Monarch of the Glen by Compton Mackenzie Review

Monarch of the Glen, the painting.

The Monarch of the Glen by Compton Mackenzie A (and NOT on the curve.)

As I stated in my Final Quest post several weeks ago, after sampling different genre and contemporary writing, I decided to return to my true roots in non-SFF writing, which is to say books written in the first half of the 20^th century, give or take a decade. I wanted something light and bright, and didn’t already have on my bookshelves, so to that end, I ordered a second hand copy of Compton Mackenzie’s The Highland Omnibus, which includes three of his “Highland Novels”, The Monarch of the Glen, (1941) Whisky Galore(1947) and The Rival Monster (1952).

I am pretty certain that I have read this, and the other two novels, years ago, though I found that I remembered nothing of this story. The Monarch of the Glen (A pun on a famous painting of a deer) concerns a Scottish laird, Donald MacDonald of Ben Nevis, the 23^rd of that family line, his wife, three sons and two daughters, plus friends, and his millionaire American guests, Chester Royde, his wife Carrie, and his sister Myrtle. The story recounts his efforts to marry one of his sons to Myrtle who stands to inherit millions. In addition there is a war against campers, who have disregarded his “No Camping” signs on his estate. All in the service of poking affectionate fun at Scots highland customs, language, weather and attitudes, with plenty of asides regarding English customs and foibles as well, so I won’t bother to recount the plot. For me the story is all about its writing.

As I have said in the past, I love clever, witty, and accomplished writing. Almost all of my favorite writers are British, or in the case of Raymond Chandler, English educated. There is something in how they use their language that I find delightful, though, of course, there is a wide spectrum of British writers, so that not all appeal to me. It is the light, bright, and atmospheric ones that I find so wonderful, and Compton Mackenzie falls into this category. Now, some of his stories are quite serious, but his Highland Novels, are meant to be funny, and they are. I could quote half a dozen lines here to support that, but well, humor is subjective, and perhaps taken out of context, the lines would fail to amuse, so I won’t. Suffice to say that I grinned, laughed out loud, and simply appreciated the man’s talent.

There is a British TV show with this name as well. I recall watching a season or two of it somewhere, but it’s connection with the book, if any at all, is tenuous at best, set, as it is, in modern times.

There are, I believe, three more novels set in the highlands and the Scottish Islands featuring some common characters. They are, Turning out the Home Guard, Hunting the Faries, and Rockets Galore that I fear I will have to order from England sooner or later, as they never reached this shore. But I still have two more novels to read before placing my order with Abe Books.