Ali Smith: “Winter”, Hamish Hamilton, 2017. £16.99.
THIS IS the second of Inverness-born Ali Smith’s quartet of seasonal novels, following on from last year’s “Autumn”. “Spring” and “Summer” are scheduled to follow over the next two years. Its predecessor, “Autumn”, looked at a long standing cross-generational friendship that began in 1993 when Elisabeth was eight and Daniel, an art lover and collector, was already an old man. At the start of the novel, Elisabeth is 32 years old and works as a lecturer on a casual zero hours contract, while Daniel is 101, lives in a privatised care home and spends most of his time asleep. Many of the scenes that take place while Elisabeth is a child are reminiscent of the innocent relationship portrayed by Neil Gunn in his novel “Old Art and Young Hector”, but in these more aware or cynical (take your pick) times, concerns over exploitation and abuse cannot be ignored. Smith deals with this in one very short passage where Elisabeth’s mainly absent mother tells her that now she is 13, she shouldn’t be spending time alone with Daniel. Elisabeth ignores her and the friendship continues.
This story is from the No 315, January 2018 edition of Am Bratach.
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This story is from the No 315, January 2018 edition of Am Bratach.
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The Postie's Post
WHEN YOU consider that we really don’t have that many roads in the Highlands, the ones we do have seem to get a story from most people you talk to.
Council Gritters Fall Short In Assynt
‘I took to social media in the vain hope that somebody would notice’ — Cllr Currie
Bookends
“She Said He Said I Said: New Writing Scotland 35”, edited by Diana Hendry and Susie Maguire, Association for Scottish Literary Studies, 2017. £9.95.
Graeme At Large
Graeme At Large
A 19th Century View Of 'Wild' Land
A 19th Century View Of 'Wild' Land
Geopark Means Business This Year
Securing long-term government support is a priority, says new chairman
Fraser Darling's View Of Highland Medical Care
The “West Highland Survey: an essay in human ecology”, edited by Frank Fraser Darling, was published by the Oxford University Press in 1955. Fraser Darling (1903-79) was an English ecologist, ornithologist, farmer, conservationist and author who between 1939 and 1943 brought derelict land into agricultural production on Tanera Mòr in the Summer Isles. In January 1944 he met Tom Johnson MP, Secretary of State for Scotland, who was aware of Fraser Darling’s published works which included a popular weekly column on agricultural science syndicated in several Highland newspapers. They agreed his plan for a social and biological investigation into the problems of the West Highlands and for establishing an agricultural advisory and demonstration centre in the crofting areas. In Fraser Darling’s own words, the West Highland Survey was established “in order to examine in a spirit of scientific inquiry, to gather a solid body of facts for analysis and synthesis, which would serve as a foundation for a future policy for the region”. He continued: “The argument was maintained that if the problem were understood in its wholeness, solution would be possible”. In June 1944, a team which included Frank Fraser Darling as director and four young Gaelic-speaking field officers, began work. The resulting 438-page book includes the following account of the Highlands and Islands Medical Service, launched in 1913 and forerunner of the Scottish National Health Service. After thirty years, the surveyors regarded the service as an unqualified success, an enviable situation underlined by the number of able medics seeking work in the post-war Highlands.
From Our Archives
Long service nurse to be honoured by community
The Postie's Post
IF YOU are a regular reader of my postie’s posts you will probably sigh when you realise that I am talking about roads again this month. But I do have an excuse and that is because the Highland Council aren’t really that good at managing them at times.
Bookends
George Gunn, “The Great Edge”, Grace Note Publications, 2017. £12.99.
