'The Green Isle of the Great Deep' by Neil M. Gunn is a fantasy novel set in a Celtic Paradise known as the Green Isle. The story follows Old Hector and a young boy named Art who drown in a pool and wake up in this totalitarian regime where the inhabitants are brainwashed into contentment. The regime forbids them to eat the fruit and feeds them only processed gruel. The plot revolves around a small pocket of crofters mounting their own quiet resistance, with the boy Art's uncanny ability to escape capture triggering a crisis that eventually brings the regime to its knees. The writing style of the book is described as lyrical, poetic, and rich in imagery, capable of changing lives with its vivid descriptions and philosophical musings.

Characters:

Characters are thoughtfully crafted, representing resilience against tyranny, with Hector as a wise guide and Art as a young beacon of hope.

Writing/Prose:

The writing style is characterized by lyrical prose and rich imagery, evoking Scottish cultural nuances.

Plot/Storyline:

The narrative follows Hector and Art who enter a beautiful, yet totalitarian, paradise and trigger a rebellion through personal agency.

Setting:

The setting contrasts a beautiful paradise with dark themes of oppression, reflecting Scotland's historical and societal issues.

Pacing:

The pacing features dialogue-driven sections that can slow momentum but builds towards a climactic rebellion.

Notes:

The story starts in a village called Clachdrum where an old man and a boy go poaching.

They drown but wake up in a paradise called the Green Isle of the Great Deep.

This paradise has beautiful landscapes but is actually a totalitarian regime.

Inhabitants are brainwashed and forbidden to eat the fruit of the land, fed only gruel.

Newcomers face a Questioner who can break their spirit quickly.

Old Hector and the boy meet crofters resisting the regime.

The boy's ability to evade capture helps challenge the regime's power.

The book reflects the history of Highland Clearances and their impacts.

It grapples with themes of morality and philosophy during a time of looming terror in Europe.

Gunn regarded this book as his greatest work later in life.

The writing has a musicality and rhythm that sets it apart from typical English literature.

Readers don't need to know Gaelic or Scots to understand the book.

The novel combines elements of fantasy with social critique on totalitarianism.

It includes humor, describing Heaven as run by an incompetent bureaucracy.

Gunn's characters symbolize resistance against dogma and the search for higher truths.

Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings

The content warnings include themes of psychological torture and authoritarianism, which may be distressing to some readers.

From The Publisher:

In The Green Isle of the Great Deep , Gunn continues the adventures of the two protagonists from his 1942 novel Young Art and Old Hector . The unlikely friends, representing the extremes of age and youth, are out on an undercover poaching trip when they become swept up in the currents of a salmon pool. When they awaken they have been transported from the Highlands of our world to an alternative Highland universe: a beautiful, fertile land called the Green Isle. Despite the abundance of the land, and the trees dripping with fruit, the population are subdued and miserable, ruled over by a strict upper class and forbidden to touch the fruit. Young Art, however, is not so easily controlled and his actions begin a chain of events which will change the Green Isle forever. Gunn draws many parallels in this tale, from the biblical references to Eden and the Tree of Knowledge, to contemporary commentary on the Nazi situation in 1940s Europe.

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The Green Isle of the Great Deep

Neil M. Gunn