A
Literary Saloon
&
Site of Review.

Trying to meet all your book preview and review needs.

Contents:

Main

the Best

the Rest

Review Index

Links

to e-mail us:

the complete review - fiction

McGrotty and Ludmilla

by
Alasdair Gray

general information | review summaries | our review | links | about the author

- Return to top of the page -

Our Assessment:

A- : fun and entertaining political tale

See our review for fuller assessment.

- Return to top of the page -

The complete review's Review:

       Originally written as a radio play, then revised for the stage, Alasdair Gray finally turned McGrotty and Ludmilla into a novel. The plot, as he freely acknowledges, is taken from the Arabian Nights. Specifically, it is the Aladdin story, transposed to modern Whitehall.
       The unprepossessing Mungo McGrotty rises from his humble governmental post to the heights of power, helped by the mysterious Harbinger Report which holds marvelous powers of blackmail. In this fantastical comedy McGrotty finds (and keeps -- unusual in a Gray tale) happiness and love. He is no bright light -- "I don't read books" he acknowledges ("I'm glad to hear it," he is told: "They can be terribly misleading.") -- but he knows what he wants, and he also turns out to be a fairly decent fellow. Helped by his partner and true love, Ludmilla, he first flirts with ambition, and then winds up doing the right thing.
       Deft, clever, and amusing, and not near as dark as much of Gray's writing, McGrotty and Ludmilla is a most enjoyable entertainment. Truly a modern tale out of the Arabian Nights.

- Return to top of the page -

Links:

• Canongate publicity page

• The complete review's Alasdair Gray page
• Official site
• Alasdair Gray at British Council Literature
• Interview from the Review of Contemporary Fiction

• The Book of Prefaces
• The Ends of Our Tethers
• A History Maker
• Mavis Belfrage
• Old Men in Love
• Old Negatives
• Poor Things

• Alasdair Gray: Critical Appreciations and a Bibliography, ed. Phil Moores
• Stephen Bernstein's study, Alasdair Gray

• See Index of Contemporary British fiction

- Return to top of the page -

About the Author:

       Scottish author Alasdair Gray was born in 1934. A noted illustrator and author, he has written a number of remarkable works of fiction.

- Return to top of the page -

© 2000-2021 the complete review

Main | the New | the Best | the Rest | Review Index | Links