Magnus Merriman

The Scottish Fiction Reprint Library

by Eric Linklater, Douglas Gifford (Introduction)

This hilarious novel charts the rise and fall (and perhaps the rise again) of Magnus Merriman-would-be lover, writer, politician, idealist and crofter-moved by dreams of greatness and a talent for farcical defeat. Convinced that 'small nations are safer to live in than big ones', Magnus becomes a Nationalist candidate for the parliamentary seat of 'Kinluce'. With details based on Linklater's own experiences in an East Fife by-election in 1933, the way is set for a satirical and irreverent portrait of Scottish life, literature and politics in the 1930s. Nothing is sacred and no-one is spared.

Genres: Fiction, Humor

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1934

About the author

Eric Robert Russell Linklater was a Welsh-born Scottish writer of novels and short stories, military history, and travel books. For The Wind on the Moon, a children's fantasy novel, he won the 1944 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association for the year's best children's book by a British subject.

Reviews

[MJ Nicholls · Rating 5 out of 5]

Published in 1934, Magnus Merriman is a picaresque adventure, loosely autobiographical, chronicling the peaks and troughs of an Orkney-born adventurer. Beginning with a long précis of the hero’s war record and American escapades (covered in other loosely autobiographical Linklater novels), the story kicks off with half-cocked love affairs in London and Edinburgh, and a swift conversion to Scottish Nationalism. At the time, Scottish Home Rule was a minority movement, summarily dismissed as piffle in most drawing rooms and public houses, and failed to sweep the country like a malty broom of freedom bringing sovereignty to the whiny jocks. In 2020, Scottish Home Rule is an extremely hot potato—bursting aflame in the microwave, in fact—and increasingly popular in the wake of the Covid crisis and other Boris Johnson-flavoured clusterfecks of eye-gouging proportions, making this novel’s depiction of a farcical by-election more amusing and illuminating (Merriman is crushed by a cash-happy Tory). The writing is exquisitely erudite and witty, baroque on occasions, and certainly proves Linklater one of the finest prose artists from the Scottish lands of Scotland writing Scottishly.

[Sean Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very promising, ultimately disappointing. There were a few funny moments though.

[Magnus Merriman · Rating 5 out of 5]

101% would recommend greatest book of my life. Great main character. What a guy. What a name.
Title is 11/10

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a likeable character, but an entertaining one. And a great tale, with insights into Britain in the 30s, Scotland in the 30s, Orkney in the 30s. Pleased that I read it

[Max O'Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

exceptional from start to finish, incredibly witty, excellent satire, moving

[Amy]

I'm still not sure what I think of this book but I certainly laughed enough reading it (even though I wasn't always very sure whether the author was being ironic, especially talking about women, e.t.c.). Certainly it is a book which is worth reading and particularly for Scots of the 2020s, who might find that our Modern Nationalism shares some uncomfortable similarities with that of our ancestors of a century ago (albeit with some major differences). But the books is definitely about more than just nationalism. Indeed it was filled with passages of absolutely beautiful writing- I just wish I had been able to work out what exactly the book as a whole was about/was trying to say.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading 1959 edition of Orange Penguin number 1389

Really interesting read about Scottish Nationalism in the light of the recent SNP success. So much of what Linklater writes in the 1930's could have been written in the press to describe SNP aims today. Not all is complimentary about the Scots, Westminster, the Press but it is all very observant and very humorous. The Eponymous hero is not really that likeable but you still wanted him to do well in the end.