The Testament of Gideon Mack

by James Robertson

Mack is a minister who doesn't believe in God, the Devil or an afterlife. One day he discovers a standing stone in the middle of a wood where previously there had been none. Unsure what to make of this apparition, Mack's life begins to unravel dramatically.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Scotland, Contemporary, Religion, Book Club, Magical Realism

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

James Robertson (born 1958) is a Scottish writer who grew up in Bridge of Allan, Stirlingshire. He is the author of several short story and poetry collections, and has published four novels: The Fanatic, Joseph Knight, The Testament of Gideon Mack, and And the Land Lay Still. Joseph Knight was named both the Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year and the Saltire Society Book of the Year in 2003/04. The Testament of Gideon Mack was long-listed for the 2006 Man Booker Prize. And the Land Lay Still was awarded the Saltire Society Book of the Year Award in 2010. Robertson has also established an independent publishing imprint called Kettillonia, which produces occasional pamphlets and books of poetry and short prose, and he is a co-founder and the general editor of the Scots language imprint Itchy Coo, which produces books in Scots for children and young people. He lives in rural Angus.

Reviews

[Andy Marr · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Robertson has fast become one of my favourite authors. Having read and loved both 'And the Land Lay Still' (one of the most poignant and beautiful titles I've ever encountered) and the incredible 'To Be Continued...', I was excited to receive this in the post. I've given the book four stars, though I have a strong suspicion that I'll upgrade it to the full five stars in future, as I imagine the story will linger long in my memory. A fantastic piece of modern gothic literature, perfect for fans of book with words and pages in them.

[Maciek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought James Robertson's The Testament of Gideon Mack in 2010, and it has been sitting on my shelf unread but not forgotten. I finally read it in January of 2013 and don't know why I waited that long. It's been longlisted for the Booker (although it didn't win or even make the shortlist) and the premise provoking immediate interest - which is why I bought it in the first place.

The novel opens with an introduction by Patrick Walker, a publisher from Edinburgh bewildered by the strange story of the late Gideon Mack, author of the manuscript he is not sure he should publish as it presents a very strange story. Gideon lived in the small town of Monimaskit, located on the east coast of Scotland between Dundee and Aberdeen, where he was a minister for the local Kirk and competed in many marathons to raise money for charity. During one of his runs in the local forest Gideon slips and tumbles into the Black Jaws, a great gorge through which flows the Keldo river. Despite everybody presuming him dead he unexpectedly emerges very much alive three days later, claiming to have experienced the impossible. Gideon claims to have been rescued from death by no one else but the Devil himself, and that he held a three day long palaver with him in an underground cave. Gideon insists on telling the story to his congregation and eventually does so, to disastrous effects. The whole community of Monimaskit is shocked at Gideon's blasphemy: he is excluded from the Church which sees him as a disgrace, and is branded as lunatic by the members of his former parish, which effectively makes him a pariah. Gideon soon disappears again and is not heard of, until he is discovered dead months later in the local hills. The police rules that Gideon's death must have occured soon after he vanished from Monimaskit, and that no third party was involved. All that remains of him is his manuscript, which ended up in Walker's hands when it was found by one of his former agents.

Walker cannot shake off his curiosity, so much that he decides to send one of his employees to Monimaskit to interview those who knew Gideon - whose testimonies he provides as an epilogue. The bulk of the novel is comprised by the manuscript which contains Gideon's strange story - from his growing up in a home of a Presbyterian priest, through his service in the church and the discovery of a mysterious stone in the Monimaskit woods which was not there before, his accident and account of the time he claimed to have spent with the devil, and his subsequent last days as an outcast. Through his own writing, Gideon emerges as quite a character - a man who is good-willing but lacking directions and a sense of purpose, who does not believe in a God but nonetheless became a minister, and who was engaged in a complex web of difficult personal relationships. Through his manuscript, Gideon wants to honestly answer the questions which might trouble anyone reading it - how one can be a non-believing minister, and more importantly how is it possible to not believe in God but believe in the Devil? The ending notes consisting of interviews with those who knew him cast another light at his account and at Gideon himself.

With The Testament of Gideon Mack James Robertson has proven himself to be a good writer and storyteller, who is able to create interesting characters and a sense of place and systematically build the tension and drama, making it last until the end. Gideon's story is set against the small Scottish coastal town where everyone knows everyone else. Its history and inhabitants are all well drawn, and the parochial and gossiping society gives a specific charm to the novel, as does Scotland itself -a country full of beautiful lochs and highlands, mysterious woods and stones, folk legends, ancient myths and religious myths. Himself a native Scot, Robertson knows how to present them and created a very readable book which is also quite moving in parts, with peculiar emotional ambiguity perpetrating its pages. Both sad and uplifting, The Testament of Gideon Mack is a good yarn - and sometimes that's exactly what we need.

[emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

man. maybe I didn't get it.

all gideon mack made me want to do was jog in the woods, have a spot of tea, resent my father, jog again, do it with my neighbor's wife, and maybe have a little more tea. this might be totally acceptable a lot of the time (well, not socially acceptable, but you know what I mean), but the jacket copy and the reviews all gave me a different impression. I was expecting faust, and I got portrait of a lady. (actually, I really like portrait of a lady. but you get the point.)

[Hugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are revisiting the 2006 Booker prize in the Mookse group, and this book was an unexpected revelation - I would certainly like to read more by Robertson. It is a very idiosyncratic story and a very Scottish one, so I suspect others may not be so positive.

The central character Gideon Mack is a minister of the Church of Scotland, and the son of another. Despite his strict religious upbringing, he has never really believed in God. The story is set in Monimasket, a fictional small town on the east coast between Dundee and Aberdeen.

Most of the book consists of Mack's personal story, but there is also an introduction in which the supposed publisher explains how he came by the book and how its author died, and an epilogue in which a journalist who has been hired by the publisher recounts his visit to the town in which the main events occur and his attempts to interview some of the surviving witnesses.

The core of the story is an incident in which Mack has slipped into the Black Jaws, a deep ravine in which a river disappears underground. His body is washed up alive and almost unscarred three days later, and Mack insists that he was rescued by the Devil, enjoyed his company and wants to meet him again. Of course this makes it a classic unreliable narration, but for me it is the humour, the local colour and the sheer inventive exuberance that makes the book a joy to read, and one which I would recommend wholeheartedly to anyone with an interest in Scotland, its landscapes, history and folklore.

[Blair · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Testament of Gideon Mack is the first book I have read by James Robertson, and I enjoyed it so much that I now feel eager to seek out his other novels. It's imaginative, brilliantly written, evokes places and characters vividly, and is consistently smart and witty without ever becoming pretentious. The plot concerns a faithless minister who has a near-death experience and a meeting with the devil, but it's more than just a story; as Gideon's 'testament' unravels, we are shown a portrait of one man's life, his questioning of that life (his beliefs, relationships, passions and ambitions) and himself, and possibly his descent into madness.

It isn't perfect - the book is so rich with information and wide in scope that some aspects suffer; some of the characterisation is weak, with Gideon's wife, Jenny, being particularly two-dimensional. But the clever thing about this book is that, since it is written as the protagonist's personal account of his own life, the reader is constantly aware that we are only being told what Gideon wants us to know, and shown what he wants us to see.

Other reviewers have found the book's finale inconclusive, but I think that this 'open' ending is the only way a story like this could have come to a close. The epilogue reminds us forcibly that Gideon may well have been mad and that his 'testament' could have been lies and fantasy; but the mysterious clues left behind (such as the devil's trainers!) give the story a supernatural edge which sends a delicious chill down your spine.

More than just a good read, The Testament of Gideon Mack really makes you think - about life, death, the afterlife, love, religion and everything inbetween; it left me reassessing my thoughts on these issues days after I had come to the end of the story. This novel works on so many levels that I find it almost impossible to imagine anyone not savouring at least some part of it. Most definitely the best book I have read so far this year.

[Connie G · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Testament of Gideon Mack" is a very unusual memoir because Gideon, an agnostic Presbyterian minister, claims to have seen the Devil. A few months after Gideon penned this manuscript, his dead body was found deep in the mountains of Scotland. Gideon's testament is bookended by an introduction and an epilogue. The memoir is introduced by the editor who is considering publishing this strange document. The editor wants to verify some of the facts in the memoir so he sends a freelance reporter to investigate, and the reporter's findings are presented in the epilogue.

Gideon grew up in a repressive household with a cold father, also a minister, and a frightened mother. Neither offered much love or connection with the modern world. Gideon went to Divinity School and enjoyed the theological arguments, but secretly was an unbeliever. But he became a good minister who focused on Christian charity, and ran marathons to raise money for good causes.

A river cut across the small Scottish town where Gideon lived. There was a dangerous ravine, the Black Jaws, where the rushing river water traveled underground through rocky caves. Gideon fell into the gorge, and was carried away by the raging river. Three days later he was found on the river bank, bruised but alive. Gideon said that he was rescued by the Devil in the caves, and would enjoy seeing him again. Everyone thought he was delusional from a head injury, mentally ill, or lying.

Author James Robertson was a good storyteller who developed interesting characters, including several unreliable narrators. The book had a good sense of place, a small town in northeastern Scotland where everyone knew everyone else's business. People from the beginning of time have wondered about the supernatural and life after death, and the book raises lots of unanswerable questions. Scottish folk legends and myths about the Devil added to the entertaining story. This was a Booker Prize Longlist Nominee in 2006.

[Joe McNally · Rating 5 out of 5]

Other reviewers have summarised the plot so all I'll say is that if he never wrote anything else, this book would show how skilled a professional Robertson is. The structure - the reader knows the outcome from the start - needs to be flawless to hold interest and Robertson pulls it off superbly without using any 'fancy tricks'.

The narrative drive is maintained by numerous unresolved relationships but perhaps mostly by the question of whether Gideon Mack really met the devil or whether he has lost his mind. Each reader will draw his or her own conclusion on that.

You'll be sufficiently convinced by the structure, the setting, and by some of the characters, to be tempted to get googling afterwards seeking more information on the parish of Monimaskit and the draw of Keldo Water.

Highly recommended.

[James Garner · Rating 4 out of 5]

The more I thought about this book after I'd finished, the more it twisted and turned in my mind. Was it because the reliability of the narrator became more and more suspect, especially at the end? Or was it because the author laid out such a seemingly simple story that, upon review, roils a reader's ideas about what faith is, whether good works are more important than faith, or ecstatic joy, or duty, or...

The beginning of the book took a while to get going. I learned too much about the main character's upbringing (am always suspicious of writers who create characters who remember so deeply into their pasts). As the book progressed, I enjoyed being caught up in Gideon Mack's life, with all its small compromises and tepid responses. Getting pulled into the Scots atmosphere of chill and resignation was enjoyable, but not everyone's cup of tea.

Was Gideon Mack really mentally ill, or is that what any character (or reader) must think when confronted with his story of death and resurrection? Was he tricked by the devil to "stop playing games" and in so doing ruin his life? Was he really drinking as much as everyone thought, or is that another example of how people want to quarantine and water down those things that happen outside of the regular world?

It's a "testament" to Robertson's skill that he can raise all these questions without coming down on either side of the faith issue.

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is incredibly difficult to summarize but I'll give it a try. First of all let me say that I was up most of last night finishing this book and skipped my a.m. walk to read the epilogue. There's so much here that once you start reading, you can't stop. Period. It's one of those books where you find yourself compelled to keep going because you're completely sucked in. Would I recommend it? MOST Definitely!

Here's what the Penguin website has to say in summary:

"Gideon Mack is a good man and a minister who does not believe in God but—after a near–deadly fall into a raging river—he claims to have met the Devil. Gideon is expelled from the church, mocked by the tabloids, shunned as a madman, and then he disappears. The case is considered closed until a publisher receives what appears to be Gideon's posthumous account of his experience and the unusual life that preceded it." . I can't improve on this summary without wrecking the story and this book is so unique that I don't want to do that.

For me, the book raises some interesting questions, mostly about finding that line between what we are supposed to believe vs. what we know to be true, based on our own experiences. Is a person crazy if he believes that he experienced something that rational minds can't grasp? And in the same vein, why do we try to attribute rational solutions to some things when they simply cannot be explained? Does everything have a rational solution, or are there some things that we just have to take on faith? In the end you have to make up your own mind about Gideon Mack -- there are no easy answers here.

I noticed that not all reviewers and not all readers liked this book, but that's okay. Personally, I thought the writing was superb, the characters are incredibly believable and the premise unique. I couldn't wait for the US version, so ordered it from the UK, and it was worth every penny and more. Don't miss this one.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Testament of Gideon Mack is the story of a minister of the Church of Scotland who falls into a terrifying ravine called The Black Jaws, only to reappear several days later claiming to have met the devil. The novel is set in the early twenty-first century, but it achieves such an authentically Gothic feel that, especially at first, references to things like running shoes or voter referendums feels slightly jarring. This contrast between myth and the modern world is at the heart of the book, which explores loss of faith on the personal and societal level.

Gideon is the son of a strict and seemingly doubtless minister. He hardly seems to know why he follows in his father’s footsteps, especially as he tells himself he doesn’t really believe in God at all. Yet, he’s drawn to something about religion, some unarticulated mix of history, mythology, and ceremony. He may run marathons for charity and pal around with the local atheists, but he also insists on reading from the King James version, which “has poetry in it, and mystery and beauty and splendor.”

We don’t know if Gideon’s meeting with the devil is meant to be “real” within the context of the story. The novel takes a mixed media approach, containing an editor’s preface, Gideon’s written testament of his experience, passages from other books, the transcripts of a recording, and a freelance journalist’s interviews with some of the people involved. This layering only adds to the mysteriousness of the tale, since we don’t know what to believe. But I can say that Gideon’s story feels incredibly real and compelling. In a world stripped of a grand narrative, how do we make sense of good and evil? Perhaps the most memorable and characteristic moment of the book for me is when a despondent devil, after listing off his terrible crimes, asks “Do you think I’m doing this for fun?”

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

1⭐️ = Not For Me.
Paperback.
A work colleague asked if I would like to borrow this and being a person who never refuses a book, I politely said yes.
I kind of understand the detailed writing and the quirky subject but this alone couldn’t hold my attention. The sex scene felt very uncomfortable but I appreciate that maybe this was the intention.

[Vivienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel is the fictional autobiography of Scottish minister, Reverend Gideon Mack. While rescuing the dog of a fellow minster Gideon had fallen into a local gorge known as the Black Jaws and is swept along a treacherous river disappearing underground. He is believed by all to be dead. However, three days later he is found with hardly any injuries and claims that he was rescued by the Devil himself with whom he spent three days underground. His public declaration of these events leads to him branded as a pariah and madman. Shortly after this he disappears from the community creating further sensation.

From the prologue of the novel, written by the publisher who has come into possession of Gideon's manuscript, we are aware that Gideon Mack had been notorious for these claims as well as for his second disappearance that has recently culminated in the discovery of his remains on Ben Alder, a remote mountain in Scotland. Knowing the outcome from the outset in no way detracts from the novel as Robertson's writing and storytelling are superb. He writes of Scotland from a deep love of it's history, myth and legends. It was no surprise to learn he had written a collection of Scottish ghost stories earlier in his career.

Gideon Mack is a fascinating and complex character whose life starts out quite mundanely. He is a fundamentally good man from a strict Calvinist background who has entered the ministry even though he does not believe in God. His faithlessness is a key point throughout the book especially when he is confronted with the person claiming to be the Devil.

A sense of otherworldliness lurks at the edge of the novel without dominating it's narrative. During the prologue we learn that Gideon had adopted the pseudonym of Robert Kirk at the bed and breakfast he stayed in before his final trip up Ben Alder. The Reverend Robert Kirk was the 17th Century author of The Secret Commonwealth: Of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies and this book, as well as the story of Kirk's life and mysterious death, makes the occasional appearance in the novel. In addition, Robertson claims both James Hogg's The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner and Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde as influences. This shows in the themes as well as the timeless atmosphere of the novel. I certainly had to keep reminding myself the events were taking place in contemporary Scotland and not the 19th Century.

Robertson manages to create vivid characters and convey quite complex ideas in a format that remains highly readable. I enjoyed the book immensely and feel it will be one I shall revisit in the future.

[Elina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Αληθινή ή οχι? Θεός, Διάβολος ή τίποτα? Όταν ένα συμβάν ξεπερνά τη συνηθισμένα κι οι άνθρωποι δεν μπορούν να το χωρέσουν στην πεπερασμένη λογική τους, θεωρούμε ότι έχει συμβεί ή αφορίζουμε αυτόν που το ανέδειξε? Ένα παιχνίδι του μυαλού και της ανθρώπινης πραγματικότητας είνι αυτό το βιβλίο. Προτείνεται ενεπιφύλακτα.

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book better be getting better soon; so far it reads like boring memoir. I still have hope though. I'm really holding out for when he meets the devil...

Well, I liked that devil, but aside from that, I was disappointed. I was expecting more. The book gives you a brief description of the "legend" of Gideon Mack in the beginning, but then Gideon's testament doesn't do much to really alter that legend. So it's like we already know what's going to happen, and then he explains in deeeetaaaail what happens. The philosophical/spritual questions he grapples with didn't seem like anything new to me. I think Emily has it right in her review: He jogs, drinks tea and whiskey, sleeps with his friend's wife, feels guilty, resents his parents, and does some good (raises money for charity, etc.) He's not such a bad guy, and I don't think he seems much changed after he meets the Devil. My favorite part of the book was the epilogue, I think, where we get to see his life through the eyes of the other characters in the book. But it's so short! Blech. I'm frustrated with this. There was so much potential!

[Sophie Fletcher · Rating 1 out of 5]

A book which I kept reading because something interesting always seemed to be around the next page, but never sadly never materialising.

The most intriguing characters were unexplored, whilst the mundane ones were examined in sonambulistic depth. The most exciting and anticipated section of the book, meeting the devil, was a let down and the moral of the story, which jumped out in the last few pages, was rather insultingly spelt out, in flashing lights, by the author - just in case you'd switched off while reading and missed the metaphor.

[Lisa - *OwlBeSatReading*🦉 · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a strangely spiritual story! It wasn’t at all what I was expecting. Until about 70% I was awarding 3 stars, but the last 30% was 5 star, deep, heartfelt writing, so it’s only fair to settle on 4 stars.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're gonna write a book about meeting the Devil, you should write a book about meeting the Devil, not a fictional biography with minimal Devil interaction.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Devil wears tartan…

Publisher Patrick Walker has been sent a manuscript by a journalist friend, who got it from the police. It was written, apparently, by Gideon Mack, a Church of Scotland minister who had achieved notoriety a couple of years earlier by claiming that the Devil had saved his life. His behaviour following this revelation had been so eccentric that he had been suspended from the ministry, pending a disciplinary investigation. This never happened, because Gideon went missing, his body later turning up on the slopes of Ben Alder. Months later, the landlady of a boarding house came across this manuscript tucked away in the wardrobe in one of her rooms, and realised the man who had stayed with her for a couple of nights must have been Gideon, although he’d been using an assumed name. The manuscript is either shocking proof of the existence of the Devil in modern Scotland or the ravings of a deranged mind. Patrick Walker inclines to the latter interpretation, but puts any ethical qualms aside and decides to publish it anyway – he’s pretty sure there will be a market for it…

Robertson is playing with the structure and themes of the Scottish classic, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg, but it is not at all necessary to have read that to enjoy this. Confessions, published in 1824 but set more than a century earlier, is set in a Scotland where Christian faith is still universally practised, even though it is divided into sects of differing levels of strictness. It satirises the idea of predestination, and on a wider level, mocks the way all religious sects tend to cherry-pick the bits of dogma that suit their world view best, while ignoring or “interpreting” the inconvenient bits of Scripture they don’t like. Robertson brings this up to date for the latter decades of the twentieth century, in a Scotland where atheism is already on its way to becoming the majority position, and where even those who claim to be Christians rarely attend church. Both books make their point through humour, though, so neither is in any way preachy. Robertson especially seems to remain neutral – his story is not about whether God or the Devil exist, but rather about the place of religion in modern Scotland. Though even that makes it sound heavier than it is.

Gideon is born a son of the manse – his father a strict Presbyterian of the old school (our Justified Sinner would have recognised him), his mother faded, meek and acquiescent. Born at the tail-end of the ’50s, his teens are spent in the ’70s, when young people are rebelling against the rules and restrictions of their elders. Gideon realises early that he doesn’t believe in God, but continues to go through the motions since to rebel against his father would require considerably more backbone than he has. He intends to teach but his father wants him to preach, and, despite his atheism, Gideon eventually decides to become a minister. Robertson is rather wickedly humorous about this, suggesting that it’s not at all unusual for modern ministers to prefer to leave God out of things; in fact, finding some of the things in the Bible rather awkward to explain away to congregations who don’t believe in burning witches but do believe in gay rights and the ordination of women. He shows the job of minister as having evolved (devolved?) into a kind of social worker role. Gideon, in his own assessment, is a good, kindly man, and doesn’t see his lack of faith as a bar to preaching God every Sunday.

This all changes, though, when he falls into a raging river and is saved by a man whom he believes is the Devil. But this Devil is disconcertingly human and seems rather lonely, and not very effective at being evil. Gideon finds himself becoming very fond of him – not a good idea for a minister of the kirk. His memoir, the second section of the book, tells his story, from childhood, through his marriage and friendships, his ministry, and then this meeting which changes everything. We already know his fate from the first section, but here we learn what led to his breakdown, if that’s what it was, and eventual death.

The third section is from the journalist who acquired the manuscript. At the publisher’s request, he goes to Gideon’s parish, the tiny fictional town of Monimaskit in the northeast of Scotland, and interviews the people who knew Gideon. From them we get a rather different picture – same events, but different interpretations.

It’s all very cleverly done, and the writing is excellent. Robertson’s depiction of Scottish society and changing attitudes to religion over those decades is accurate and insightful, and portrayed lightly via the story rather than presented as an info dump. My single criticism is that Gideon’s early years drag out for too long before we get to the bit we’ve all been waiting for – the meeting with the Devil. The humour is wry for the most part, sometimes sly, and kept me entertained enough to stay onside even while I was wishing he’d speed things along a bit.

But when Robertson finally gets to the meat of the story, it becomes deliciously satirical – the horror of the Church at anyone suggesting Satan is stalking Scotland, shaking them out of the Devil-free happy-clappiness that they have fallen into as it became obvious people were no longer willing to tolerate the intolerance of the old Presbyterian tradition. But if we find it so hard to believe the Devil is among us, then how can we be expected to believe in God? For Robertson, this is his version of the dogma cherry-picking Hogg examined centuries earlier, and as relevant to our time as Hogg’s was to his. Another excellent book from Robertson, one of very few writers examining contemporary Scottish society with a truly literary eye.

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[Lee Prescott · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant book that leaves you pondering even post completion. Compelling, well written and relatable characters, perfectly paced with a deep-set mystery at its heart, this book has been the reading highlight of the year so far.

[Lari Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite book by one of my favourite writers, The Testament of Gideon Mack feels very classical (reminiscent of The Confessions of a Justified Sinner) and very contemporary at the same time.
The main character, Gideon Mack, is a Church of Scotland minister who doesn’t believe in God. Not a minister who has lost his faith, but a minister who made a decision to have a career in the church despite not believing in God. Yet the author manages to make this seem like a reasonable decision by a rather nice man, rather than a huge lie by a deceiving hypocrite. But probably you can only pretend faith for so long, and eventually Gideon’s lies and his life start to unravel. And what happens next is up to the reader to decide. Does Gideon go mad? Or does he experience something genuinely elemental and amazing which no-one else believes? There’s evidence pointing both ways, so the reader has to make up her own mind.
This book, like all James Robertson’s books, is very Scottish. A grey cold son-of-the-manse childhood. A small gossipy East Coast town. A background of legend, myth and ancient religions. A church being edged out of its central role in the community. And the Devil, never very far away
I’ve read this book several times, and I still haven’t made up my mind about what happens. How reliable is the narrator? What really happened in the Black Jaws? And is it possible to believe in the Devil and not believe in God? (A question which is more often posed the other way round.)
This book is filled with death, lies and mental illness. It is deeply and darkly thought-provoking. It is a worthy successor to the classics of Scottish literature. But it is also extremely funny... I’m giving it five stars, but only because there isn’t an option for ticking more stars!

[DeRay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is no easy read for it requires the reader to ingest the characters, endure the process of continual character re-imaginations, and actively piece together a narrative at once weighty in its subject matter and succinct in its plot.

I could not be more impressed with a novel. It made me work hard as a reader. And there were many times that, as I read, I thought were "boring." But looking back, I see that these parts were the parts of the book that resembled lived reality the most.

At it's core, Gideon offers an alternative to conventional thought that is so radical because of its normative presentation. Radical by conventional delivery. Thought-provoking. Beyond "worth reading" or a "recommend."

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, again. Yes, again. I don't know what it is about Scottish folk devilry but I can't stop reading this book, at least partially because James Robertson writes it so well.

[Ron Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Does He or doesn't He? Judging by the religion books on the bestseller list, Americans are up in arms about the existence of God: not so much a Great Awakening as a Great Arguing. It's become an article of faith that the United States is the most religious nation in the developed world, but The God Delusion, by atheist Richard Dawkins, is racking up heavenly sales. At the same time, we're fascinated by a 2nd-century Gnostic fragment that claims Judas was the best disciple and a book about two archaeologists who have found The Jesus Family Tomb (so much for the Ascension). Sam Harris has written A Letter to a Christian Nation, but Stephen Prothero says our Religious Literacy has gone to hell. It's as though the whole country -- or at least that part of it still buying books -- is crying, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."

Into this anxious cultural moment, The Testament of Gideon Mack has arrived like an answer to some demonic prayer. James Robertson's provocative novel claims to present the memoir of a hardworking Presbyterian minister who never believed in God. It's a deeply unsettling story that will prick the faith of the devout, shake the confidence of atheists and haunt those of us who hover uneasily in-between.

Part of the novel's disruption of our sense of what's real and what's not is an introduction by "the editor" -- one of Robertson's clever poses -- who disavows any claims about the story's authenticity. It may be "outlandish enough to attract a cult readership," he speculates, or it may be "a genuine document with its own relevance for our times." He wouldn't presume to judge one way or the other, but he does mention the strange events that recently brought this story to public notice: Gideon Mack, the minister of a small Scottish village, fell into a gorge while trying to rescue a friend's dog. Although presumed dead, he was found alive three days later in what doctors and journalists termed "a miracle." He seemed in good health, but soon after the accident he announced that he had never believed in God, had slept with one of his parishioners and had been rescued from the gorge by the Devil. During the ecclesiastical trial that followed, he vanished, but his body was found many months later in the mountains, and the police recovered the "testament" that constitutes the bulk of this novel.

Gideon begins with a line from St. Paul that quickly slides into his own intense voice: "When I was a child I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: yet I was already, in so many ways, the man I would become. I think back on how cold I was, even then. It is hard to recall, now that I burn with this dry, feverish fire."

The son of a severe, Calvinist minister and a hollow, frightened mother, Gideon grew up in a dreary home divorced from time. While his schoolmates were "listening agog to Sergeant Pepper," he was reading "children's classics deemed suitable because they were at least half a century old and their authors dead." When his father catches him watching "Batman" (on the Sabbath!), he thunders, "You have betrayed me and you have betrayed God," and then promptly suffers a stroke right there in front of the TV.

His father survives, but that calamity pushes Gideon -- at the age of 12 -- to question and finally reject the stalking God who would set up such traps and punishments. "I didn't want that spooky figure hovering behind me and touching me whenever I tried to make a decision. I wanted to be left alone." But unable to declare his unbelief or leave the church, he develops "hypocrisy down to a fine art," and, in a tragic act of revenge, he follows his father into the ministry. "For nearly forty years," he writes, "I have let the world assume that I believed in God when I did not."

John Updike wrote about a Presbyterian minister who lost his faith in In the Beauty of the Lilies (1996), but Updike never quite captured the sticky quality of belief. For his Rev. Wilmot "the sensation was distinct -- a visceral surrender, a set of dark sparkling bubbles escaping upward. . . . His thoughts had slipped with quicksilver momentum into the recognition that . . . there is no such God." Robertson is far more attentive to the prolonged and violent tension between faith and doubt in the mind of a person who once really believed. Gideon fancies himself an effective minister despite his secretly rationalist mindset. He's busy with charity work, handy with an inclusive sermon. But he never can find any peace or love.

And then his world is overturned by a supernatural intercession. You must meet Robertson's droll Devil. He's "suave and fit-looking" but also a little sad. "I used to have a purpose," he tells Gideon with a sigh. "We both had a purpose, God and me. Now? . . . My heart's not in it. Basically, I don't do anything any more. I despair, if you want the honest truth. I mean, the world doesn't need me." This is an arresting encounter, a wry addition to the line of stories that stretches from Jesus's temptation in the wilderness to Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown." Like God, the Devil never leaves anyone where he finds him, and Gideon returns to his church aflame with a truth he never preached before. What he now knows -- or thinks he knows -- forces everyone to consider the fragile foundation of what they believe.

There's devilry for sure in a story this disquieting. You won't find Robertson blessing the devout or the atheists. But before Gideon departs this world, his testament will affirm your faith in the power of fiction.

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[Cherise Wolas · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is thanks to fellow reader and writer, Andy Marr, that I learned of Scottish author James Robertson and have, with the first novel that I read of his, The Professor of Truth, become a fan. With The Testament of Gideon Mack, further fan-hood. Rich, rewarding, with much food for thought, a wonderful character study about faithless Scottish minister Gideon Mack, about his life, his parents, his thoughts, about God and the Devil, I read it slowly not wanting it to end.

[Marbenele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, I've changed my mind. 5 stars because it's a very impressive homage to Scottish literature. Heavily laden with biblical references, echoes of Moby Dick and gothic fiction, the work presents itself as a contemporary rewriting of Hogg's Justified Sinner. What is Scotland's relationship with religion now that God is dead? Great read.

[Lewis Boyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

felt good to read a scottish book again, and this one was a cracker. 4-way love square, terrifying father figures, affairs with your best pal's wife, near death experiences, the deil. so much fun.

[tara bomp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find it hard to know what to say about this because the story is really about a pretty ordinary life - obviously the devil meeting story is important but it's a small part of the story and you shouldn't go in expecting much fantasy type stuff. It's a fictional memoir of an ordinary person, a particular way of life, a particular location, told from a maybe not completely reliable perspective. The events are mostly pretty ordinary yet the writing makes them really come alive and it's easy to get emotionally wrapped up in it, feel all the little details which feel real. Along the way there's a good amount of thoughts and conversations about "deep" questions - eg does god exist, what does it mean to believe, what should life be about, how we relate to stories, what history means today, what sort of life you should choose, the way life inevitably involves "settling" for stuff that's not your ideal. It's all done in a very natural style that doesn't feel out of place or pretentious and it's all pretty interesting and thought provoking. It's hard to get across the feel and plot of the book because so much relies on very good writing and well thought out scenes. I just think it's really good if the description takes your fancy, as long as you're willing to read more about the life of the minister than that of the devil (although that bit is very very good too). Highly recommended, very human, very emotional, very sad, very thought provoking. There's lots of questions I could think of about the plot but it wraps itself up well enough and the questions are interesting to think about - how much "really" happened within the story? what was going on in Gideon Mack's mind? It's very good anyway

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title character in James Robertson’s novel THE TESTAMENT OF GIDEON MACK is a minister on the east coast of Scotland who sets out to chronicle his life.

We learn about his over-strict minister father and ineffectual mother and that after studying to be an English teacher, he decided to become a minister instead, despite not believing in God and having always been skeptical about both the Church and all things supernatural.

Toward the end of his life, he has a near-death experience, after which he believes that he had spent three days conversing with the devil. He had been feeling a Satanic influence even before his accident, and he finally appears to go off the rails completely, admitting his lack of belief to his parishioners and refusing to participate any further in the ministry.

In the interplay of the natural and the supernatural, however, we are left wondering what is really true and how reliable the narrator is, especially since we find out later that some of the things he had written are not strictly true.

In many ways THE TESTAMENT OF GIDEON MACK is the counter-type to Marilynne Robinson’s GILEAD, the story of a minister who reflects on his life with the object of providing guidance for his son. Although imperfect, Robinson’s minister is at least sincere, and we have no trouble believing his story.

Gideon Mack, by contrast, has no children, and his testament would not be uplifting to members of the next generation, except, perhaps, as an object lesson in the dangers of hypocrisy.

For all its negativity and ambiguity, THE TESTAMENT OF GIDEON MACK is well crafted and compelling reading, and I recommend it highly.

[Jim Thornton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Initially a little heavy going, but the pace soon picks up.

As someone brought up in the area the book was set in, and brought up in the same era (admittedly not as a minister's son thankfully), I was able to relate fully to the story of Gideon's life. As a deep agnostic all of my life, and as an atheist today, I was also able to relate to many of the characters and Gideon himself. Also, I was able to identify people from my own past who appeared in the book (such as the dour, hypocritical Mcmurray - why did Gordon Browns face appear in my mind for the character though??!!).

I only finished this last night and am still thinking about it. Most of all, I am thinking about the fact that Gideon claims in his testament to have had sex with Elsie only once. Elsie tells us it was an affair that went on all summer. As Gideon is pledging to tell the truth, this inconsistency in his story is fascinating me.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is actually one of the most well thought out, intricately constructed novels I have read in a long time. There's a lot to digest in this narrative that reflects on human nature, faith, mental illness, the horrors of the real world (and how that can close a human being down into a world of careful retreat), people who never truly find themselves or their voice, and to top it all off a little myth, parable and urban legend.
Some readers of this book may find it a little unsatisfactory that it is not all tied up with neat little bows, not everything is answered. That is not the point. This is a book that is filled with moments of great beauty, tragedy and lots to think about. A book written with a compassionate eye from a writer I look forward to seeing what else is up his sleeve. I can't recommend it enough.