Short But Still Good

The Surgeon's Daughter by Walter Scott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is another one of Sir Walter Scott's in-between books that I ended up liking quite a bit. (The Black Dwarf was another.) I'm not sure if he meant to write a novel or a short story, but he ended up with a novella of about 52,000 words, and it has flaws, IMO, but like Stitch, it's still good.

The scope of the story--starting at the birth of a sort-of abandoned child, Richard Middlemas, and going through his life and career--screams novel, but it ends up being far too short. I would have liked to see so much more of his adulthood, especially when he became influential in a king's court on the edge of British East India-controlled territory. Most of the really important events in his life after he becomes a doctor are summarized and told secondhand, as if Scott had outlined all of it but got tired and cut it short. On the other hand, if he wanted a short story, he could have jumped straight to Middlemas and his old acquaintance Hartley meeting up in India, nuking the first 2/3rds of the story and getting to the point. Picturing this story being filmed, I imagine they'll either flesh out the skipped over bits or jump straight to India and making that part more detailed.

However, having said all that, I still liked it. It wasn't the pacing I'd prefer, but I like Hartley being the hero; I like Menie, the heroine, well enough; I find the setting very exciting; and the adventure--where a solid, hardworking, ethical hero has to save the love of his life from the clutches of a bad man who is delivering her to a despot in 18th century India--is pretty awesome. The last couple chapters are really good, and even though the very end is wound up really quick, I found it satisfying. Again, as a movie, I can picture an elderly Menie doing good works back in her native Scotland, handling relics from her terrifying adventure in India, remembering the men in her life who went two different ways. Good stuff.

Also, there's a bit where good Dr. Hartley cares for a very sick man, an old fakir, showing every respect while accepting no fees, and then the fakir is in a position to do him a good turn later in the story. I love that. (Hmmm. When people ask what tropes do you love, I can never think of any. I guess that's one. Wonder what it's called.)

So structurally, I think the work is flawed, but emotionally and dramatically I think it works well. And I have a soft spot in my brain for Sir Walter Scott, so I still found this to be a success overall. Though it's not one I'd recommend to casual readers, since there are several that are better choices (Waverley, Guy Mannering, The Antiquary, Ivanhoe, Heart of Midlothian, Rob Roy, Kenilworth) I'd still slot it in ahead of a couple of his books that didn't work so well.

Plus, it's lots shorter.

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