Blether

by Scottish Book Trust

The People or Scotland share what Blether means to them, including stories by Nikesh Shukla, Jane McCarry and Chris McQueer.

A good blether can help us through a tough time, give us the confidence to overcome a hurdle or just put a smile on our face at the end of a long day. We all love telling stories, we do it every day. Telling our own stories allows us to connect with the people around us and get a better sense of ourselves.

These true stories have been written by people across Scotland reflecting on the theme of Blether, as part of Scottish Book Trust’s annual personal story campaign.

This book is a present to you from Scottish Book Trust in celebration of Book Week Scotland, 18-24 November 2019.

Genres: Short Stories

116 pages, Paperback

First published November 18, 2019

Reviews

[Graeme Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had to give this 5 stars because I wrote one of the stories in it 😀.

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

second story was a bit shite, like

[Helene Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blether, published by the Scottish Book Trust, is a collection of short stories and poems by a variety of authors. The book’s aims are clear - defining “blether” for the general public and showing impressions of what the word means for each contributor. The stories are what you would expect from such a brief collection: a very mixed bag. Some are literary experimental, others are written in dialect. My criticism is not targeted towards the stories since they fulfil the book’s goals, but towards the overall publication. The book makes a clear distinction between “published” and “non-published” author and then fails to include information about the contributors. Who are the people who have written short stories for the book? What do they do for a living if they are not “published”? I would have expected at least a sentence about each author. What is even more annoying, however, is the printing errors in the book. It is organized in chapters of which every second one is concluded with the Scottish Book Trust’s website link and a brief description about the project. For reasons unknown, this page is included in intervals, giving the impression of a jigsaw piece that was ultimately created by several editors. I would have expected an organised product because that is the standard. Why not include the website information on the very last page of the book instead of sprinkling it through the book? Whether free or paid, a messy layout is never forgiving. Lastly, it would have been beneficial to include a lexicon for Scottish slang. Otherwise the book’s readership is limited to the occasional Glaswegian or Edinburgh reader while it should really be accessible to anybody interested in a slice of the Scottish life.

[David Campton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always enjoy these slim annual offerings from the Scottish Book Trust. They offer a diverse range of new writing on a variety of subjects in a variety of forms. This year's theme of "blether" (which may require translation for Sassenachs, but is common parlance across the North Channel) offered a wide open field for creativity. Some went somewhat off-piste, but when you concentrated on the writing at hand rather than the overall theme, most pieces are worthy of the short length of Tim's it takes to read them; frequently funny, often moving, generally offering a window into another's world.

[Harry Burnside · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as intresting or entertaining as I expected. After the first story set in Glasgow I thought it was going to be a hoot but it descended very quickly into the town of dullness. Ended up hard going for a relatively short book.
Obviously from the average star rating others thought it was wonderful so don't necessarily let me put you off reading it.

[Julie Thomason · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting selection. While I appreciate it is practical and consistent to structure around a theme, at times it gives the impression that everything has been written by the same person. Some pieces I enjoyed, others were a complete turn off.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining wee collection.

[Bill McFadyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compendium of short stories collected by the Scottish Book Trust by a wide selection of folk.
A bit like the curate’s cake - some parts good some not so.

[Sheila · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of the stories I found a bit sad, though Jason cheered me up towards the end.