Have Fun Book Review: Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other
Published by Mobius November, 3, 2020
Warning!
Listening to this book while running on your treadmill could result in injury when you fall over laughing. At the least, plan for an abs strain. And I do recommend the audiobook.
Need to get away, if only in your head? Do you get swept away by historical fiction, and then dive into research seeking what really happened? I know I’m not the only one! Have you ever wondered what those Scottish sheep are thinking when they confront cars on the road? Then this is the book for you.
In Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other, the actors, Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish, expertly perform their traveloir as the Odd Couple on a history tour, with hilarious banter occasionally jerking the wheel to the present. Charlotte Reather’s deft narrative shaping gives the book the feel of a seat at the fireside with two whisky-loosened storytellers letting their passion for Scotland and life as a whole carry them, and you, away into the wee hours.
What is it about a man in a kilt? In the foreword, Diana Gabaldon cheekily explains the initial inspiration for the Outlander series that would bring Heughan and MacTavish together. The set-up for the book is a peek into the making of the Starz show Men in Kilts, but Clanlands is much more than an extended interview into the outtakes from filming a TV series.
This Ain’t Your Typical Road Trip
As the actors explore Scotland in a Fiat camper (think Steinbeck’s Rocinante), Heughan’s zeal pushes comfort-seeking McTavish to his limits. Their cutting nicknames reveal their characters in this adventure. Heughan plays the “nine-year-old masquerading in adult clothes,” showing an infectious enthusiasm for everything Scottish, from whisky to capering around the rugged slopes in clattering modes of transport. This is a man responsible for helping reinvigorate a traditional tartan mill, after all. McTavish is the high-maintenance stickler with an encyclopedic knowledge of history, wine, and finery. I do wish they’d caught the misogynist messaging lurking in bro humor (“The Duchess,” “Lady McTavish,” clutching a handbag like an “old woman”). But, their comical cameos and testosterone-fueled friendship add spirit to the expedition into the Highlands.
“Wendy reads my mind.
‘What have you been doing with yourself, Murtagh the Squirter?’ she shouts at full Glaswegian volume.
Lacroix: Climbed a Munro, chased some sheep, had sex . . .
Wendy: Poor wee lamby.”
~A bit of vanter from Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other
Actors and Authors
The actors’ narration, their deftness of pitch, tone, and pace, enhances the audio version. Listening to their wit-laced chronicle, you’ll be pulled in the wake of their childlike awe and curiosity as they ramble through Cawdor castle and the Culloden battlefield. Reminiscences of each actor’s creative life blend into the unvarnished history of clan feuds and risings. Lush descriptions of the land’s rugged beauty make for a sinuous and evocative ride. If only all history professors were as talented at breathing life into ancient times.
The narrative does fall slack a time or two when the authors become indulgent, failing to smooth the transitions between Scottish and personal histories. There are short sections promoting The Sassenach whisky as well as the actors’ movies and Starz series. Now, I want a dram and a Starz subscription. As objectified as Heughan is, he deserves a silver lining after filming for days on end in a modesty pouch then being stalked in his personal life by overwrought Heughligans. If you’re too picky about narrative discipline to carry on with the book, you’ll truly miss out.
Impressive Imagery
In addition to comic tidbits like McTavish’s voiceover for ferocious Highland sheep, well-chosen details pervade each personal or national history. McTavish devotes as precise attention to rendering the experience of historical events as to maintaining his comfort. He reads the letter commanding the massacre at Glencoe, and then narrates a brilliant imagining of the event, weaving tradition, research, and sensory detail until you can hear the “whispers in the icy wind” rising to screams.
Heughan injects humor and enthusiasm into historical descriptions, contrasting the fierce Highlanders of old to the actors with their mud-contoured muscles. He also brings the audience into the physical experience of the journey. You can feel the weight of the weapons carried on the searing charge across Culloden Moor. He captures the timeless peace found climbing a Munro or kayaking Loch Awe.
This entertaining book of alpha-male roamings will do more than speed time through a dull day. It might inspire your own adventure of self-discovery.
“…it’s about hanging in there to achieve your goal, and the harder it gets, sometimes, the nearer you are (just like with marathons). You just have to keep on going.”
~Sam Heughan, founder of My Peak Challenge
