Book Review: "The Penguin Book of Scottish Short Stories" ed. by J.F Hendry

It was way too hot to stay in a normal house in the UK and as of writing this, it's the middle of July. Yes, I'm sorry to tell you but a lot of these are written far in advance. Anyways, I was sitting in a Starbucks, drinking an iced americano and reading this book in the air conditioning of a shopping centre. The problem was, the automatic doors kept opening and closing and so, the air conditioning was doing no good. But at least I had a cold drink. The Penguin Book of Scottish Short Stories would catch my attention because of the writing being so poetic, but then in some stories it would feel more raw and rural. It is exactly what you think about when you think about Scottish Literature. JF Hendry did some great work in putting this together.

The anthology opens with a story I didn't expect but, when I think about it, it makes sense. The Story of Jorkel Hayforks by George Mackay Brown is set on the Orkney Islands and is about a man who chooses a quiet life despite his power and strength. I'm not going to lie, I think this ties into what Scottish literature seems to be about. It's about a person choosing to stay with their tribe, their team, choosing a life that suits them rather than pursuing glory and money and things that eventually run out or can be taken from you. It's almost mythical.

The House of the Famous Poet by Muriel Spark is another really telling story from this anthology. A woman accepts a maid's invitation to stay at her employer's home - the house belongs to a famous poet and like many of Spark's narratives, it shifts into something that almost feels unreal. It's an odd story about a weird encounter with a soldier and the house ends up destroyed. Muriel Spark is known for her dark and strange 'magic' realism novels like The Driver's Seat and if you've read that book then I will definitely recommend you this short story. It teaches us that perhaps Scottish writers aren't one-trick-ponies. It's not all about sticking with family and being loyal - it's also about what happens when we cross paths with someone that will come to change everything about us forever.

Another story, which reminded me of another story, called A Wee Nip by Edward Gaitens was also extremely interesting. It's set against the gritty back-drop of a local pub, looking primary at working class issues. These include everything from the political conversation and the class tensions all the way down to the want for escapism and the domestic sphere. These characters are linked by their collective ability to feel all the impacts of poverty in the same place, though they may sometimes disagree as well. It reminds me of a story called The Old House at Home by Joseph Mitchell which appeared in an anthology by The New Yorker that I used to own. Honestly, I love stories like this. They allow us in to the complex lives of these characters, reminding us that every person we too, pass in the local pub, are people with their own lives and back stories, they will also continue on like we do.

Other stories including Sealskin Trousers by Eric Linklater, The Potato Planters by Ian Hamilton Finlay, The Old Man by Neil M. Gunn and even The Caves of Altamira by our editor, J.F Hendry are also included in this anthology. Mythology retellings, social commentary and more are involved in these stories and though it wasn't the best and most interest short story book I've read it was still very much worth the read.

I was glad I picked this up therefore, though I don't think I will be rereading it any time soon. It was still something that interrupted my horror and thriller reading a little bit. I would recommend this to people who feel like they are in a reading slump because the stories aren't too long and they are very immersive. The stories explore different aspects of Scottish creative writing and even though many of the stories aren't set in Scotland, the writers are Scottish themselves and you can feel those parts of them come through what they have penned.

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