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 Perpetually Six, Bertie Shows More Maturity Than the Adults November 23, 2008
Please, if you haven't read any of the novels in the 44 Scotland Street series, you should immediately go order and read 44 Scotland Street and then move on to Espresso Tales and Love Over Scotland before reading The World According to Bertie. Before making that decision, let me explain a little about the series. It began as a serial novel in The Scotsman newspaper. As a result, the writing is broken up into little vignettes that are loosely tied to each other by the relations the characters have with each other.
There's no doubt about it, Bertie Pollock makes this series work. He is the young (perpetually six so far), and blameless, example of what we all aspire to be . . . honest, fair, serious, humble, and considerate. Bertie has a problem (and we have a source of humor) in Bertie's mum, Irene, who wishes to make Bertie into a PC version of what a 21st century boy should be . . . despite Bertie's preferences and instincts to the contrary. As a result, Bertie's bedroom is painted pink, his mother encourages him to play with girls rather than boys, he takes Italian, saxophone, and yoga lessons, and he sees a psychotherapist. Irene also organizes his life . . . over much.
In this book, Irene decides that she wants to encourage Bertie to play with Olive, his nemesis at school. The consequences reverberate throughout the book.
In addition, Bertie's little brother, Ulysses, is someone Irene wants Bertie to have a close relationships with. Bertie finds an unexpected surprise while changing Ulysses' diapers that reveal fundamental flaws in his parents.
Bertie also has questions about the birds and the bees . . . but not the ones you expect.
Another major theme in the book is the genuine concern that the painter Angus Lordie has for his dog, Cyril, who faces legal proceedings for biting. You'll notice that no one in the novel cares for another human being nearly as much.
Big Lou's boyfriend is tied up in a Jacobite group and is devoted to Bonnie Prince Charlie.
After flaming out in London, Bruce is back and quickly puts the touch on an adoring young woman. Pat notices him . . . and finds she still feels excited.
Domenica is finding it very annoying to have her friend Antonia living across the hall. Antonia learns to communicate with her Polish builder in ways she hadn't expected.
Matthew still drinks a lot of coffee and feels like he needs to make changes in his romantic life. He also develops a bit of whimsy when it comes to modern art.
For me, the parts where neither Bertie nor Angus were present didn't work nearly as well. Without a lot of those two, this would have been a four-star book. The humor was aimed in more directions than usual . . . and touched on some very sensitive (and thus, very funny) topics that I didn't expect to find in the book. Two of the scenes involving Irene are ones that I'll laugh about for the rest of my life.
Enjoy!
"Bertie wanted...to be the average boy, but he knew that this would forever be beyond his reach--[because of] his mother." November 11, 2008
(4.5 stars) Alexander McCall Smith always succeeds in charming his readers with warm and humorous tales of almost normal life, lived by people who care about each other and share the values that make life worth living. Like the other novels in this series, the "plot" here consists of episodes in the lives of several loosely connected characters from 44 Scotland Street as they face separate problems in their everyday lives. In real life, real people live their own lives and deal with their own problems, and for McCall Smith and his millions of devoted readers, that is plot enough.
Little Bertie Pollock, six years old, "just wants to be normal." Forced by his domineering mother Irene to go to advanced music classes, yoga, and psychotherapy once a week, he cannot be a rough-and-tumble boy. Irene has even enlisted his help when she pumps breast milk for the baby. In the past Bertie has found some comfort from Cyril, a dog with one gold tooth, who belongs to Angus Lordie, a painter who lives in the building, but Cyril is in the pound, and Angus is in the midst of legal proceedings to reclaim him.
Other characters at 44 Scotland Street and its neighborhood are also dealing with problems. Matthew, a quiet young man who runs an art gallery, hopes that Pat, who works in his gallery, may become fond of him--and he with her--given enough time. Bruce, a devastatingly handsome narcissist with few financial resources, takes advantage of Julia by moving in with her. Big Lou Brown, who runs the local coffee shop, falls in love with a construction worker who wants to return the Stuarts to the throne, and Antonia, who has previously rented Dominica's flat, buys her own place in the building and finds new "love."
McCall Smith's "ordinary" characters with almost-ordinary problems are just absurd enough to keep the reader interested in their lives while remaining just "normal" enough that the reader can smile in recognition at their folly. Far too gentle to be considered a satirist, McCall Smith nevertheless pokes fun at Edinburgh life--the clubs, intellectual pretensions, and social activities--placing his characters in the context of the city and using irony to give their problems perspective and humor. Occasionally, he shares wry asides with the reader so subtly they feel like "throwaways." A guest at the home of an art "connoisseur" suggests, for example, that "Perhaps there are minimalist things here already--it's just that we can't see them."
Ultimately, the characters' domestic problems are resolved--for now--and the reader is left to reflect on the comfortable "old-shoeness" of McCall Smith's novels with their gentle good humor. As one resident of 44 Scotland Street says, "Every so often, in a moment of insight that can be very nearly mystical in its intensity, we see others...in a way which makes us want to cherish them as joint pilgrims on a perilous journey." McCall Smith's characters feel like joint pilgrims with the reader. n Mary Whipple
The Miracle at Speedy Motors (No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency), 2008.
Portuguese Irregular Verbs, first of the Dr. von Igelfeld Entertainments, 2003
The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday: An Isabel Dalhousie Novel, 2008
Love Over Scotland (44 Scotland Street), 2006
Wonderful book - buy the series and enjoy October 26, 2008
This is a delightful book. Alexander McCall Smiths writing is wonderfully observant and you feel that he genuinely cares about his characters. If you are familiar with the No 1 ladies detective series novels and enjoy his writing and obvious love for Botwswana, then you will enjoy his thoughts on his home town of Edinburgh and the superb characters he has created. Start at the first novel 44 Scotland street and work forward to the latest. The characters are all recognisable for those familiar with Edinburgh society. I love the way in which the author can portray what Bertie is thinking as he tries to make sense of his mother Irene with her desire to treat Bertie as a project. From painting his room pink to avoid gender stereotyping, his visits to the psychologist Dr Fairbairn and Irene's attempts to explain his behaviour in Klenian terms, and his friends at the Rudolph Steiner school; the naughty Tofu, Bossy Olive and Larch and Hiawatha. All Bertie wants is to join the cubs and own a penknife!
Bertie and Irene are just two finely drawn characters in this series - whether it is Cyril the dog, Bruce the surveyor or the Glasgow Gangster Lard, all are perfect observations. Read and enjoy!
 Gentle satire on self-absorption October 1, 2008
This series has been criticised elsewhere for the characters being too self-absorbed, but for me that is half the pleasure. A lot of people are self-absorbed, and it is fascinating to see that people are often really thinking about themselves and their own concerns when they appear to be thinking something completely different - perhaps most clearly seen in the clash of egos of Bruce and Julia, where Bruce is so caught up in his own self-centred plans that it doesn't occur to him that Julia, in pursuit of 'good stock', is just as single-minded.
My only criticism is that although this is called 'The World According to Bertie' there isn't quite enough of Bertie in it for me, though his essay, from which the title is taken, is well worth waiting for. I would have liked more of Irene and Bertie because Irene is so awful that reading about her always makes me feel that maybe I'm not doing such a bad job as a mother after all!
Better than any soap opera! July 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is the first book I have read of the series, and I found it did not matter that I had not read the others (although it has left me very eager to do so!) It is easy to be drawn into the lives of the characters who are thoroughly believable and far more entertaining than any soap opera!Some of the remarks little Bertie comes out with are absolutely priceless and made me laugh out loud!!
You will enjoy this wherever you come from, but if you have ever lived in or known Edinburgh well (I grew up there) this is a delightful bonus and makes it all the more entertaining and amusing, it captures the 'essence' of Edinburgh life superbly well,and in a gently amusing way.
I would highly recommend this book for its' ability to portray characters and its' pure entertainment value, we all need a bit of light relief these days, and this book certainly gives us that!
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