Where It's Good, But I Probably Liked it More Than Most People

The Works of Sir Walter Scott: The Monastery by Walter Scott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love Sir Walter Scott, and I *liked* this book. Still fun; still some cool stuff; not quite as awesome as other novels (IMO). But I enjoyed reading it. Casual readers might find less to enjoy.

This is set on the Scottish side of the border with England, in a rough, hilly region where the local monastery is the landlord, late in the 16th century. Elizabeth is queen in of England--and a protestant--while Protestantism is also on the rise in Scotland, edging out Catholicism for the first time. That makes for odd allies among different factions on each side of the border, which is what the novel is mostly about.

The main characters are a pair of brothers, one thin and studious and the other athletic and outdoorsy, from a family a little above common (but not noble) and a young noblewoman in their household whose inheritance has been taken by a robber-baron relative. The brothers are both in love with her even though she is above their station. The action in the story takes off when a Catholic rebel from England, a well known knight, is sent to live in hiding with them and (1) he takes notice of the young woman in a way the brothers don't like, and (2) important people are close to finding him every moment.

Unusually for Scott, this novel has supernatural elements, specifically a female spirit that shows herself to some of the characters, and she has a direct impact on events. At times, this gives the story a feel rather like modern fantasy, or perhaps gothic, and I liked how that worked. Sorta spooky and sorta old-fashioned.

The prose, as always, is amazing. Perhaps most impressive is the speech of the English knight throughout. He is a Euphuist, which means he speaks constantly with elevated diction, employing excessive metaphors and similes and generally grandiose language. Whenever he's asked a question by the abbot or anyone else, he takes forever to get to the point, which is comedic and fun, but the pages and pages of incredibly dense, poetic dialogue is astonishing. The incredible hyperbole, the obscure allusions, the lengthy similes... it's all very impressive.

A taste:

“You, reverend sir,” said the knight, “have, in the encounter of our wits, made a fair attaint; whereas I may be in some sort said to have broken my staff across. Pardon me, grave sir, that I speak in the language of the tilt-yard, which is doubtless strange to your reverend years.—Ah! brave resort of the noble, the fair and the gay!—Ah! throne of love, and citadel of honour!—Ah! celestial beauties, by whose bright eyes it is graced! Never more shall Piercie Shafton advance, as the centre of your radiant glances, couch his lance, and spur his horse at the sound of the spirit-stirring trumpets, nobly called the voice of war—never more shall he baffle his adversary's encounter boldly, break his spear dexterously, and ambling around the lovely circle, receive the rewards with which beauty honours chivalry!”

The novel also has its share of action, and I enjoyed it, though there is somewhat less of it than in Scott's other books, and perhaps a bit less tidying up at the end than is usual. I think readers interested in this exact period, when the fortunes of Catholicism and Protestantism were changing quickly, would enjoy reading this novel, but I think most readers would get more pleasure out of others.

Lovers of Scott don't need my recommendation.

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