I read this book as a part of a university class and had a lot of issues with it. I felt the characters had absolutely no depth and it felt like it was a book written to satisfy a tourist's idea of land and life in NS as opposed to the reality of it.

A quiet, interesting, beautifully written tale that focuses more on one family's heritage, immigration and growth than on the present-day story. The Macdonalds of Cape Breton are more than proud of their Scottish ancestry (all the way back to the Battle of Culloden); they use it to survive the trials of life in a new land. HIstorically interesting, the reader is captured by the spirit of the Macdonalds in Scotland, in Cape Breton and in Ontario's fledgling uranium-mining community of Elliot Lake. Their investment in their history, their dedication to family, their ancestral pride but daily humility are inspirational. A good read and a meaningful one.

This book is extremely powerful, for a book that is ultimately quiet and composed primarily of remembrances of things past. The book evokes the feeling of being connected to an ancestry stretching back at least as far as the Battle of Culloden in 1745, if not further, and how the ethnic divisions of those days still echo among the descendants of the combatants to this day. True, the book is about the Scottish people who settled in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and their trials, but it speaks of something more than that: of the power of memory and ancestral connections that might be true of any culture that finds itself cast up in the modern eclectic world of mixed cultures and races. The final line says it all: All of us are better when we're loved.

No Great Mischief by Alistair Macleod

A truly great novel, the narrator Alexander MacDonald reveals the story of his family who left the highlands of Scotland in 1779 and resettled in "The Land of Trees". The late 1700 were a time of the exodus of the highland people to Cape Breton & the Hebrides.

The novel is about the strengths of Family "Always take care of your Blood" and explores the tie that binds us to the land of our ancestors.

The novel gives a brief history of the people of Scotland. I enjoyed the history especially after a recent trip to the Highlands and Hebrides. While there the "Clearances" were mentioned often because everyone had family who were cleared from the land and shipped to Canada. It was interesting to read this same history in such a moving novel.

I would recommend this novel to everyone.

5*****

I read this with a book club and enjoyed it very much. The male members of the book club found it more to their liking than some of the novels featuring a lot of female characters. The author and content are Canadian and the writing is superb.

'No Great Mischief' is a poignant little novel dedicated to telling the story of a few generations of the MacDonald family descended from a great Scottish clan named after its patriarch, Calum Ruadh (Calum the red) who brought his family to Cape Breton in 1779.

The story is being told near the present day by Alexander Macdonald (heir of Calum Ruadh) by way of an interesting merging of his memories and his knowledge of historical facts that tell the tale of the family's hardships and their unshakable resolve to thrive together amidst the tragedies that befall them. The novel is burdened by a sense of forlorn inevitability, as if this family is at its best only when faced with despairing circumstances that knit them together and reestablish their deep bonds with each other.

There are times when this story is almost unbelievably disconsolate, yet it never lacks a touch of sincerity. There are moments of profound symbolism (the freshwater well or the severed trees), and keen aphorisms litter some of the pages ("Sometimes it is hard to choose or not to choose those things which bother us at the most inappropriate of times" [2]; "When you throw things away, I suppose, you never can be sure that they will ever be yours again" [135]; "Talking about history is not like living it, I guess. Some people have more choices than others" [208]), yet the writing never loses touch with its earthy, intimate content. But from beginning to end, this is a story about how love - familial love - overcomes human frailty and the worst of circumstances that we find ourselves in. This theme is a resounding one, and its universality moves this novel into the realm of great literature.

'No Great Mischief' is a poignant little novel dedicated to telling the story of a few generations of the MacDonald family descended from a great Scottish clan named after its patriarch, Calum Ruadh (Calum the red) who brought his family to Cape Breton in 1779.

The story is being told near the present day by Alexander Macdonald, heir of Calum Ruadh, by way of an interesting merging of his memories and his knowledge of historical facts that tell the tale of the family's hardships and their unshakable resolve to thrive together amidst the tragedies that befall them. The novel is burdened by a sense of forlorn inevitability, as if this family is at its best only when faced with despairing circumstances that knit them together and reestablish their deep bonds with each other.

There are times when this story is almost unbelievably disconsolate, yet it never lacks a touch of sincerity. There are moments of profound symbolism (the freshwater well or the severed trees), and keen aphorisms litter some of the pages ("Sometimes it is hard to choose or not to choose those things which bother us at the most inappropriate of times" [2]; "When you throw things away, I suppose, you never can be sure that they will ever be yours again" [135]; "Talking about history is not like living it, I guess. Some people have more choices than others" [208]), yet the writing never loses touch with its earthy, intimate content. But from beginning to end, this is a story about how love - familial love - overcomes human frailty and the worst of circumstances that we find ourselves in. This theme is a resounding one, and its universality moves this novel into the realm of great literature.

Through 9/10ths of the book, the story's plot takes place over the span of an afternoon. Alexander MacDonald is visiting his eldest brother, Calum, who lives in a one room apartment in the heart of Toronto, and who is dependent on alcohol just to function. During this visit, Alexander relates to the reader stories of the immediate past and involving his immediate family. Interwoven in this narrative are the stories of his immediate ancestors as well as the the stories of Clan Donald.

This novel is about identity, and how identity is rooted in places and memory, and suggests that this is universally true. It then asks the question, if ones' ties to place and memory are broken, what becomes of who we are? Peripherally, the book touches on the idea of fate as well.

The storytelling is superb. With simple strokes, MacLeod is nevertheless able to give life to these characters whom you will grow attached to. As places play an important role in the novel, MacLeod also works wonderfully with the settings, such as a small region within Cape Breton, or the Queen St. W. district of Toronto, or a mine in northern Ontario. These settings through MacLeod's pen become non-human characters themselves. He's an exemplar of the writer's addage: show, don't tell.

At the same time, this storytelling style admits a few weaknesses in this instance. Firstly, it is difficult to find direct references to the narrator's personality and motivations, and thus it is hard to sympathize with Alexander MacDonald. At the same time, however, this may be an intended effect, since the narrator himself is an integral part of this exploration of identity. Perhaps the distance and detachment we feel, is part of MacLeod's thesis of the erosion of his identity.

Secondly, there are some scenes of conversations between the narrator and his twin sister, which serves as a device for exposition on Clan Donald history and legend, as well as hinting at the sister's own struggle with identity. While I can't think of a better way to do it, it was nonetheless, a weakness in the novel. The exposition felt dry, and tired. But again, perhaps this was intended.

Overall, another great book by a Canadian author.

I enjoyed this book very much. Macleod comes across like a storyteller of old. I can see him as a grandfather talking to a hushed family gathering, describing their history and lore to keep it alive both for future generations and for him. There are two readily apparent themes in this book one of which is associated with the title. I suspect another intended or not refers to the current state of fiscal disparity between Cape Breton and much of the rest of Canada. The characters that are well developed are for the most part male. They are very realistic, memorable and believable. All in all it was a very good read!

No Great Mischief is storytelling at its best by a true master.

What a wonderful story. I was moved to tears as I read the final words. MacLeod tells a story so well and he has created images that stay with me. I love this book and have gone on to recommend it to everyone that I feel is intelligent and soulfull enough to appreciate such a brilliant read. Read this then read Island
Cheers!

This book is one for the fire. Good thing the writer only has one book like this. I felt that he didn't put enough emotion into the book. I'm very emo, and therefor emotional is my thing. I also felt that the way that the author jumped back and forth in the plot line was really confusing, and it never kept my interest. I could see somebody with a little less intelligence enjoying this novel, but somebody as sophisticated as me, that option is impossible.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommended it to my family & friends.
In fact, this book is one of the few books that touched my soul, perhaps because I am from the East Coast and there is an element of spirituality throughout the book. People from the East Coast have a sense of 'oneness' with the land and I think that makes us different from other regions of the world.

The book might have been a little sappy in places to more insensitive people - but I loved it and actually bought it twice when my pal lost the book - I had to have it in my collection and I would most definitely place this book on my top 10 of all time!

Let's not circle around this topic. The point is clear: this is an absolutely boring recollection of one man's past. True, this is a well written memoir. However, what MacLeod fails to see is that not everyone is interested in his life. Okay, so maybe I am too harsh on him. I will give him full credit for the time and effort he took to write and publish this somewhat epic. Nevertheless, I wasted my time in reading it. The Gaelic took the cake. Most of the time I didn't know what he was talking about. Truly I tell you, this book can be passed off as my old History of the Higland Era. It's got the aura, but no necessity. A piece of interpretive literature, I will give it two points out of five for the meaning it has behind it. This review is from the point of view of a non-Scot. I thus don't feel compelled to Scottish history of any sort.

I found this to be a quick and enjoyable read. MacLeod paints a beautiful, if somewhat heartbreaking, picture of Cape Bretton. Definitely someplace I'd like to visit after reading this novel. Set in Essex County, with visits to Toronto and flashbacks to Sudbury and Cape Bretton, it doesn't get any more Canadian. I would recommend this book as a nice rendition of our country's history and as a worthwhile read.

After reading many excellent reviews of this book, I was sorely disappointed when I finally had the opportunity to read it. Hoping for a soaring saga about the Scottish Highlanders who immigrated to Cape Breton, I was instead presented with endlessly repeated events that were not worthy of the time and space devoted to them. How much do we want to know about that single summer at the Renco mine? Not the level of detail MacLeod deemed necessary to include, I assure you. The characters are one-dimensional and not at all sympathetic. The endless use of quotes to highlight certain words, sometimes several in a single sentence, quickly becomes very annoying. Apart from a few poignant descriptions - usually of landscape - I found absolutely nothing memorable or exceptional about No Great Mischief. With the wonderful bounty of Canadian novels now available, don't waste your time on this one.

A joy to read. The author captures the true spirit of Cape Breton and its people.

Alistair Macleod's masterful tale of a Cape Breton family over time is thoroughly engaging and satisfying, ultimately ending with a valuable insight into human relationships.

We just completed our Book Club meeting tonight and I thought this was a great time to submit our review. There is 5 members in our club and we all enjoyed No Great Mischief a lot. Additionally, someone brought a video tape of Alistair MacLeod being interviewed on CBC. We felt this book was really nice to read and all of us could relate some of the story to our own ancestry. Alistair MacLeod has a really great way of depicting this story, with some really heart breaking family events, in a way that is so natural you do not feel the pain. This is life and death in these difficult times. We had some very interesting conversation around this book and do suggest it as a great book club type reading. I would suggest it is a great read without the book club.

This story was sheer poetry...Macleod is the consumate writer and story teller. The MacDonald clan (Calum Ruadh) is probably a typical family, warts and all, but what makes them special is the bond they have with each other. "...blood is thicker than water...all of us are better when we're loved...". I could not put this book down for long. I was totally absorbed when I began each page because it spoke to my Scottish and Cape Breton heritage.