The Testament of Gideon Mack - James Robertson
The Testament of Gideon Mack by James Robertson is one book I wish I had gotten to earlier, in the one month of endless searching for reviews, links, author profiles for the Booker 2006 longlisted 19.
In the Guardian review of The Testament of Gideon Mack, Irvine Welsh sounds honest and warmly appreciative
Simply recounting the narrative of The Testament of Gideon Mack does the novel scant justice. In the hands of great writers the unlikeliest stories are generally the most rewarding. What Robertson produces here is a parable of organised religion, the supernatural (surely one of the necessary components of true religious belief) and mental illness, and the opaque but evident relationship between them.
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Robertson's last two novels, The Fanatic and Joseph Knight, have established him as one of the foremost Scottish (and British) writers. The Testament of Gideon Mack easily cements this position, dealing with some of life's big themes: mental illness, death, (im)mortality and the way history and culture can potentially deceive as well as illuminate. In an age of obsession with cheap Z-list "fame" and reality TV, this overwhelmingly compassionate and thought-provoking book, destined to be open to several interpretations, poses stark questions about the anxious way we steadfastly avoid such grandiose topics. In the meantime, it demands another read.
The book is based on a manuscript The Testament of Gideon Mack that a journalist Harry Caithness finds. Reverend Gideon Mack and the mystery and controversy surrounding him have necessitated a dedicated website Scotgeog. Head over there for interesting details, author interview and links to various reviews.
James Robertson is one versatile person! He is a novelist who has published several poetry and short story collections, edits children's books in the Scots Language for Itchy Coo, and owns the pamphlets publishing company Kettillonia.
A conversation with Robertson at the Penguin UK author page:
Where do you write?
I have a room which I use solely for my work – a luxury I’ve only enjoyed in the last few years. Last summer I had bookshelves built along the length of one wall and got a new desk and filing cabinet, all of which was designed to curb my tendency to untidiness. It’s worked but only up to a point. A certain amount of chaos is conducive to creative thinking and writing. I write straight on to a PC most of the time, although I make a lot of handwritten notes on scraps of paper. It bothers me that the advent of the ‘word-processor’ has changed the whole nature of the creative process. Something is lost in the ‘processing’, in the speeding up, in the fact that you’re editing a sentence even before you get to the end of it. What’s a first or second ‘draft’ these days? Sometimes I yearn for the physical decisiveness of a typewriter key striking paper through the ink-ribbon.
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One wish; what would it be?
To be a brilliant musician.
