Light reading, I will definitely agree with that. As an individual with an almost unhealthy obsession with the city of Edinburgh (well, the whole country of Scotland really) I purchased this book because reviews remarked how this book illuminated the city's culture and personality all while focusing on this one small flat and those that live within it. In the beginning of the book, I didn't...
more Light reading, I will definitely agree with that. As an individual with an almost unhealthy obsession with the city of Edinburgh (well, the whole country of Scotland really) I purchased this book because reviews remarked how this book illuminated the city's culture and personality all while focusing on this one small flat and those that live within it. In the beginning of the book, I didn't really find that it portrayed Edinburgh in any great detail, however the last half of the book did Edinburgh some decent justice: commenting on social life there, the typical personality, the traditions, the dress, the manners, even the persona of specific streets or neighborhoods. Also, as a philosophy major, I will thrilled to see McCall Smith add little snippets of philosophy in his books (after all he was a professor of Law at the U of Edinburgh). It was originally written as a serial in a newspaper, so maybe McCall Smith just needed to get his ball rolling since the last half of the book finished much stronger than the first. It has left me anxious to read the next book in this series, 'The Espresso Tales.' Overall: good read, especially if you've any interest at all in Scottish culture and ideology.
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