Whisky Galore
Whisky Galore by Compton Mackenzie
Published: 1947
Narrated by: David Rintoul
Length: 09:30 (304 pages)
I love whisky, and I’ve been making an effort to incorporate more Scottish literature into my reading, so that was really all I really needed to pick this classic up.
This is based on a real event during the Second World War. A cargo ship, the SS Politician, ran aground off the coast of the island of Eriskay with twenty-eight thousand cases of malt whisky and a very large sum of money on board, which was partially looted by the island’s residents. This novel takes place on two fictional islands, Great Todday and Little Todday, and a similar event occurs.
Two very different couples are planning to marry on the island, and both weddings, for different reasons, are somewhat dependant on a bit of whisky. Due to war rationing, the whisky supply has nearly dried out. Production had been cut drastically, to conserve the grain for a supply of food during the war. The duty on whisky was raised domestically to reduce consumption within the UK and to put the focus on export in order to raise funds. Whisky Galore begins in the midst of this rationing, where a dram has been difficult to find for months already, and life on the islands has become dull and joyless. Once the ship’s supply has been discovered, things begin to turn around. The trick is to keep the whisky hidden from a stuffy English Home Guard Captain.
I enjoyed his quite a bit. I was hoping for a little more in the way of plot, though. I wasn’t invested at all in the potential weddings, and I wish the cat-and-mouse game between the islanders and the Captain had been a bit more interesting and involved, but this novel is really about the tone and the wit of the characters. It’s very funny in parts, and I loved the anti-establishment nature of the community. I listened to this on audiobook, and David Rintoul was fantastic. His accents were great, and it’s always a pleasure to hear some Gaelic.
There have been a couple film adaptions of this. I hear the 2016 adaptation wasn’t very good, but I’d like to watch the 1949 version soon.
11 Comments
Andrick Schall
Great review. Doesn’t sound like my cup of tea; I appreciate your perspective.
Rob
Yeah, definitely not for everyone. It is good fun, though.
nikki @bookpunks
I, too, like whiskey. Though my literary dram was going to be Raw Spirits by Iain Banks, which has been on my shelf waiting for me to pick it up for several years. Nonfiction, but have you read that one?
Rob
I haven’t yet, but I did pick up a copy earlier this year. Looking forward to it!
Andrew G Lockhart
Do watch the earlier movie if you can find a copy!
Lashaan (Bookidote)
First time I’m hearing of this one, but I too would have hoped hearing that the cat and mouse game was far more captivating. Great review, Rob.
Rob
Thanks! Still an enjoyable novel, though, just not quite what I was expecting I guess.
Claudia Riley
Irony there with the SS Politician going aground with whiskey aboard. Believe I’d like this book, would be my dram of whiskey.
Rob
It was quite a bit of fun!
Brona
You had me at David Rintoul! He was in my favourite version of Pride & Prejudice (1980). The whiskey thing not so much.
Rob
I was unfamiliar with him going in, but he really was great in this.