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Apr 04, 2020 Andy Marr rated it it was amazing

This book was an absolute joy to read, and quite possibly my favourite of 2020. It was funny and moving and thought-provoking and absurd and crazy and, honestly, there was hardly a sentence that I didn't take pleasure in. Brilliant!

Jul 31, 2016 Bettie rated it liked it

Description: A madcap Highland adventure from the Booker-longlisted author of And The Land Lay Still and The Testament of Gideon Mack.

Douglas Findhorn Elder is in a sorry state. He's just turned fifty, split up from his girlfriend and been pushed out of his job in an ailing national newspaper. On the night of his birthday, he makes an unexpected new friend: a talking toad. So begins a wild goose chase that will lead Douglas out of his cosy house in Edinburgh and across the country - all the way to crumbling Glentaragar House in the distant West Highlands. Awaiting him along the journey are a semi-criminal hearse driver, a hundred-year-old political firebrand grandmother, a split-personality alcoholic/teetotaller, an elaborate whisky-smuggling conspiracy, a mysterious woman with a rather enchanting Greek nose, and maybe even a shot at redemption... In this gloriously surreal romp, James Robertson proves once and for all that the important things in life - friendship, romance, a very fine malt whisky - come when you least expect them.

In The grand scale of existence, the 'everything' that belongs to Douglas Findhorn Elder is not so very much.

The story opens on the grid-locked number 11 bus trying to edge along Lothian Road. Our angst ridden protagonist, heading for a funeral, recounts a birth date, and an encounter with a toad through the tines of a graipe.

Hooked, right there, and the lazy dog days of summer 2016 were greatly improved by meeting up with Murgo Forth Murgo. That said, I do so wish Robertson would return to historical fiction along the lines of the five star excellence of Joseph Knight

ETA: My initial take was 'To Be Continued' was a skit on Alice in Wonderland where Douglas is late, late, late, and a toad substituted for the white rabbit.

                                                                                                  
Five-Oh.
Not long to go.

CR To Be Continued
4* The Testament of Gideon Mack
3* And The Land Lay Still
3* The Professor of Truth
4* The Fanatic
5* Joseph Knight

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This is my third Robertson novel, and he is fast becoming a favourite writer. I can't quite bring myself to give it five stars, as for me both The Testament of Gideon Mack and And the Land Lay Still were weightier, but it is just as entertaining. Like Gideon Mack it juxtaposes extremely surreal elements into mundane settings, but this one ventures further into farce and fantasy, in a conscious tribute to Whisky Galore.

The most original character is a talking toad, and its central protagonist, E

The most original character is a talking toad, and its central protagonist, Edinburgh journalist Douglas Findhorn Elder rather lacks heroic qualities, but finds himself with nothing to lose as he starts his fifty-first year jobless and single, with vague plans to write a novel, which gives the story a rather neat metatextual element.

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Aug 15, 2016 Chris Leslie rated it it was amazing

Wonderful, hilarious, riotous and life-affirming. The writing is bright and shiny like the moon. The characters are warm and smooth as single malt.
Books like this are the reason one loves books!

Oct 05, 2016 David Kenvyn rated it it was amazing

Telling you that a book by James Robertson is brilliant does not tell you anything that his readers do not know. So let me concentrate on the specifics. There is a talking toad. He is not an aristocratic toad as in "The Wind in the Willows". He is a common toad, although Mungo Forth Mungo would insist that there is nothing ordinary about him at all. And in that he is right. He becomes a sort of guardian angel to Douglas Findhorn Elder, 50 years old and a redundant journalist, persuading him to s Telling you that a book by James Robertson is brilliant does not tell you anything that his readers do not know. So let me concentrate on the specifics. There is a talking toad. He is not an aristocratic toad as in "The Wind in the Willows". He is a common toad, although Mungo Forth Mungo would insist that there is nothing ordinary about him at all. And in that he is right. He becomes a sort of guardian angel to Douglas Findhorn Elder, 50 years old and a redundant journalist, persuading him to set out on an adventure into the wilds of Scotland beyond Rannoch Moor and into a series of quixotic encounters. So perhaps Mungo Forth Mungo and Mr. Toad of Toad Hall do have something in common after all.

Anyway, Douglas Findhorn Elder has an excuse for this adventure. He has been sent by the editor of the "Spear" to interview Rosalind Munlochy, a nonagenarian doyenne of Scottish literature and politics. (How Mungo Forth Mungo would love that phrase!). Rosalind is a Naomi Mitchison figure if ever there was one and like the real author and politician, Rosalind lives in an area of the Scottish Highlands that is difficult to access except by boat. This will partly explain the adventures of Douglas and Mungo across Rannoch Moor, like Alan Breck Stewart and David Balfour, before they get to Glentaragar House.

There are a host of characters to keep you entranced along the way. Even Ronald Grigson, who is already dead when the story begins and who remains that way throughout the book, will bring you as the reader much comfort. The story begins with Douglas Findhorn Elder on a No. 11 bus, stuck in a traffic jam on Lothian Road, Edinburgh on his way to the funeral of his erstwhile colleague, Ronald Grigson and failing to get to the crematorium on time. This leads to his fateful encounter with Gerry, the hearse driver and to the equally fateful encounter with his ex-editor who commissions him to interview Rosalind Munlochy. And all this on his birthday, which ends with him taking a bottle of wine to his "sitootery" [patio, to you and me], contemplating his recently failed relationship with Sonia and meeting Mungo Forth Mungo, the talking toad.

Anyway, that is enough about the plot. And I haven't even mentioned Corryvreckan in his deerstalker nor Coppelia of the strange telephone conversations. You may have gathered by now that there is a certain glorious, compelling insanity about this book, and that you will not want to put it down.

Mungo Forth Mungo is a brilliant creation worthy to be ranked alongside Sancho Panza, Puck and, quite naturally, Alan Breck Stewart. [Or perhaps that last honour should be reserved for Corryvreckan]. The writing is, as you would expect from James Robertson, melodious, lyrical and quite entrancing. The storytelling and characters are Dickensian. The humour will have you grinning from page to page, and sometimes laughing out loud [probably not to be recommended on a No 11 bus in Lothian Road, Edinburgh, unless you relish disparaging looks].

This book is truly an event. It is an astonishing tour de force by an author at the peak of his powers. Long may he continue to write books of this calibre.

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Feb 27, 2017 Sam rated it really liked it

This book starts slowly on the day of the main characters uneventful 50th birthday. I wasn't convinced it was for me during the first chapter but I'm glad I continued reading. The main character is Douglas Findhorn Elder, who may be in the grips of a mid life crisis, having just turned 50, or he may be about to start to live. Everything in Douglas's life seems to be in the past, his girlfriend has distanced herself, his father has gone, and his job as a reporter is over. His father is still aliv This book starts slowly on the day of the main characters uneventful 50th birthday. I wasn't convinced it was for me during the first chapter but I'm glad I continued reading. The main character is Douglas Findhorn Elder, who may be in the grips of a mid life crisis, having just turned 50, or he may be about to start to live. Everything in Douglas's life seems to be in the past, his girlfriend has distanced herself, his father has gone, and his job as a reporter is over. His father is still alive, and most definitely kicking, but he can no longer live at home.

To fill time Douglas decides to pen a novel and enters into a relationship with a toad.....I kid you not! Is the toad a manifestation of Douglas's thoughts, or is it a real, talking, opinionated, and clever toad? you will have to make your own mind up, but between you and me, I am a believer in Mungo Forth Mungo....aka the toad....he is real. Things are pretty mundane in Douglas's life (excluding the toad) until he is offered a freelance role to interview Rosalind Munlochy. Rosalind, a lady with an eventful history, is about to turn 100. Rosalind lives in the Highlands of Scotland, in an impossibly remote place, and our man Douglas sets off to visit her and in doing so he visits himself.

What follows is a romp through the Highlands: throw in some criminal activity, a bit of love, some delightfully strange characters: then add a splash of whisky, and you will find yourself hooked. The characters are great......including the toad..... I need this wise little toad in my life!
Whilst reading it I was reminded of of those old black and white films that transport you to a gentle place and time. Think subtle humor, a gentle albeit quirky story, and a bizarre take on reality. Read it and smile.

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The kind of book that should be stocked in Highland youth hostels and small hotels, to wait there for walkers coming in off a long cold day on the mountains. It's the kind of book that needs to be read by a crackling fire, whisky in hand, maybe a restful old dog lying at your feet, and the rain coming down outside. The kind of book that should be stocked in Highland youth hostels and small hotels, to wait there for walkers coming in off a long cold day on the mountains. It's the kind of book that needs to be read by a crackling fire, whisky in hand, maybe a restful old dog lying at your feet, and the rain coming down outside. ...more

Sep 03, 2017 Mandy rated it really liked it

This book is really quite crazy and I normally run a mile from anything surreal or picaresque or which is described as a romp. But Robertson completely won me over with this zany novel about Douglas Findhorn Elder, who has just turned 50 and is looking forward to a bleak future without his partner or his job. But then he makes a new friend. A talking toad. And suddenly life gets pretty wild. Robertson writes with verve and wit, he manages to keep control of his bizarre plot and characters, and i This book is really quite crazy and I normally run a mile from anything surreal or picaresque or which is described as a romp. But Robertson completely won me over with this zany novel about Douglas Findhorn Elder, who has just turned 50 and is looking forward to a bleak future without his partner or his job. But then he makes a new friend. A talking toad. And suddenly life gets pretty wild. Robertson writes with verve and wit, he manages to keep control of his bizarre plot and characters, and injects the whole thing with a large dose of humanity and compassion. An enormously enjoyable read, with memorable characters, including the anthropomorphic toad, and a life-affirming and warm-hearted narrative that engages right to the end. ...more

Douglas is a fifty year old journalist who has taken voluntary redundancy from his edinburgh newspaper job and broken up with sonya, his girlfriend of ten years. At something of a loose end, he takes a freelance job, getting an interview with an aged writer and former MP called Rosalind Munlochy, who lives in a very remote part of the scottish Highlands. he meets some mildly eccentric people on his travels, and there is also, for some reason, a talking toad who accompanies him. Douglas himself i Douglas is a fifty year old journalist who has taken voluntary redundancy from his edinburgh newspaper job and broken up with sonya, his girlfriend of ten years. At something of a loose end, he takes a freelance job, getting an interview with an aged writer and former MP called Rosalind Munlochy, who lives in a very remote part of the scottish Highlands. he meets some mildly eccentric people on his travels, and there is also, for some reason, a talking toad who accompanies him. Douglas himself is not a very interesting person, and neither are most of the people he encounters. Nothing occurs that is particularly exciting or unusual. the most amusing person in the book is Douglas's friend Ollie, who isn't in it enough. This book, which fluctuates rather strangely between first and third person narration, was mildly diverting but almost entirely forgettable. ...more

Jul 27, 2022 Jack Deighton rated it really liked it

The Scottish novel is not noted for humour, nor even light-heartedness. Neither can that be attributed to the author of this one, whose previous forays into the realms of Scottish letters have dealt with serious issues - Covenanting times, meetings with the Devil, slavery, the independence question, and the Lockerbie bombing. Yet this can only be described as a comic novel. There's really not another way to describe a book in which not just one but three characters have conversations with, and a The Scottish novel is not noted for humour, nor even light-heartedness. Neither can that be attributed to the author of this one, whose previous forays into the realms of Scottish letters have dealt with serious issues - Covenanting times, meetings with the Devil, slavery, the independence question, and the Lockerbie bombing. Yet this can only be described as a comic novel. There's really not another way to describe a book in which not just one but three characters have conversations with, and a couple of sections are narrated by, a member of the species Bufo bufo - the common toad (though it describes itself as uncommon.)

Douglas Findhorn Elder's life is drifting. Having taken voluntary redundancy from his job at the Spear newspaper, his relationship with Sonya Strachan foundering, his mother dead, his father Thomas Ythan Elder in a care home, he has moved back into the parental home. On the way to the funeral of a former colleague on his fiftieth birthday on a bus that is stuck in traffic he reflects ruefully on his situation. That evening, stepping out onto a patio - what his father called the sitootery, or in inclement weather the raindaffery, or even the naechancery, but when it's bitter cold, the skitery - he finds himself having a conversation with a toad; a toad whom they mutually agree to name Mungo Forth Mungo (since the Elder family always gives itself a middle name after a Scottish river,) a toad which gives him a different perspective on life.

The early chapters detail Douglas's somewhat drab existence and include an awkward encounter with Sonya's daughter Paula, a commentary by Ollie Buckthorn - still on the Spear's payroll - on the exquisite embarrassments of the procedure to obtain a sample for the bowel cancer screening test plus the frustrations of a visit to the home where his dementia struck father is now living.

The main plot motors up when Douglas is asked by the Spear's editor to undertake a series of (fee unspecified) freelance pieces on the Idea of Scotland, to gauge how the nation sits after the Independence referendum. During this encounter Douglas lets us know he hates the word 'heft.' "Book reviewers use it to describe tedious literary novels that they feel obliged, tedium notwithstanding, to admire." The series is to start with an interview with forgotten near centenarian novelist Rosalind Munlochy, who lives in a house called Glentaragar somewhere in the wilds of Argyll.

Both Douglas's conversations with Mungo (which are numbered) and the extracts from Rosalind Munlochy's biography which he provides us with are concluded with the words [To be continued] thus giving the novel its title.

The journey to Glentaragar will not be easy. Sonya has refused Douglas's request to use their car and he will have to travel by public transport. As it turns out he is deposited at a request stop at the apparently deserted Shira Inn and, since it's quiet, is asked to man the bar by Malcolm the manager while he goes off on a quest of his own. A musician called Stuart Crathes MacCrimmon drops in and starts to drink the place dry, as do various groups of tourists. A woman named Xanthe who seems to know the place well calls in, starts to help and takes a shine to Douglas.

The next day both Xanthe and MacCrimmon have vanished and Douglas makes his way to the Glen Araich Lodge Hotel, near Glentaragar, to find the manager, Ruaraidh MacLagan, is identical to McCrimmon but will not admit it. It is here that a subplot involving the whiskies Glen Gloming and Salmon's Leap enters the picture.

Yet more confusion awaits Douglas once he has hitch-hiked to Glentaragar and finds the house's general factotum Corryvreckan is also a double (triple!) for MacCrimmon and MacLagan and moreover that Rosalind Munlochy's granddaughter Poppy is actually the Xanthe he'd met the day before. In her case the reason is simple, she had wanted to check Douglas out before allowing him to interview her grandmother. The fact that she had checked him out thoroughly does not ameliorate his initial discomfort.

Rosalind, though, is engaging and an obliging interviewee, "'People wade in it' (knowledge) 'now without any sense of direction or any notion of what it is they are wading in,'" but is at cross purposes as she believes Douglas has come to inquire into a family secret relating to Rosalind's daughter (Poppy's mother.)

The tanglings of the plot are cleverly worked. Corryvreckan turns out to be an Englishman who had sought a bolthole. Poppy says of him, "'he went native. It's not uncommon in the Highlands.'" The whisky sub-plot links in both to Corryvreckan's present and past and to Douglas's life in Edinburgh. Unlikely connections are established – in one case re-established. Ends that had not seemed loose are tied up. The novel finishes affirmatively.

Along the way Mungo Forth Mungo has some of the best lines, "If someone tells you that there are already enough stories in the world, they are missing the point. The point is the world is stories," and has a justified rant on the dispositions of human thought, "'We, or our ancestors, have been around a hundred times longer than you, a thousand times longer …… You think you know more than we do …. that you are greater than any other living thing. But the toad, the toadstool, the ant, the blackbird, the deer, the daffodil, the jellyfish – you are less than all of these … You know nothing and have nothing and are nothing.'" A demonstration that a novel doesn't need to have heft to have something worthwhile to communicate.

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Sep 27, 2016 Eileen Hall rated it it was amazing

A wonderful story about a 50 year old man who meets a talking toad, goes on a road trip through the Highlands of Scotland and meets up with many strange, unusual people, along the way, plus drinks some very fine whisky!
A great read and very highly recommended.
I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Penguin UK / Hamish Hamilton via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.

Jun 07, 2017 Ali rated it really liked it

James Robertson is such. a. good. author. And it frustrates me endlessly that he isn't known more in the United States. To Be Continued is very much like his earlier Testament of Gideon Mack. Very clever and funny in an absurd, 'is this real or just an unreliable narrator' kind of way, but still addressing profound aspects of existence. James Robertson is such. a. good. author. And it frustrates me endlessly that he isn't known more in the United States. To Be Continued is very much like his earlier Testament of Gideon Mack. Very clever and funny in an absurd, 'is this real or just an unreliable narrator' kind of way, but still addressing profound aspects of existence. ...more

Where to start? There are a lot of reviews out there which is good because trying to talk about the storyline is not easy. It is very surreal in places. As I don't usually cover plot anyway, it is best for anyone reading my review to look elsewhere for a description. I, like some other readers, spent too much time wondering if the talking toad in the book is actually a toad or the imagination of the main character. I couldn't give this a 5 though because I struggled sometimes to keep up with som Where to start? There are a lot of reviews out there which is good because trying to talk about the storyline is not easy. It is very surreal in places. As I don't usually cover plot anyway, it is best for anyone reading my review to look elsewhere for a description. I, like some other readers, spent too much time wondering if the talking toad in the book is actually a toad or the imagination of the main character. I couldn't give this a 5 though because I struggled sometimes to keep up with some of the conversations and found there were one or two sections that would have been better if they had been edited. Too much time is spent discussing the view from the house and talking about how life was in the past there. It also seemed completely out of place. There are some parts written in the Scottish accent which can slow the reader down if it isn't your usual accent. The other problem I had was with the name of one of the characters,Corryvrecken. I had trouble reading this name in my head and even out loud and mis- read it for ages until I realised how it was meant to be said. I have no idea why this name was picked but think a better one could have been chosen. I very rarely struggle with the written word so this took some of the flow away for me. I have to say it also seemed very sectional for a novel and it didn't get going in my opinion right up until 2 thirds through the book. I also enjoyed the beginning very much. However the middle section is much too rambling for me but the humour in it kept me reading it.All in all a very different novel and one I perhaps would not normally have gone for, but the cover and the first few chapters saw me keep at it. ...more

Such good fun. TO BE CONTINUED strikes me a little bit as THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH for adults-- it's quirky, imaginative, witty, and big-hearted, all doused properly with some solid Scottish cynicism (alright, so not so much like THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH on that last point). But honestly, here we've got a character bored with his life, who's then whisked away by an unusual friend into a topsy-turvy world where he eventually manages to save the day (and himself, in the process). It's a standard storyli Such good fun. TO BE CONTINUED strikes me a little bit as THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH for adults-- it's quirky, imaginative, witty, and big-hearted, all doused properly with some solid Scottish cynicism (alright, so not so much like THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH on that last point). But honestly, here we've got a character bored with his life, who's then whisked away by an unusual friend into a topsy-turvy world where he eventually manages to save the day (and himself, in the process). It's a standard storyline, but told in such an engaging way that the resulting novel feels completely fresh and unique.

The most impressive thing about TO BE CONTINUED is the writing. Robertson's style is packed with unique turns of phrase, some laugh-out-loud and others unexpectedly pithy. I lost track of the times I turned to my husband while reading and forced him to listen to short excerpts. The novel delights in language and manages to portray a dull character in a way that is anything but. From the first page, Robertson's voice drew me in, and when the novel finished I was left wanting more.

I don't have much more to say other than I really enjoyed this novel. The characters were eccentric, the Scottish setting was entertaining, and the turns of the plot were never predictable. If I had one criticism, it would be that the romance plot was a little too, "beautiful woman falls instantly in love with the really not attractive main character for no observable reason," but even that doesn't rank very highly within the book's many twists and turns. Overall, this was a really fun read, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for something a little unconventional.

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To Be Continued is the second book I read by this author, and almost as much as I loved the first, I enjoyed reading this - his take on absurdist fiction, which is reminiscent in a way of the Jonas Jonason adventures.
I like Robertson´s writing style (though it tends to be very flowery at times), and how his love for Scotland is made apparent to readers on every page.
I especially enjoyed the dry humor of the story and the very ironic take on life exhibited by the main character, which made the b To Be Continued is the second book I read by this author, and almost as much as I loved the first, I enjoyed reading this - his take on absurdist fiction, which is reminiscent in a way of the Jonas Jonason adventures.
I like Robertson´s writing style (though it tends to be very flowery at times), and how his love for Scotland is made apparent to readers on every page.
I especially enjoyed the dry humor of the story and the very ironic take on life exhibited by the main character, which made the book extremely fun to read, while at the same time making you think about the serious stuff that lies behind.
However, I am not the greatest fan of absurdist storytelling in general, and, more explicitly, of having speaking animals explain the world to adults in non-children books. So, whenever Mungo the Toad took the stage and started to teach the protagonists about morality, I tended to space out a bit - though he was rather funny and unusually philosophic, for a common toad.
All in all a nice read for a quiet weekend, with a refreshing ironic twist, and quite certainly a lesson or two to be learned from. ...more

It was a jolly enough read, but I'm not sure it was entirely successful.

Others have observed that it starts very slowly; after thirty-odd pages it hasn't really got anywhere, but it gradually picks up pace, and improves as Douglas Elder heads to Glentaragar to interview (or be interviewed by) legendary near centenarian Rosalind Munlochy.

The authorial voice tended sometimes to veer between surreal whimsy and making some fairly serious points about the decline in the viability of life in rural Sco

It was a jolly enough read, but I'm not sure it was entirely successful.

The authorial voice tended sometimes to veer between surreal whimsy and making some fairly serious points about the decline in the viability of life in rural Scotland. Coincidences and absurdities abound, and few characters seem at all surprised by the observations of Mungo the talking toad, who presents as a voice of reason amongst the bizarre events. Much of what happens is scarcely plausible, but that's clearly deliberate. Some readers may find Corryvreckan more endearing than I did; he seems key to whether you find the book a charming lighthearted romp or not.

Ultimately, a series of coincidences ties the various story strands together, and all ends well, but I found myself wondering whether I had really cared enough about the characters, in any of their guises. Pleasant enough, but not a book I would want to read again.

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Jul 02, 2017 Norton Stone rated it really liked it

This was a top notch yarn that I very nearly ditched. The first few pages come across as self-indulgent pap but please please persist if you feel the same as I did. There are sublime passages that remind you why reading is such a pleasure. The fantastic imagination of the author is of course self-indulgent but when there is a pay-off for the reader, who cares. The book is really a farce but it's characters are real and not forced and as such it can carry a talking toad and a fake Scotsman with m This was a top notch yarn that I very nearly ditched. The first few pages come across as self-indulgent pap but please please persist if you feel the same as I did. There are sublime passages that remind you why reading is such a pleasure. The fantastic imagination of the author is of course self-indulgent but when there is a pay-off for the reader, who cares. The book is really a farce but it's characters are real and not forced and as such it can carry a talking toad and a fake Scotsman with multiple personality disorder, and ridiculous coincidence, with aplomb. The end was satisfying if not spectacular, but I can say I have not been more engaged with a book for some time. There were occasionally overlong narratives concerning Rosalind Mullochy, (the story within a story within a story) but everything is well written. I particularly enjoyed the seamless switches between first, second, and third person. A wonderful example of how to eschew convention in storytelling. ...more

Such a wonderful, surreal book. Douglas is such a relatable character who, while following his wee jaunt, makes you like him more and more! The other characters, some bizarre yet lovable, help fuel the plot and keep you on your toes. Finally, Mungo Forth Mungo, the talking toad who aids Douglas on his journey! His character allows a different point of view for the situations Douglas is in, while being a fantastic travel companion! Without him the book would be missing a necessary spark, which ke Such a wonderful, surreal book. Douglas is such a relatable character who, while following his wee jaunt, makes you like him more and more! The other characters, some bizarre yet lovable, help fuel the plot and keep you on your toes. Finally, Mungo Forth Mungo, the talking toad who aids Douglas on his journey! His character allows a different point of view for the situations Douglas is in, while being a fantastic travel companion! Without him the book would be missing a necessary spark, which kept me wanting to read on!
I will be seeking out more of James Robertson's work in the future!! ...more

Jul 11, 2018 Katrina rated it it was amazing

Started this bleary eyed at stupid o'clock on the bus to work, expecting nothing more than a solid story if nothing else and I wasn't able to put it down for a second. Think I will regret it tomorrow. This book was an absolute joy to read, utterly mad, hilarious, charming, and sweetly relatable in so many ways.

It's been a while since I've read a book where so many characters were so memorable – and the main character was so likable. Completely in love with this book.

Feb 27, 2019 Jeremy rated it liked it

Starts off a bit rambling and directionless, which is probably a reflection of our hero's state of mind. Kept me hooked by the description of bus travel in Edinburgh. When the frog comes into it the story takes off and becomes a classic Ealing Cinema Comedy (if you remember those). I was captivated by the tour of the Scottish Highlands and the development of the characters as well as the slow burn love story simmering underneath the tale. Easy reading. Starts off a bit rambling and directionless, which is probably a reflection of our hero's state of mind. Kept me hooked by the description of bus travel in Edinburgh. When the frog comes into it the story takes off and becomes a classic Ealing Cinema Comedy (if you remember those). I was captivated by the tour of the Scottish Highlands and the development of the characters as well as the slow burn love story simmering underneath the tale. Easy reading. ...more

Feb 12, 2020 Lornski rated it liked it

I quite enjoyed this book, but I was a bit puzzled by some of it. I spent too long pondering whether the talking toad was a figment of the narrator's imagination, and I never really understood the point of him (although as talking toads go, he was somewhat charming).

It was all rather surreal and a bit dull in places. The good bits were good, and I enjoyed the writing, but some of it was a bit "why is that happening?" I felt like I was missing something.

Apr 09, 2018 Len Northfield rated it really liked it

Another outstanding novel by James Robertson, one of the finest Scottish authors writing today (or any day).

A preposterous, improbable tale made human and possible. It's laugh-out-loud funny in parts, deeply moving in parts, rollicking, rip-roaringly adventurous in others.

This book has a moon in its heart.

Another outstanding novel by James Robertson, one of the finest Scottish authors writing today (or any day).

A preposterous, improbable tale made human and possible. It's laugh-out-loud funny in parts, deeply moving in parts, rollicking, rip-roaringly adventurous in others.

This book has a moon in its heart.

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An amusing read, reminded me of 'Love on a Branch Line,' by John Hadfield whereby a mild-mannered man visits a strangely ethereal country estate and finds love, laughter and meaning to his life amidst strange goings-on in an Arcadian setting. An amusing read, reminded me of 'Love on a Branch Line,' by John Hadfield whereby a mild-mannered man visits a strangely ethereal country estate and finds love, laughter and meaning to his life amidst strange goings-on in an Arcadian setting. ...more

What a fantastic heartwarming book. When I started this, I was a bit dubious, but after a few pages I was hooked. If you are prepared to suspend your ideas of everyday fiction you will thoroughly enjoy this funny but weird novel. I loved it!

Jun 11, 2021 Jase rated it really liked it

A very surreal tale (well it would be with a talking toad), which is funny and inventive. The hero of the book, Douglas Findhorn Elder, has an outlook on life which changes within a week in the Highlands of Scotland. A story which could so easily be applied to someone close to home!

Aug 06, 2021 Jan rated it liked it

Douglas has split with his partner and taken redundancy from his Edinburgh newspaper job. On his 50th birthday he meets Mungo the talking toad. When he's offered a job to interview a centenarian the novel becomes a road trip to the highlands. An amusing read. Douglas has split with his partner and taken redundancy from his Edinburgh newspaper job. On his 50th birthday he meets Mungo the talking toad. When he's offered a job to interview a centenarian the novel becomes a road trip to the highlands. An amusing read. ...more

I found most of the dialogue to be tedious and the story bizarre and ultimately disappointing. In common with the rest, the main character, Douglas, Findhorn Elder, has no endearing qualities except perhaps for Ollie Buckthorn who at least provided some humour. I found it a struggle to finish.

Laugh out loud funny, this quirky, slightly esoteric book is a road trip by train and hearst to the remote West of Scotland, by man and toad.

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 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. ...more

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