Guy Mannering (The Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction, Volume 4) (1815 original; edició 1917)

GUY MANNERING : EL ASTRÓLOGO :
REVISTA LITERARIA : NOVELAS Y CUENTOS :
PUBLICACIÓN SEMANAL

Eri a principios de noviembre de 17... Un
Joven inglés recién salido de la Universidad
de Oxford, llegó hasta la frontera de Escocia
para visitar parte del norte de Inglaterra. E
día en que comienza esta historia había llegado
hasta el condado de Dunfries, donde se
proponía visitar las ruinas de un monasterio
y tomar algunos apuntes. Se entretuvo tanto
en esta labor, que cuando montó de nuevo
a caballo para proseguir su viaje, cubrian el
espacio tintes crepusculares.

Nuestro héroe tenía que atravesar una dilatada
extensión tapizada de oscura hierba,
siguiendo un camino real abierto en ella. A
medida que avanzaba y que crecían .en
intensidad las sombras de la noche, aumentaba
su afán en preguntar a los escasos caminantes
que encontraba la distancia que le separaba
de Kippletrigan, aldea donde pensaba
pasar la noche.

Su cabalgadura debió pensar que e via
iba habiéndose pesado, porque empezo acotar
el paso, sin dar otras señales a los esp
lazos de Mannering que algún que otro
lincho lastimero. El jinete, al empezar a poder l
a paciencia, llegó a creer que Kipplet
gan se alejaba de él a medida que avanzar
y cansado, como el que ignora el terreno que
pisa, viajero en un caballo rendido, y rodeado
de sombras por todas partes, resolvió hacer
noche en el primer lugar habitado que
encontrara, a menos que hallara quien le guiase
a Kippletrigan...

The second published novel of Walter Scott. Apparently written in 6 weeks when Scott needed to raise funds urgently when in a financial crisis, the book holds together remarkably well.
The plot is of its era, and slightly unrealistic - the heir, kidnapped as a child, returns as a man, not knowing his heritage, and rights the wrongs. But there are a couple of interesting features: although the book is subtitled "The Astrologer", astrology is not given much credence; and the "Gypsy queen" is given a generous treatment in the plot.
A rollickingly good yarn, more complex and nuanced that expected from a rushed production. ( )

This is the second novel written by Walter Scott, and arguably better than his first one Waverley.
Set mainly in the rural Galloway region of Scotland in the late 1700s, Guy Mannering tells us a story of Gipsies, smugglers, kidnap, lost identity, love interests, a dispossed Laird and his lost heir. The cast of characters is one of the best in any novel. For example the Gipsy woman Meg Merrilies carries such a strong personality and image that she has achieved immortality beyond these pages in the popular imagination. Keats also wrote a poem based on her. Likewise, the smuggler Dirk Hatteraick is archetypal in his role of desparate incorrigible rogue. Scott even manages to make memorable characters out of the eccentric and socially awkward chaplain, and the lawyer.
Though the plot is somewhat predictable in its overall arch, it is still a tense tale in its scenes and happenings, with enough clever interweavings and twists that it doesn't get boring. As a romantic tale of picturesque quality, it would be a great introduction to Scott's novels. ( )

Not the adventuresome type of novel one usually associates with Scott, the era of castles and pitched battles is long past and the hero is bedeviled by smugglers and gypsies rather than religious fanatics or enemy knights. I enjoyed it.

Like The Bride of Lammermoor, this is a novel worth reading in spite of a totally preposterous storyline, simply because of the quality of Scott's writing. Just let all that business of astrologers, missing heirs and mysterious gypsy women drift by you and enjoy the magnificent detailing, the Galloway scenery, the incomparable Border farmer Dandie Dinmont, and a brilliant thumbnail sketch of Enlightenment Edinburgh.

(I read this a few years ago, but forgot to catalogue it at the time) ( )