The World According to Bertie
Book - 2008
44 SCOTLAND STREET - Book 4
The residents and neighbors of 44 Scotland Street and the city of Edinburgh come to vivid life in these gently satirical, wonderfully perceptive serial novels, featuring six-year-old Bertie, a remarkably precocious boy--just ask his mother.
There is never a quiet moment on 44 Scotland Street. In The World According to Bertie, Pat deals with the reappearance of Bruce, which has her heart skipping--and not in a pleasant way. Angus Lordie's dog Cyril has been taken away by the authorities, accused of being a serial biter. Unexpectedly, Domenica has offered to help free him. As usual, Big Lou is still looking for love, and handing out coffee and advice to the always contemplative Matthew. And Bertie, the beleaguered Italian-speaking six year old prodigy, now has a little brother, Ulysses, who Bertie hopes will help distract his pushy mother Irene. Beautifully observed, cleverly detailed, The World According to Bertie is classic McCall Smith and a treat for his avid fans as well as his first time readers.
The residents and neighbors of 44 Scotland Street and the city of Edinburgh come to vivid life in these gently satirical, wonderfully perceptive serial novels, featuring six-year-old Bertie, a remarkably precocious boy--just ask his mother.
There is never a quiet moment on 44 Scotland Street. In The World According to Bertie, Pat deals with the reappearance of Bruce, which has her heart skipping--and not in a pleasant way. Angus Lordie's dog Cyril has been taken away by the authorities, accused of being a serial biter. Unexpectedly, Domenica has offered to help free him. As usual, Big Lou is still looking for love, and handing out coffee and advice to the always contemplative Matthew. And Bertie, the beleaguered Italian-speaking six year old prodigy, now has a little brother, Ulysses, who Bertie hopes will help distract his pushy mother Irene. Beautifully observed, cleverly detailed, The World According to Bertie is classic McCall Smith and a treat for his avid fans as well as his first time readers.
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Publisher:
Toronto : Vintage Canada, 2008, c2007.
Copyright Date:
©2007
ISBN:
9780307397089
Characteristics:
viii, 343 pages :,illustrations ;,21 cm.
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Add a Comment4th title in the series of 13 titles thru yr 2019
The narrative plot twists and turns for many of the characters; surprise, surprise.
Bertie's mother, Irene, continues on as a quite unlikable character.
Matthew learns about life's sudden surprises.
And so forth.....
The 5th in the series is The Unbearable Lightness of Scones.
What amazing characters the author draws! In all the books that I have read have never met a character like Irene; so passive-aggressive, so hell-bent on getting her own way, so oblivious to the misery of her husband and her son. I absolutely loathed her.
Poor Bertie! Such a lovely little boy stuck with such an annoying mother. Another delightful book in the 44 Scotland Street series.
You can't help but love Bertie. The 44 Scotland Street series is very enjoyable if you're an Alexander McCall Smith fan.
This is a fun enjoyable reading of interesting everday quirky characters living in Scotland.
My husband is fond of saying that Canada is Scotland's most successful colony. (I don't know whom he's quoting; I must ask him sometime...) Maybe that's why I feel strangely at home in Bertie's world. I believe this book appeared in installments in The Scotsman,, so in a sense, it's a little like Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City. Except this definitely isn't San Francisco. It's Edinburgh, and like Alexander McCall Smith's other stories set in Edinburgh (his "Isabel Dalhousie" series), the crises here, like the characters and their eccentricities, are gentle.
You want sex? Violence? Excitement? Don't read this book. You want musings about the human condition? Mild satire? Loveable and fallible characters? Be my guest.