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romanreadingmachine's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book was just crazy, on a level that I was not prepared for.
srreid's review
1.0
Was not gripped with this story at all, could never get into it, there were a few interesting bits but felt like a lot of useless filler to me, characters seemed a bit stupid, story not as engaging as treasure island or the body snatcher and its other short stories.
jsmawdsley's review against another edition
3.0
It's amazing how this is a globetrotting novel, and yet there's almost no physical description of settings. I don't remember RLS being like this, but it's been years.
meghan47's review
4.0
This was to ease my transition from the end of Scottish lit class into summer. I'm now tempted to sit in the sweltering heat at home wearing my Scottish old man hat and read Scottish novels all summer...
bev_reads_mysteries's review against another edition
3.0
The Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson is a romance in the old style--full of adventure and the heroic theme of the struggle between good and evil. It is the story of two brothers--one the favorite of his father, but somewhat a black sheep, and the other the faithful, loyal son who always does his best for the family, no matter the cost to himself. The time period is that of the Jacobite Rebellion. It served families at the time who could to back their bets both ways. The Durie family is no different. It is decided that one son will go and fight for Bonnie Prince Charlie and the other will stay home and loyal to King George II. Henry, the younger and less favored son, volunteers to go and his father his willing to let him and protect his favorite--but James, the Master of Ballantrae, will have none of it. It appeals to his restless, reckless spirit to go and fight and seek what adventures he may. So he demands they spin a coin for it--and he "wins" and takes himself off to battle.
As history notes, the fight does not go well for Prince Charlie and the news reaches Durisdeer, the family castle, of the death of James. The title is passed on to Henry and he marries his brother's intended as well. The household settles down to an uneasy existence....the father and daughter-in-law spend much time comforting each other for the loss of James and Henry, loyal and hard-working as ever, is neglected and even ignored. Then the terrible adventures begin...for the Master of Ballantrae is not dead and is unwilling to leave his family to their uneasy peace.
This is really a good story. Unfortunately, it is not nearly as well-told as Treasure Island or Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. There are lots of romantic adventures--pirates and treasure and the walking of planks; ramblings in the wilderness surrounding New York; the burying of treasure; near-misses with Indians (of the New World); travels in India; and an honest-to-goodness duel with swords. There is lots of atmosphere--gothic and guilt-ridden. There is the classic struggle between good and evil. But Stevenson makes rather too much of a good thing. Instead of the clear narration of Jekyll and Hyde, we have lots of ponderous descriptions and drawn-out story-telling by second and third narrators. I found myself skimming some of those bits--and losing nothing of the story, I might add. In the Master of Ballantrae, Stevenson had an evil villain who comes just shy of the pure villainy of Hyde. He could have done so much more with that. But it is, as another Goodreads reviewer mentioned, as if Stevenson were pouring on the literary, highbrow method of storytelling to impress Sir Percy Florence and Lady Shelley--to whom the story was dedicated. A more simple, straight-forward narration would have served him better. Two and a half stars...edging on three.
As history notes, the fight does not go well for Prince Charlie and the news reaches Durisdeer, the family castle, of the death of James. The title is passed on to Henry and he marries his brother's intended as well. The household settles down to an uneasy existence....the father and daughter-in-law spend much time comforting each other for the loss of James and Henry, loyal and hard-working as ever, is neglected and even ignored. Then the terrible adventures begin...for the Master of Ballantrae is not dead and is unwilling to leave his family to their uneasy peace.
This is really a good story. Unfortunately, it is not nearly as well-told as Treasure Island or Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. There are lots of romantic adventures--pirates and treasure and the walking of planks; ramblings in the wilderness surrounding New York; the burying of treasure; near-misses with Indians (of the New World); travels in India; and an honest-to-goodness duel with swords. There is lots of atmosphere--gothic and guilt-ridden. There is the classic struggle between good and evil. But Stevenson makes rather too much of a good thing. Instead of the clear narration of Jekyll and Hyde, we have lots of ponderous descriptions and drawn-out story-telling by second and third narrators. I found myself skimming some of those bits--and losing nothing of the story, I might add. In the Master of Ballantrae, Stevenson had an evil villain who comes just shy of the pure villainy of Hyde. He could have done so much more with that. But it is, as another Goodreads reviewer mentioned, as if Stevenson were pouring on the literary, highbrow method of storytelling to impress Sir Percy Florence and Lady Shelley--to whom the story was dedicated. A more simple, straight-forward narration would have served him better. Two and a half stars...edging on three.
cmbohn's review
5.0
After a couple of dud books that I had been looking forward to, I was really relieved when I picked this one up and was hooked almost from the first page. Maybe it helped that I skipped the long introduction and got right into the story.
This is a retelling of the Biblical story of Jacob and Esau set during the 1745 Jacobite Revolution. Two Scottish brothers, James and Henry Durie, reprise the roles of those scriptural brothers and the conflict could not be more exciting. After a coin toss, James heads off after Bonnie Prince Charlie while Henry fights for the king. James is presumed dead after the Battle of Culloden and Henry marries the girl intended for James. But James is not as dead as all that, and returns to make trouble for his family.
In some ways, this reads like a soap opera. Just when you think things are settled, up pops something horrible. Pirates, duels, a daring escape, buried treasure -- it has it all. The only thing that might discourage a modern reader is occasional use of dialect, but it is rare and there are footnotes in case you are really lost. Totally recommended as a great story sure to keep you turning pages.
This is a retelling of the Biblical story of Jacob and Esau set during the 1745 Jacobite Revolution. Two Scottish brothers, James and Henry Durie, reprise the roles of those scriptural brothers and the conflict could not be more exciting. After a coin toss, James heads off after Bonnie Prince Charlie while Henry fights for the king. James is presumed dead after the Battle of Culloden and Henry marries the girl intended for James. But James is not as dead as all that, and returns to make trouble for his family.
In some ways, this reads like a soap opera. Just when you think things are settled, up pops something horrible. Pirates, duels, a daring escape, buried treasure -- it has it all. The only thing that might discourage a modern reader is occasional use of dialect, but it is rare and there are footnotes in case you are really lost. Totally recommended as a great story sure to keep you turning pages.
kailey_luminouslibro's review against another edition
3.0
This book is wonderfully depressing! The subtlety of the writing is exquisite, and the setting perfect; but it's actually TOO well-written, b/c I felt a terrible oppression as I read. Brilliant, but difficult emotionally to read.
The action and suspense are excellent, but there are far too few happy moments in the book. I love the old servant, MacKellar, as the narrator. He brings a hopeful perspective to the story, and has the perfect vantage point for insight into each character.
The action and suspense are excellent, but there are far too few happy moments in the book. I love the old servant, MacKellar, as the narrator. He brings a hopeful perspective to the story, and has the perfect vantage point for insight into each character.
stormhawk's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
At times a bit hard to follow, but really nice character development and plot. I did not see the ending coming. Made the book go from 3 to 4 stars.
msand3's review against another edition
5.0
WOW. Now this is what I call a ripping yarn! (Maybe I should make that a Goodreads tag for my shelf?) Novels like this are why I'm passionate about fiction and why I can never imagine growing bored with reading, as there remain an endless number of works like this waiting to be discovered. From the moment I cracked open the first page, I felt as if I were a boy again just encountering literature for the first time.
I enjoyed reading Stevenson as a teenager (although not this much!) and just returned to his work last year with [b:The Black Arrow|296264|The Black Arrow|Robert Louis Stevenson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328014614s/296264.jpg|3080386], which was a disappointing, disjointed collection of genres mashed together in a loose narrative. But The Master of Ballantrae was just the opposite: a focused, tightly crafted, dark adventure story that had me racing to the conclusion.
The narrative unfolded in the form of a found manuscript (containing letters, memoirs, and first-hand accounts from other sources) written by the servant of the house of Durrisdeer, whose two aristocratic brothers were in conflict against each other for their entire lives. James was a rascal (adventurous, greedy, violent, and disarmingly charming in his devious ways), while Henry was good to a fault (calm, generous, stable, and at times sickly). They represented the duality of any aristocratic family, sort of like a familial version of Jekyll and Hyde. Their life-long struggle involved adventure, war, pirates, duels, death, madness... great stuff! This novel was just a fun ride.
It is easily my favorite Stevenson work so far and makes me want to put aside all my other current books and skip over my massive pile of "to-read" materials just to keeping reading Stevenson.
I enjoyed reading Stevenson as a teenager (although not this much!) and just returned to his work last year with [b:The Black Arrow|296264|The Black Arrow|Robert Louis Stevenson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328014614s/296264.jpg|3080386], which was a disappointing, disjointed collection of genres mashed together in a loose narrative. But The Master of Ballantrae was just the opposite: a focused, tightly crafted, dark adventure story that had me racing to the conclusion.
The narrative unfolded in the form of a found manuscript (containing letters, memoirs, and first-hand accounts from other sources) written by the servant of the house of Durrisdeer, whose two aristocratic brothers were in conflict against each other for their entire lives. James was a rascal (adventurous, greedy, violent, and disarmingly charming in his devious ways), while Henry was good to a fault (calm, generous, stable, and at times sickly). They represented the duality of any aristocratic family, sort of like a familial version of Jekyll and Hyde. Their life-long struggle involved adventure, war, pirates, duels, death, madness... great stuff! This novel was just a fun ride.
It is easily my favorite Stevenson work so far and makes me want to put aside all my other current books and skip over my massive pile of "to-read" materials just to keeping reading Stevenson.