2.5
The Master of Ballantrae
ByPublisher Description
Stevenson’s brooding historical romance demonstrates his most abiding theme—the elemental struggle between good and evil—as it unfolds against a hauntingly beautiful Scottish landscape, amid the fierce loyalties and violent enmities that characterized Scottish history. When two brothers attempt to split their loyalties between the warring factions of the 1745 Jacobite rising, one family finds itself tragically divided. Stevenson’s remarkably vivid characterizations create an acutely moving, psychologically complex work; as Andrea Barrett points out in her Introduction, “The brothers’ characters, not the historical facts, shape the drama.”
This Modern Library Paperback Classic includes illustrations reproduced from the original edition.
This Modern Library Paperback Classic includes illustrations reproduced from the original edition.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities9 Reviews
2.5
Mairead Morgan
Created almost 3 years agoShare
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PassMeThatBook
Created over 3 years agoShare
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“I first read Kidnapped many years ago, back when I was maybe fourteen. I've read most of the classics at that age, my grandparents having nice hardback editions of the books sitting on oak shelves (I presume they were oak-what would I know being fourteen?) I breezed through Kidnapped, the Count of Monte Cristo, Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and many many more. But I never read past Kidnapped by RLS, mostly because I had no idea that other of his works existed at the time. I have not only Kidnapped on my shelf but now I also have The Black Arrow and The Master of Ballantrae.
This book was a good read though definitely dated. I have a reprint of the book, and it's a Watermill edition as I'm attempting to collect all of them. While I did so enjoy this lovely little classic, I also found a few issues here and there. The writing took a bit to get into, as classics generally seem to do. For example:
...I left Ruthven (it's hardly necessary to remark) with much greater satisfaction than I had come to it; but whether I missed my way in the deserts, or whether my companions failed me, I soon found myself alone.
After a while that gets rather annoying in terms of run on sentences. Though I grew used to it, it took a while for me to do so and made want to throw the book across the room. I found the characters annoyingly whiny for some of them and for others I just couldn't care less about their plights as they seemed to make poor decisions for everything. The rebellion was interesting however, and I enjoyed the bit of action towards the latter part of the book.
The plot itself was described on the back as two brothers choosing different sides of a war, all to keep their family home in their hands. I won't spoil the book and tell you what happened, that's for you to do.
Overall I give this a solid 3 ⭐. Not bad, and a fairly quick read, but nothing at all like Kidnapped.”
Jenn F
Created almost 4 years agoShare
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JeepsterKing
Created over 4 years agoShare
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“What a bore.”
About Robert Louis Stevenson
Andrea Barrett is the author of five novels, most recently The Voyage of the Narwhal, and two collections of stories: Ship Fever, which received the National Book Award, and Servants of the Map. She lives in Rochester, New York.
Other books by Robert Louis Stevenson
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