No Great Mischief: A Novel by Alistair MacLeod - A great novel

For the MacDonalds, the past is not a foreign country. This Cape Breton clan may have lived in the New World since 1779, when Calum Ruadh (the red Calum) and his wife, 12 children, and dog landed. Scotland, however, remains their true home. So profound is their connection to their lost land that on brief visits they find themselves welcomed by strangers. When one descendent tells a Scotswoman that shes from Canada, she is offered a gentle rejoinder: That may be.... But you are really from here. You have just been away for a while. In some ways this is unsurprising, since the MacDonalds either have deep black hair or their ancestors coloring. And those with the latter have eyes that were so dark as to be beyond brown and almost in the region of glowing black. Such individuals would manifest themselves as strikingly unfamiliar to some, and as eerily familiar to others. Another sport of nature? Many are fraternal twins, including Alistair MacLeods narrator, Alexander, and his sister.

But No Great Mischief is far more than the straightforward saga of one family over the generations. Instead the author has created a painfully beautiful myth in which the long-ago is in many ways more present than modern existence. Even in the last decades of the 20th century, the MacDonalds fall into Gaelic--its inflections, rhythms, and song--with deep nostalgia. This is a family that is used to composing itself in the face of disaster. They often assure one another, My hope is constant in thee, and in the light of their many losses, the clan must cling to its motto.

No Great Mischief begins with Alexanders visit to Toronto, where his eldest brother now subsists on a diet of drink and memories. The narrator, a successful orthodontist, doesnt have much to do with the former but is unable (or unwilling) to escape the latter. As the novel proceeds, Alexander fills in his family history, including such key episodes as his great-great-grandfathers self-exile from Scotland. Though Calum Ruadh had intended to leave his dog behind, it broke away and tried to catch up with him. MacLeod piercingly captures the animals struggle as her master first tries to make her head for shore and then--realizing she wont desert him--spurs her on. Throughout No Great Mischief various people recall this incident, an emblem of intensity, hope, and dependence. A descendant of the bitch is also on hand when Alexanders parents and one of his brothers disappear under the ice on a cold spring night. She persists in searching for her people and tries to protect their lighthouse from the new keeper, receiving in return four bullets into her loyal waiting heart. When Alexanders grandfather hears of her death, he uses a phrase that becomes one of the books litanies, It was in those dogs to care too much and to try too hard.

This is a MacDonald characteristic as well. A good deal of No Great Mischiefs strength stems from scenes of longing and despair--for those who die for a lost cause, whether in 1692 when one leader is killed (the redness of his hair dyed forever brighter by the crimson of his blood) or in an Ontario uranium mine where one brother is decapitated. MacLeod evokes his clan, and the elemental beauty of their landscape, in quiet, precise language that gains power with each repetition. (A sentence such as All of us are better when were loved comes to acquire a near proverbial ring.) If he occasionally tips his hand too much, pressing home his point that present-day prosperity isnt all its cracked up to be, no matter. I doubt that this inspired and elegiac novel will ever leave those who are lucky enough to read it--proving after all the persistence of the clann Chalum Ruaidh. --Kerry Fried

A great novel
I read this book over a month ago and it still haunts me every day. This is a story with subtle power. Its about who we are. Its about memory, remembering, memorialising, tradition and continuity. It reminds me of a lady I met in a small depopulated country setting - she spoke of her ancestors, stating theyre all still here.
The story is told with a sparse poetry rendolent of the landscape where the events take place. It is beautifully and carefully crafted. This book has touched me deeply.

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