| The World According to Bertie | 
 enlarge | Author: Alexander Mccall Smith
Publisher: Anchor
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy Used: $6.89
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New (36) Used (9) from $6.89
Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 2317
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 0307387062
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780307387066
ASIN: 0307387062
Publication Date: November 11, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
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Back in good form December 2, 2008
I was happy to read this fourth installment in the 44 Scotland Street books. It was back to the form of the 1st book. VERY enjoyable!
The World According to Bertie December 2, 2008
I've read all of Alexander McCall Smith's books written for adults. "The World According to Bertie" is a wonderful example of this author's intelligence, understanding, knowledge and Scottish wit.
Not just about Bertie November 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Although Bertie is the only one named in the title of this book, all of the 44 Scotland Street regulars are here. The title refers to a charming essay that Bertie was asked to write in school.
I loved this book! It is far and away the best in the series so far. To begin with, the book, at 343 pages, is long enough to allow for deeper development of the characters. The plots have a time to work themselves out. Every character gets full play. And there are some interesting plots and surprises this time around.
There are some funny moments which actually had me laughing out loud. But, there is also a lot thoughtfulness that went into this book as well. There are many gentle lessons the author shares with us. He laments all the killing that goes on in the world. He wishes for more human kindness. He asks us to see the world through the eyes of a child like Bertie.
At one point, while discussing the theme of kindness, Domenica offers Angus this quote from Auden:
"If equal affection cannot be
Let the more loving one be me."
McCall Smith suggests that this sentiment is precisely what we all need in life to guide us.
This is really a wonderful book, with both an entertaining story and words of wisdom to ponder. Highly recommended!
Perpetually Six, Bertie Shows More Maturity Than the Adults November 23, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
(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 of crucial importance to them (and sometimes them alone) in their everyday lives.
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, will become more fond of him--and that he will become more fond of 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
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The Miracle at Speedy Motors, 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
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