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A review by nelsonminar
44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith
2.0
Amusing enough, but not very deep nor coherent. And not as quirky / local as I was hoping.
The author explicitly states he was inspired by Tales of the City. The book is the same form; a collection of serial newspaper stories, 3 pages at a time, telling the intertwined stories of people. Sort of a soap opera, not intended to be too deep. I bought it because I was traveling in Scotland and wanted to read something light and local. But it didn't really come out to be very local, for the most part the story could have taken place in any American, European, or Australian city. I also missed the gay story which made Tales of the City so special.
But there are some good parts. Smith does a remarkable job making characters empathetic, even the ones written to be cads or dullards. He has some nice insight into human foibles. It just didn't come together to a very compelling book. Entertaining enough I finished the one, but I won't be motivated to read the rest.
The author explicitly states he was inspired by Tales of the City. The book is the same form; a collection of serial newspaper stories, 3 pages at a time, telling the intertwined stories of people. Sort of a soap opera, not intended to be too deep. I bought it because I was traveling in Scotland and wanted to read something light and local. But it didn't really come out to be very local, for the most part the story could have taken place in any American, European, or Australian city. I also missed the gay story which made Tales of the City so special.
But there are some good parts. Smith does a remarkable job making characters empathetic, even the ones written to be cads or dullards. He has some nice insight into human foibles. It just didn't come together to a very compelling book. Entertaining enough I finished the one, but I won't be motivated to read the rest.