| 44 Scotland Street | 
 enlarge | Author: Alexander Mccall Smith
Publisher: Abacus
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy New: £5.49
You Save: £2.50 (31%)
New (50) Used (233) Collectible (1) from £0.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  33 reviews
Sales Rank: 3644
Media: Paperback
Edition: New edition
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 4.7 x 0.9
ISBN: 0349118973
EAN: 9780349118970
ASIN: 0349118973
Publication Date: August 11, 2005
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 A treat that hs enlivened my tube journeys March 16, 2006
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
44 Scotland Street is little gem. It's a revival of the neglected genre of the serial novel, written - like Armistad Maupin's Tales of the City - to appear regularly in a newspaper. Yes, there are loose ends and some characters are little more than sketches, but given the virtual impossibility of producing a structurally polished novel when it is (as McCall Smith points out in his introduction) impossible to go back and make revisions, and the pressure is on to produce a daily episode for publication.
Insufferably pushy mothers, Conservative party stalwarts who would rather go ahead with just six participants than cancel a ball, narcissistic young men devoted to their hair gel ... the lighthearted sketchiness of these characters is what makes it permissable to laugh at them. The real heart of the book, however, lies in those characters who are wistfully chasing after what they cannot have - Big Lou, who has lived a life without love; Pat, with her misplaced infatuation; Matthew, who cannot seem to find his place in life; and poor 5-year-old Bertie (I wish I knew if he is ever to be free from having to speak Italian).
Read, enjoy, don't take it too seriously.
 Hey wait i am still wiating for this to end March 3, 2006
3 out of 21 found this review helpful
this is the first one of this authors books that i have read and i have to say that though it started a bit slow i got into the book just as it was coming to the endthe book starts off with a young girl having a second placement year though its not explain why though references are made to something bad happening. it then goes on to explore the lifes of the other people in the house her self obessed flatmate the mother who is obbessed with her young son being the next child prodigy and the lady downstairs. so now comes the reason why i gave it two stars quite simply is that when the story gets intresting it then ends abrubtly leaving the reader non the wiser as to what is happening its like starting a sentence and not finishing it. it makes me a bit angry that i am expected to buy her next book just to find out how this one ends all in all ok book, crap ending
A dull read February 18, 2006
6 out of 16 found this review helpful
I bought this book after being enticed by the blurb which described it as 'funny and hugely entertaining'. However I was very disappointed on the whole. Although some of the characters were likeable and the book was readable enough, nothing actually seemed to happen. There was an ongoing tale of the Peploe? picture but that was about it...some characters appeared and were never developed and happenings in the book were either totally mundane or completely bizarre (such as the tunnel chapter). I thought it might all come together at the end, but sadly not. I won't be reading any more McCall Smith books.
light and refreshing! December 28, 2005
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
Like the No.1 ladies series, i found this light and refreshing read, with yet another surprisingly astute portrayal of a female main character from a male author!
Although a little slow to start McCall Smith had me once again reluctant to put the book down, and although this was written as a series of shorts i found it flows well and is still easy to follow.
 A truly awful book November 23, 2005
9 out of 29 found this review helpful
I had high hopes for this book, having read the other reviews here but I was totally disappointed. There are some midly amusing/witty bits about the Peploe? for example but there's absolutely no substance holding it all together. Never have I cared less what happens to characters in a book. I haven't read anything else by this author, and after 44 Scotland Street, I shan't bother.
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