Beautiful set of stories

Listened to this audio book twice back to back. Set of random little beautiful stories. The gem is Robbie’s performance just superb.

3 people found this helpful

Rich, Humane and So Rewarding

This audiobook was a wonderful and varied experience for me (and also for a friend who read the print copy). Though a set of feature articles, there is little sense of this other than the mix of topics, people and characters covered. To me it felt more like an 'album' of short stories. The collection holds together really well. Peter Ross is an accomplished writer with insight, compassion strong writing skills and lovely turns of phrase. He like people and this anchors the book with a deep humanity. Humour is frequent - in many guises. As the son of a Lanarkshire man (but me Brummie born) I loved the light-peppering of Scottish words including the 'piece' (meaning sandwich) of my childhood. Each word is worth noting and looking up; without doing so meaning is not harmed - so do not be put off. The narration is fully sympathetic, though how far characterisations match reality no one can tell. Save for a careless, unedited narration error when Robbie Coltrane uses an ugly word, this audio book will remain a firm favourite. It was an absolute pleasure to come across this book. What we all need now is the second volume, 'The Passion of Harry Bingo' to be recorded and made available on Audible.

2 people found this helpful

Wonderful stories, brilliantly read.

I enjoyed listening to this book immensely. I just hope that the sequel, Harry Bingo, will also be made available as an audiobook.

2 people found this helpful

How little I knew my own country

If I'm honest, I'd have to confess that I came across this in a 2-for-1 sale. Encouraged by the sampled narration of Robbie Coltrane I decided to go fo fit. It's a fantastic listen. The range of topics, people, places covered is very wide and there's not a dull chapter in the whole book. The mood ranges from serious, through informative to very light hearted. Regardless of mood, the writing is always fine, with many quotable moments. I won't spoil your listen by citing them here. Reaching the end, I realised how little I know my own small country. As some would say here, 'that needs tae get sorted'.

1 person found this helpful

Magic! Peter Ross writer Robbie Coltrane reader

What made the experience of listening to Daunderlust the most enjoyable?

The writing of Peter Ross and the reading of his prose by Robbie Coltrane. Coltrane picked up Peter Ross's side comment sand brilliantly headed the into a net as surely as Archie Gemmill did in Argentina in 1978.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Daunderlust?

For me personally the chapter on the Strathcathro Services. For those who know of what I write - listen to the chapter and be prepared to be amazed and grateful for many things. I also enjoyed the story of the carnival people and the naturists at Loch Lomond and Barlinnie and the Jedburgh Ba' - there are just so many wonderful chapters. Was it Juliet who said it to Romeo - 'don't leave me so unsatisfied' - ha, Peter Ross/Robbie Coltrane. I want more.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Who needs prozac when you can spend a hae a daunder in Scotland

Any additional comments?

Thank you Audible for making this book available. A book I think should be the leaving present to every Scots schoolchild. Better still 'required reading'. This is a book which can open eyes and ears and hearts and minds.

1 person found this helpful

"God made the Scots - just a little bit better!"

Any additional comments?

These are 'dispatches from unreported Scotland' written by the Glasgow-based journalist Peter Ross for 'Scotland on Sunday'. On the page they're intensely alive and the language is vigorously sinewy; read by Robbie Coltrane they bring yet more life to all the humour (which can be savage, black, sharply witty or heart-breaking), energy and vibrancy. The result is a brilliant and graphic kaleidoscope of the extraordinary in ordinary people. No well-known names, no celebrities, these are real, everyday Scots from paramedics and sheep farmers to those who dissect - with great respect - donated cadavers in Anatomy Rooms. Inside Scotland's belly are the tough gangs who maintain the Forth Road Bridge buffeted by savage winds; prisoners in Glasgow's Barlinnie Gaol, their teeth rotted by methadone; 'Compost Corner' in The Waterloo where the elderly men sit in hope in Glasgow's oldest and most extravagant gay bar; the 'brutal business' of soft fruit picking, even if now the thornless raspberries no longer rip the pickers' skin to shreds; trained extreme cleaners who are brought in to expunge the gore following a violent death. Oystermen collect delicacies for restaurants down South; naturists enjoy the peace of Loch Lomond, Scotland's 'kit-off capital'; modern-day Jacobites save up for their authentic outfits; men on the Isle of Lewis are forced back to cutting peat as the price of oil soars. And then there's Scotland's natural beauty: the vast whirling murmurations of starlings; the shifting colours of Arthur's Seat from dusk to dawn.The promise of the author's opening sentence: 'There are more things in Irvine and Perth than are dreamt of in our philosophy' is generously fulfilled. For Scots and non-Scots, here are 9 hours of superb, energising listening.

1 person found this helpful

Made me feel homesick for Scotland

Lovely book - not very high brow, but very enjoyable. Lovely bite size tales from all over Scotland. Robbie Coltrane's narration is excellent.

That said, the book need editing - there are quite a few places where he makes a mistake and repeats himself, obviously expecting to have it edited out, but it's been missed. As a result there's at least one expletive in there that wasn't intended (just in case that's an issue for where you're listening to the book)

loved it!!

Fantastic writing and brilliant performance by Robbie Coltrane. Can't recommend it enough. Best thing I've listening to on audible

Hoping the follow up book gets performed by Robbie Coltrane too.

Not just tartan and whisky

A most pleasing collection of Scottish anecdotes about its people and institutions: obscure or obvious, profound or profane, modern or moth-eaten. All are grist for Ross’s mill. There is much here for the homesick Scot, or for the merely curious.

Each chapter stands in isolation. They were written over a four year period and this does occasionally lead to puzzlement with regard to the exact placing of milestone events that will happen, ‘later in the year’.

Robbie’s narration is not flawless, although I would say that it’s a very minor irritation rather than a hindrance to listening. On a couple of occasions a few words are re-read, indeed a single tongue-tied expletive remains (no time reference given – just to make you pay attention). That notwithstanding Robbie is an excellent choice of narrator; his mimicry of the various Scottish accents of both genders enhanced my enjoyment of this title.