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lydiahousley's review
3.0
'Forgitten or forsaken places hold a potent enigmatic resonance in our collective consciousness.'
This book was a Christmas gift, so not one I chose myself. In the first couple of chapters I was really struggling to connect with it. I think as my natural instincts lay in historical non-fiction, the sections of travel writing were quite new to me and I found some of them less interesting than others. The idea of places that have been forgotten, or unpopulated is a hugely interesting concept and is explored deftly throughout the numerous places explored. Baker's writing style is compelling and descriptive throughout.
This is admittedly a great book. Baker manages to blend the first hand experience of exploring the landscapes and the fascinating historical annecdotes together seamlessly in a way that prevents the reader from becoming too tired of one style. It also makes me want to go out and explore, which is probably the goal of all travel writing I should think. While I enjoyed this to read, I'm glad it was as short as it was. I never found myself itching to pick it up and read more. This is by no means a reflection on the book itself, I think it perhaps just want quite for me.
This book was a Christmas gift, so not one I chose myself. In the first couple of chapters I was really struggling to connect with it. I think as my natural instincts lay in historical non-fiction, the sections of travel writing were quite new to me and I found some of them less interesting than others. The idea of places that have been forgotten, or unpopulated is a hugely interesting concept and is explored deftly throughout the numerous places explored. Baker's writing style is compelling and descriptive throughout.
This is admittedly a great book. Baker manages to blend the first hand experience of exploring the landscapes and the fascinating historical annecdotes together seamlessly in a way that prevents the reader from becoming too tired of one style. It also makes me want to go out and explore, which is probably the goal of all travel writing I should think. While I enjoyed this to read, I'm glad it was as short as it was. I never found myself itching to pick it up and read more. This is by no means a reflection on the book itself, I think it perhaps just want quite for me.
ailsaod's review against another edition
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
3.0
This book was difficult to rate as I found it both very impactful and informative but also rather naff by turns. Each chapter talks about the history of little known places in Scotland (mostly - some are fairly well known!) that share a common feature and theme and the author will visit at least one of these locations and share his personal experience of the visit.
If this book was just these obscure parts of Scottish history this book would be a solid five stars. I am Scottish so I already had a peripheral knowledge of quite a lot of the topics but this book provoked me to think about it properly for the first time. I found the chapter about the clearances particularly powerful and the section about John Paul Jones morbidly fascinating as he was born in a village near my hometown and as such there are various things named after him but I had no idea of who he actually was or the things he did!
Where this book looses me is the author's accounts of visiting these places. He talks about the thoughts he has in these remote, abandoned locations and while I know I would probably have similar thoughts if I were there it feels a bit overly personal to read that kind of thing. It is difficult to relate to such abstract thoughts that come from a very personal experience that different people will internalise in different ways and as such it can come off as trying too hard.
I would definitely read a history book written by Baker but this history/reflective journal hybrid format is not to my taste.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Slavery and Deportation
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