straaawbs's review
3.0
This was a pretty nice idea of bringing together a group of voices, over the course of 3-4 page essays, to talk about their vision for a (post-independence?) future Scotland. I seem to remember the intro suggesting I'd find a lot here to disagree with, which really didn't turn out to be the case. Ok, there was the occasional Boomer-ish essay about how we all just need to put down our mobile phones and get off the internet (maybe they're not wrong, but what an unoriginal idea) but mostly these were all good suggestions. It's not by any means a deep dive into policy or sociological issues, but it could definitely be a springboard for deeper discussions.
I liked the variety of ways in which the contributors chose to respond to the prompt, mainly through writing but also some via pictures, poetry, and one that was just a picture of an unfolded blank sheet of A4 paper (though the meaning of that one was lost on me tbh).
I would have liked some more diversity in thought here. There were some really good essays - ones about alleviating our country's health issues, poverty, and homelessness. Protecting the environment, tackling capitalism, fighting for racial and gender equality. But, with so many creative-types being asked to contribute, there were also a lot of essays which essentially boiled down to getting more kids in school involved in theatre... And it's not that I'm opposed to that, although as an introvert it isn't top of my list for creating a better society, not by a long shot. It's just that after reading the sixth or seventh essay to the same effect I really wished they'd branched out a bit more when choosing contributors, picked more people with different priorities and life experiences.
I liked the variety of ways in which the contributors chose to respond to the prompt, mainly through writing but also some via pictures, poetry, and one that was just a picture of an unfolded blank sheet of A4 paper (though the meaning of that one was lost on me tbh).
I would have liked some more diversity in thought here. There were some really good essays - ones about alleviating our country's health issues, poverty, and homelessness. Protecting the environment, tackling capitalism, fighting for racial and gender equality. But, with so many creative-types being asked to contribute, there were also a lot of essays which essentially boiled down to getting more kids in school involved in theatre... And it's not that I'm opposed to that, although as an introvert it isn't top of my list for creating a better society, not by a long shot. It's just that after reading the sixth or seventh essay to the same effect I really wished they'd branched out a bit more when choosing contributors, picked more people with different priorities and life experiences.
claire60's review
4.0
Loved this book, its a collection of short prose pieces or illustrations where various people are asked to imagine a better future for Scotland, designed to be full of hope and away from Politician's rhetoric. It's a book to dip in and out of, to pick up when you've got time and read a few more. Some people wrote poems, some drew pictures, most wrote prose in various forms as different and reflective of them as people as well their various points of view. Really interesting read in the light of the background talk of the 'union' and independence, especially Damian Barr's plea for being taught history of Scotland not England. This book is a lovely celebration of Scottish culture both past, present and future.
honestlyrussell's review
2.0
I have a lot of thoughts as to why this book wasn't for me, so I'm going to try and explain them as best as I can.
First of all, I think this book oversold and underdelivered. The blurb describes it as "visions of a new future from an astonishing array of Scottish voices, from comedians to economists, writers to musicians". The book consists of 97 mini-essays, mostly 2-3 pages long, from different people about what they would like Scotland to look like in the future. When I first heard about this book, I was excited by it. I'm interested in Scottish politics and I thought this would be a good book to expose me to different ideas for the future of Scotland and the even challenge the way I view my own country.
If we're going to discuss the future of Scotland from an array of Scottish voices, I want to hear from teachers, from doctors, from homeless people, from cleaners, from bus drivers, from tradespeople, from people on benefits, from people who have been to prison, from people who work in prison, from teen parents, from university professors, from people who don't think university if for them, from sexual health clinic workers, from domestic abuse survivors, from immigrants, from migrants, from scientists, from accountants, from supermarket workers etc etc.
However, the vast majority of the people who contributed to this book are writers/artists (I imagine because of their connections to the editors) and so this book is really a middle class, arts centred look to the future of Scotland and not the diverse perspective that the blurb would suggest this book has.
Some of the chapters were very, very good but ultimately they got lost in the absolute boatload of very samey vague descriptions of a future with more funding for arts and no poverty. Which are two things I think would be great in a future Scotland, but there are so many other things to consider. Because it was so samey, I did not feel motivated to pick up this book as keep reading it. I enjoyed the first 50 or so pages, but I was bored by page 100 and the book is 260 pages long...
Some things I think would have made this book a bit better:
- I think had it been shorter, and some of the more similar essays removed, it would have been much more readable.
-Alternatively, had the chapters been separated by topic rather than listed alphabetically by author's surname, then the few essays that weren't about the arts wouldn't have gotten so lost amongst everything else.
-It really needed something to wrap it up at the end. There's an intro, but the book just ends with the last perspective. But because they're organised by the author's last name, it's not necessarily the most interesting or thought-provoking essay, so it feels like a rather anticlimactic. By the time I got to the end of the book I was thinking 'right thank god I've finished' rather than really reflecting on the points raised by the authors.
Overall, I really liked the concept of this book, but think that it fell flat.
First of all, I think this book oversold and underdelivered. The blurb describes it as "visions of a new future from an astonishing array of Scottish voices, from comedians to economists, writers to musicians". The book consists of 97 mini-essays, mostly 2-3 pages long, from different people about what they would like Scotland to look like in the future. When I first heard about this book, I was excited by it. I'm interested in Scottish politics and I thought this would be a good book to expose me to different ideas for the future of Scotland and the even challenge the way I view my own country.
If we're going to discuss the future of Scotland from an array of Scottish voices, I want to hear from teachers, from doctors, from homeless people, from cleaners, from bus drivers, from tradespeople, from people on benefits, from people who have been to prison, from people who work in prison, from teen parents, from university professors, from people who don't think university if for them, from sexual health clinic workers, from domestic abuse survivors, from immigrants, from migrants, from scientists, from accountants, from supermarket workers etc etc.
However, the vast majority of the people who contributed to this book are writers/artists (I imagine because of their connections to the editors) and so this book is really a middle class, arts centred look to the future of Scotland and not the diverse perspective that the blurb would suggest this book has.
Some of the chapters were very, very good but ultimately they got lost in the absolute boatload of very samey vague descriptions of a future with more funding for arts and no poverty. Which are two things I think would be great in a future Scotland, but there are so many other things to consider. Because it was so samey, I did not feel motivated to pick up this book as keep reading it. I enjoyed the first 50 or so pages, but I was bored by page 100 and the book is 260 pages long...
Some things I think would have made this book a bit better:
- I think had it been shorter, and some of the more similar essays removed, it would have been much more readable.
-Alternatively, had the chapters been separated by topic rather than listed alphabetically by author's surname, then the few essays that weren't about the arts wouldn't have gotten so lost amongst everything else.
-It really needed something to wrap it up at the end. There's an intro, but the book just ends with the last perspective. But because they're organised by the author's last name, it's not necessarily the most interesting or thought-provoking essay, so it feels like a rather anticlimactic. By the time I got to the end of the book I was thinking 'right thank god I've finished' rather than really reflecting on the points raised by the authors.
Overall, I really liked the concept of this book, but think that it fell flat.
miltosa's review
3.0
I like the premise of the book and support most of the ideas put forward. As a result of the limited diversity of the contributors, many of the ideas are similar and can feel repetitive. The lack of diversity also means that while many of the contributors imagine an inclusive Scotland, the ideas presented and language used in the book are not always inclusive.
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