The characters in this delightful book are pushed to the point of no return and seek retribution. But how we get even is not always the best road to redemption. On the island of Mull, it takes an incomer to make the locals realise that they need to take matters into their own hands to maintain the community’s reputation. In ‘The Principles of Soap’ the value of friendship overcomes adversity and opportunistic nepotism. In suburban Edinburgh opposing neighbours find out the hard way that the best way to deal with a canine disturbance is not to bury one’s head in the sand. And in the final tale we meet an author on the brink of public ruin who sees the error of his ways after an act of kindness saves the day.
These four tales show that the exquisite art of getting even is a skill that sees kindness win over malice. Tantalising and amusing, these stories show off a darker side but carry with them the author’s trademark warmth and humour.
Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the international phenomenon The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, the Isabel Dalhousie Series, the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, and the 44 Scotland Street series. He is professor emeritus of medical law at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and has served on many national and international bodies concerned with bioethics. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and he was a law professor at the University of Botswana. He lives in Scotland. Visit him online at www.alexandermccallsmith.com, on Facebook, and on Twitter.
Although I enjoyed this book it was not one of my outstanding favourites. It consisted of four short stories each focused on an act of getting even, a serious sounding topic made very readable by the author's usual sense of humour and easy philosophising.
I must admit one of the stories which featured a dog and a hole in the back garden was rather startling, but the final story, where we can see clearly that getting even does not necessarily require revenge, left me feeling comfortable again!
A pleasant read, not one of his best, but still worth an easy four stars.
The Exquisite Art of Getting Even is a book of four stories by Scottish author, Alexander McCall Smith. Before introducing each story with an explanation of how it came to be, he muses on revenge: we shouldn’t confuse it with justice or reciprocity, a balancing of scales. While it is a fascinating subject, revenge doesn’t achieve social peace, but has more a personal purpose than simple retribution. Exacting revenge usually increases the total human suffering, and much more desirable, and effective for the victim’s recovery, as the last story demonstrates, is forgiveness and mercy.
Vengeance Is Mine: When the man known as Rob Roy McCoy arrives on the Isle of Mull with his architect and interior designer, to view his newly purchased estate, a warm welcome from the locals is conspicuously absent. That doesn’t bother him, as he drives around in the fancy fire-engine-red Bentley Continental that few believe could have been bought with honest money. When he breaks it off with his girlfriend by text, in favour of the designer, he might just have underestimated what the woman scorned might do, and how she might achieve that.
The Principle of Soap: David Thoreau has known from a young age that he’s destined to be an actor. Once he has managed to convince his parents of this, he departs his country town and enrols in the Roger Dare Acting Studio in Melbourne. He meets other students: Henry’s talent is probably not in acting, but he’s a top bloke, all the same; Virginia can certainly act, but her derision of Henry’s ability, and her belittling of Henry’s girlfriend, annoy David. Years later, after the required time as a waiter, David is a successful TV soap actor when a tragic event brings him in contact with Virginia again. She proves not to have mellowed, having, rather, retained and perhaps increased the volume of her nastiness in the interval. David’s career is suddenly in jeopardy. Do Virginia’s machinations succeed?
Monty, Tiger, Rose etc: Even though her best friend told her that Colin Fanshaw is a boring accountant, he ticks quite a lot of Rose’s boxes, and they marry. A generous gift from her father sees them in a very nice house in Balerno. On one side the neighbours are great, but the other side… Ray and Tiger have a Rottweiler-cross named Monty that is disobedient, barks at night wrecking Colin’s much-needed sleep, demolishes Rose’s garden, and makes them feel unsafe. His owners don’t care. Then a chance remark sees Rose doing something uncharacteristically vindictive. The result turns out to be a lot more extreme than she expects, leading to much angst and guilt. But are things quite what they seem?
One, Two, Three: Not long after Sam begins his English Literature study at Durham, he falls hard for someone he simply can’t have. Philosophical, he resigns himself to this unrequited love, but he does make a good friend. Years on, he’s working for a publishing house, editing the works of successful, but highly objectionable, author, Brock Maxwell. He makes an unfortunate remark that has far-reaching effects. Sam isn’t the only one offended by Maxwell: when he witnesses an act of revenge taking place, he has a choice to make.
These four stories that feature revenge in a variety of settings but, as fans of the author well know, anything that McCall Smith writes is bound to have the reader thinking and, often, also laughing. Delightful.
I was a bit curious exactly how this topic would be handled by Mr McCall Smith. He's known for his insight into the the psyche and character of a person: able to bring wit, wisdom, and kindness into his deep-dives into the characters he writes. In fact, if you've read very much Alexander McCall Smith, you know his character studies are as critical to the books as are the plots.
In the introduction to this collection of stories, Mr McCall Smith -- himself trained in the art of law, and having taught law for many years, and thus familiar with various schools of thought when it comes to justice -- makes clear his feelings on revenge and retribution: "Exacting revenge adds to the sum total of human suffering, rather than subtract from it. And, in terms of the recovery of the victim, there is a lot to be said for showing mercy and forgiveness rather than insisting on revenge. Forgiveness is more healing than the infliction of pain: there is ample evidence for that proposition, as any study of conflict resolution will tend to confirm. You don't necessarily get better by making another suffer."
Here, we have four tales of revenge. All of them entertaining in different ways -- though my favorites were the last two -- and all of them demonstrating an understanding of why the human condition is to seek revenge; but here we don't find condemnation, but rather a view toward meeting the human condition with kindness and compassion. In doing so, McCall Smith gently urges the reader to advance the cause of mercy and forgiveness among humankind, however and wherever we can.
Five stars for a highly enjoyable read, with a good quantity of both laugh out loud moments and poignantly ponderous moments.
i wanted to like this book and the stories, but i didn’t, i think i only read up to the third story? they didn’t seem to have a climax or anything, the first stories seemed to ramble with the character’s lives and then the ‘revenge’ part would be very quick as if it were rushed, and reading the drawn out beginnings of the story seemed completely irrelevant
Mixed feelings about this book of short stories about ordinary people getting revenge for perceived wrong doing. The first 2 stories where good at building the characters and situation but the revenge part of the story seemed rushed and little about the aftermath. I enjoyed the 3rd story Rose, Tiger Monty etc but felt both woman had acted badly and only one seemed to get any blame from the other characters even though she was only reacting to the other's action. Though maybe the writer was making a point if you retaliate you lose the moral high ground. The fourth story was also good, a hopeful if possible fanciful note that if you save a wrong doer from humiliation they will see the error of their ways
Another Alexander McCall Smith book with a somewhat different twist on his writing style that explores just what getting even entails. The introduction to each of these short stories is excellent in setting the stage and making the reader wonder what is going to happen and anxious to get started. Things never turn out as badly as they could, thank goodness, but it makes one wonder why you would anticipate the worst. Some of the main characters in these tales are likeable, others hold opinions that are questionable, and yet others end up questioning themselves and their motives. At the end of each story there is a mini-epilogue of a sentence or two, or a paragraph at most. This tells the reader how things turned out in the long run, which ranges from totally expected, to highly unlikely, or the mundane, which ends the story on a humorous note. These are very memorable tales which suggest it may be best to forgive and forget.
Didn't like the first short story, thought was shallow and in a weird voice. Got better in later stories. Enjoyed Monty, Tiger, Rose, etc. the most but focus of ending should have been on Rose. The principles of soap was enjoyable too. I found self rooting for protagonist in each of the stories, and worrying if the revenge would backfire. In all a pleasant read that got me thinking deeper about revenge and life.
Very enjoyable stories crafted by an expert storyteller. Written with humour and sensitivity about that flawed and insignificant species, Humanity. I particularly liked the story with a dog in as a major character. A little bit of The Godfather in a godly part of Scotland was delicious too. You cannot go wrong with AMS. But he can see, compassionately, where we all go wrong.
This was an easy read of 4 long short stories. They were well written, of course, and contained the lovely wisdom and thoughtfulness of McCall Smith's writing. However, they promised more than they delivered. I expected surprises and story climaxes but they were more like a gentle dip.
Edinburgh-based writer Alexander McCall Smith has thus far written well over 100 books including novels, short story collections, children's books and academic texts. While teaching law at the University of Botswana, he co-wrote the first book on that country's legal system. As well as his academic work and creative writing, he is also an amateur musician and has sat on both national and international medical ethics committee. Where does he find the time? - particularly as his writing shows no sign of being rushed. His Botswana-based "No 1 Ladies Detective Agency" series is now 24 years old and the 23rd book in the series was published last year. His "44 Scotland Street" series began life in 2005 as a novel serialised daily in the Scotsman newspaper and this year he published the 16th installment. He has also written other series as well as standalone work.
One such recent standalone work is the collection of stories "The Exquisite Art of Getting Even", published in paperback earlier this year. Each of the four stories in the collection features characters who seek revenge for perceived wrongdoings. Like most of his work, the stories are urbane, gently ironic, well-plotted with strong characters, intriguing and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny (particularly hilarious in parts is "Monty, Tiger, Rose, etc"). On the one hand the stories are easy to read, but on the other hand they are also thought-provoking, particularly on moral issues. But above all they are, like most of his fiction, feelgood and heartwarming stories, in which good normally triumphs. All of these stories left me with a smile on my face.
In the world we live in with war, famine, climate disasters, poverty, incompetent and dishonest politicians being in the news daily, we need more feelgood writers like Alexander McCall Smith.
I’m a big fan of the author in general but what I like the most about his stories is the depth and invitation to ponder an issue from various angles. In this book he contemplates revenge or retribution - or in some cases pure karma, the universe’s natural distribution of retribution if you like. In one case the revenge is plain mean and although earned not necessarily justified. In another scenario it is deliciously and deservedly dished out. In yet another case the revenge piles up in quick succession on the deserving party and it’s just and swift and all ends well after all. In the last story the author’s deep conviction that forgiveness trumps revenge comes to light. An egotistical celebrity punishes someone for their innocent comment quite harshly. Then someone else who the same celebrity humiliated sets a trap for the said celeb to humiliate them in return. But the first hate victim helps the egomaniac to save face and ends the vicious circle of revenge. Thus proving the point forgiveness is far superior to retaliation. It stops the misery by revoking its right to repay evil with evil.
Four short stories of people driven to a point of such frustration that they would like revenge…
McCall Smith is one of my comfort authors, his books always feel like curling up under a blanket in front of a cosy fire with a cup of tea. This is no exception, but I read this collection whilst sick and therefore really rather grumpy and I guess I wanted more going-all-in wrathful vengeance rather than cosy comeuppance with a side of kindness (I hate the world when I’m sick 🤷🏼♀️). In hindsight, I should have known what to expect - these stories were perfectly in keeping with McCall Smith’s usual quaint settings and characters.
Each story comes with an interesting little introduction where McCall Smith talks about his inspiration, which I enjoyed, but could have done without the slightly moralising undertones.
A cosy, twee and a little too didactic collection of stories of being slighted and quietly satisfying, though not always redeeming, retribution.
Although it averages 4 stars, I only gave it 3. You will get through these three short stories quite swiftly as it weighs in at just200 pages in total. I laughed quite a few times at some of the understated irony in passages, but some of the prose felt a little under-cooked.
I always like to examine a title and actually I don't think the author believes that getting even is exquisite at all, quite the contrary, he would advise those thinking about it to think again and forgive.
My review is going to be like the stories, short, but it is not that I didn't enjoy the collection, indeed the quote I would leave you with from p.183 is quite a good expose of the Zeitgeist and something I ponder from time to time:
"We live in an age when people have been encouraged to be stupid. We've dumbed everything down more than anybody would have thought possible, but there are still further depths to be plumbed. Watch this space - just watch it."
This book contains 4 short stories about someone "getting even". They are nice simple short stories and a few of them ended just as I was getting right into them. 1. Vengance Is Mine A dodgy businessman rumoured to be criminal is not welcomed warmly by an island community where he wants to restore a mansion.
2. The Principles of Soap Follows a young actor who gets his big break after years of trying in a 'soap opera'. Then after years of starring, a jealous rival plots his downfall.
3. Monty, Tiger, Rose, Etc A young couple buy a house in the country, and have a big problem with the neighbours and their dog.
4. One, Two, Three A terriblely rude and dim witted author of pulp novels upsets one too many people and he is served a dish of humble pie.
A very underwhelming read. I'm not sure I've read anything of McCall Smith before although his name is familiar to me. Quite frankly I can't see what all the fuss is about.
Four short stories all as unmemorable as each other. Really quite pedestrian prose and criminally extraneous information. Dozens of Chekhov's guns lay strewn around the place in these stories, doing nothing to advance the story and making for a dissatisfying reader experience.
Each story is also introduced with a bizarre kind of moralising author's note, counselling the reader to fight the good fight and resist the vengeful impulses his characters give into.
I picked this book up for its new feel and pleasing cover. Won't make that mistake again in a hurry.
AMS churns out his regular series books at a rate of knots, and sometimes the quality has suffered, or the plots appear to be completely different from the jacket blurb, and sometimes, the plot is barely there, but even with those he still manages little side projects like this one, and they are always charming and great reads. These 4 short stories are about revenge but this being AMS, they don't all involve petty spitefulness and triumphal come-uppance.
I always enjoy reading his books as they depict a gentler way of life. I've entered this under my read books this year as I found the library ticket from when I got it out. But tho it consists of 4 stories none of them have registered with me? I've completely forgotten them all?? So I won't rate it as that's unfair to the book
These 4 stories are a bit of a mixed bag. A couple of stories were quite gentle. I found Monty, Tiger, Rose rather a dark and disturbing story and wondered how that could end well, it was rather like a Ruth Rendell short story. A reasonable read if you like a short story, but I prefer something with a bit more chance to get to know the characters.
Lovely stories. I always admire the way he displays the best and worst of humanity… with a gracious empathy. No toxic apathy at play here, or in any of his books. One of the many reasons I adore him. He is the quintessential modern author for me.
This is a delightful book of short stories which feature some form of revenge in the storyline. They’re all interesting and different themes with a fair amount of humour added. I wouldn’t say it’s a particularly memorable read but it is a joy.
This short book comprises four short stories on the theme of revenge. I have to say I found the characters in all four stories somewhat unreal, but I did like the exploration of how best to exert revenge on those we perceive to have wronged us.
Revenge and anger are not the same thing. When things don’t go to plan or people don’t treat each other well then often times revenge is on the table. So what happens when a bit of empathy and forgiveness is thrown in? Or is there a place for revenge? Good read as always.
I love McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series and the Isabel Dalhousie series, as well as a few others. This one was not as good as those, maybe because I didn't become so involved with his wonderful characters.
The beginning of each story - wow. The middle of each story - oh my gosh. The conclusion of each story - wraps up the suspense in two pages, leaves you questioning why you started it. Unsatisfied. But I finished the book, so it wasn’t shocking.
I normally enjoy Alexander McCall Smith's books, finding them a comforting read but these short stories were rambling and not as well worked as his novels. In fact, the bits I enjoyed the most were the preambles. I spotted, at least twice, words omitted which is unforgivable.