Gothic adventure romance

Guy Mannering by Walter Scott
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I found this a great pleasure to read. Beginning to end.

I also see that he had thought to make this a fantasy novel (perhaps in slightly a different sense than we would mean it 200 years later) and I can totally see that. It could be a fantasy.

Guy Mannering, on the road after Oxford, is offered shelter in a fine old home and is present when the heir of Ellangowan is born. Using his arcane knowledge, he produces a horoscope for the child and gives some warnings to the family before leaving. That one night connects him to the family in a deep way.

The connections and twists of fate are part of the fun of this novel and are familiar tropes in gothic novels. I thought they worked well.

Scott creates wonderfully round characters. The MC is a flawed but principled and good gentleman, as is his daughter's love interest. The lawyer from Edinburgh is cool--brilliant and well educated, but playful and eccentric, the source of some actual laughs. And there are several more characters who are well drawn and inventive, but these three are true favorites:

•Dandy Dinmont, a country farmer who is just on the edge of gentleman. He is plainspoken and honest, though a bit rough, and somehow both proud and humble. He is utterly reliable, the guy you would want watching your house and pets if you were away.

•Dominie, the learned Ellangowan retainer. He studied to be a clergyman but when it came to it couldn't preach and in fact barely talks in front of others. The way he is portrayed makes him almost certainly a high-functioning Aspie, and I love how those closest to him have learned to accommodate him and watch out for him but also find ways for him to apply his gifts. With an orderly mind and love of learning, he makes an excellent tutor and librarian. Though his manner is sometimes a source of fun in the novel, it's loving, even affectionate. His exclamation of "Prodigous!" is kinda charming, and reminds me of the movie October Sky.

•Meg Merrilies, the frightening Roma (they still use the word Gypsy, of course) woman. She is in so many scenes and fills so many roles she might have been several different women. She is something of a witch, but also a plain woman, a robber queen, a loyal retainer, a wise woman, a hag, and a crackpot. In the end, we see that she is ultimately faithful and honorable, willing to risk her life to do the right thing. She's tall and strong and terrifying, quick with a suitable lie, and ready to do a good turn for anyone who showed her decent kindness or respect. Every page she's on is great. She's easily the most intriguing character in the book.

Here is another novel I'd love to see as a movie or miniseries. Maybe someday.

The bits in dialect can be hard to parse, and the style is somewhat stiff in places, but it's very readable and surprisingly modern in many ways. For those who read 19th Century British literature, and especially those who like adventure and intrigue in it, this is recommended.

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