible.”
Do you think the inclusion of the Kellys in the “present” part of the story was necessary?.... Or do you think it became too melodramatic?
Would the plot have been just as successful without the drama and violence of the last chapters?
5 “ Like Buchan again, May recognises that a novel of action is enriched by scenes in which the action pauses. One of the best details an evening Fin spends, after a violent incident, with the minister, in which they recapture some of their long-broken friendship and approach a better understanding of each other.”
Are there other scenes which provide a similar interlude?
6 What scenes stay in your mind most vividly?
7 Peter Mary Quercus says in his review of “The Blackhouse” in the Scotsman.
“I have only one criticism of this genuinely absorbing novel, and that is its final few pages. There is something about them that feels just a little rushed, a little clichd - as if the end credits threaten to roll just a few moments too soon and catch the writer off-guard. But the criticism is a minor one, and the rather abrupt conclusion certainly does not overshadow almost 400 pages of pitch-perfect dialogue and creepy, spine-tingling storytelling. “
Could this critiicism also be applied to “The Lewis Man”