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The Testament of Gideon Mack
by James Robertson | Literature & Fiction
Registered by potok-fan of Turku, Varsinais-Suomi Finland on Sunday, March 25, 2007
Average 9 star rating by BookCrossing Members 

status (set by CatharinaL): permanent collection


6 journalers for this copy...

Journal Entry 1 by potok-fan from Turku, Varsinais-Suomi Finland on Sunday, March 25, 2007

This book has not been rated.

Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, 2006. I bought this book at Waterstone's in Hull (UK) because it was on my secret MayDay gift partner's wishlist! I'm now packaging it up with a couple of May-themed goodies and strong-tasting treats... and lots of good wishes for a cheerful summer!

MayDay in Finland is a real turning point every year - after putting on their high school graduation caps again for an evening, people change from their winter personalities (morose and hyper-silent) to being cheerful and a little less silent :)

photograph © Paul Dodson 2006 from http://www.unimportant-man.co.uk 

Journal Entry 2 by zzz from Rakovica, City of Belgrade Serbia on Tuesday, May 01, 2007

This book has not been rated.

(WOW I've noticed completely accidentally BCID label! I swear I didnt see it last night LOL)

This is absolutely perfect pick Potok!I'm a huge fan of Booker Prize (my nick could be Booker-fan LOL) and winners/short/long listed novels are among my favourites novels written originally in English.
When I've read review and synopsis about The Testament of Gideon Mack I've added on my wish list immediately. As I wrote in my opening post on forum from time to time I have strange feeling about the book before I start to read it, feeling that I'll enjoy in it tremendously and that's the feeling I have with this novel :-)
Thank you so much for fabulous parcel you've sent me and for all best wishes!
Enjoy in Summer :-)



This is James Robertson ! 

Journal Entry 3 by zzz from Rakovica, City of Belgrade Serbia on Tuesday, November 13, 2007

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I have duplicate of this book (don't know the reason but my bookobsessed friends like to send me this book even after I removed it from my wishlist. Is it because the devil on the cover and devilish me? LOL).
Therefore I'm sending this copy to my dear friend on the north. When I saw she's participating in this year's Holiday Gift Giving I thought this might be nice surprise (especially after small conversation about devils and vampires we had recently). Enjoy!

Paint is Murnau, Staffelsee by Kandinsky (one of my favourite artists) and it's traveling along with the book. I hope you like this :)
Happy Holidays! 

Journal Entry 4 by CatharinaL from Pirkkala, Pirkanmaa Finland on Tuesday, November 20, 2007

This book has not been rated.

Thank you ever so much for sending, Milan!

The HGG parcel arrived this morning; I'm just thrilled to start reading. I'm not familiar with any of Robertson's work, so this will be a complete plunge in the dark for me! Last week, we were discussing the Devil and folklore in my LiveJournal, so I knew what to expect the moment I saw the Serbian stamps on the envelope :-)

Kandinsky ranks among my all-time favorite painters, too. This surely is the perfect thing to cheer up my dull, work-filled, and headachy November day! 

Journal Entry 5 by CatharinaL from Pirkkala, Pirkanmaa Finland on Friday, December 07, 2007

9 out of 10

Expressionless on the surface, a good and an easy read on the story level, this novel poses plenty of fundamental questions but provides no conclusive answers. If the Devil didn't exist would man have to invent him?

Narrated by a Presbyterian minister and mostly set in a Highland manse, the text cunningly contains theological pieces and fleeting passages to Biblical quotes. The narrator's language is decidedly modest, unsentimental, and easy-to-follow throughout, while any real action takes place in the reader's mind.

Ultimately, the reader is taken to ponder the dimensions of madness and faith. Interestingly, the novel never directs the thought towards the essence of the supernatural, but rather towards our attitudes regarding things beyond our immediate reality, understanding, and/or logic. What is, in fact, the nature of belief? Belief, as in both of higher powers and that of believing our fellow men and women. How much faith and belief is inappropriate for the layman or for a minister?

The end brings a surprising twist to the story that once and for all shakes the very basis of the reader's assumptions and views on Mack. With this element, the urge for another reading arises: to check on all the potential falsifications of the unreliable narrator that were missed the first time around. Reading for hints: at which point of this 'autobiography' did Reverend Mack the protagonist lose his mind, so to speak, or was he deliberately covering up a number of things from the beginning, to lure the leader on his side? Is there a touch of the magical/divine/demonic involved—or it is all a mere case record of emotional problems developing into mental illness?

Other than a psychological study, this is also a good period piece on the more general questions of faith in an age of modernity and scepticism. Reverend Mack appears not alone with his dilemma of choosing between traditional ministership and peer pressure, of the changing societal values versus history. Thus he concludes: Whatever else, I was a man of these times.

Yes: I greatly enjoyed this novel and will definitely look for other books by James Robertson. 

Journal Entry 6 by cazfi from Pirkkala, Pirkanmaa Finland on Thursday, January 03, 2008

This book has not been rated.

For the time being this book is in my possession. Will be returned to CL when I have read it. 

Journal Entry 7 by CatharinaL from Pirkkala, Pirkanmaa Finland on Monday, June 01, 2009

This book has not been rated.

Gideon Mack will be visiting Tarna in the meantime :-) 

Journal Entry 8 by wingTarnawing from Tampere, Pirkanmaa Finland on Wednesday, June 03, 2009

This book has not been rated.

Got this in our Books, Soup, and BC-friends meet-up at Amurin Helmi today. Thanks, CL! 

Journal Entry 9 by wingTarnawing from Tampere, Pirkanmaa Finland on Tuesday, November 03, 2009

This book has not been rated.

Yet another great author I wouldn’t probably have known without BookCrossing. Thank you for introducing him to me, CL!
Didn’t plan it, but somehow it felt quite appropriate to finish reading on Pyhäinpäivä, Finnish All Saints’ Dayy. Besides, Gideon Mack did mention El Dia de los Muertos in the speech he gave at Catherine’s funeral.
Took me quite a while before making this entry, though. I liked the book very much, liked the storyline and the narration. But was amazed me most was the boldness James Robertson showed when choosing a theme like this. I find it very hard to review this kind of book. Actually, I don’t think you can do it without revealing your own thoughts on faith, religion and Christianity. for instance. The Testament of Gideon Mack is a kind of mirror reflecting its reader’s mind. — Being a private person who wants to keep her thoughts on subjects like religion to herself, I really don’t know what to say here. (Not to mention that CatharinaL already put it much better, as always.) Come to think of it, I really don’t know what to think...
But one thing I know, I really liked The Testament of Gideon Mack.

CL, I’m sorry it took me so long to read this book. (I bet cazfi would have been faster.) I’ll return it as soon as I see it. or, maybe I’ll give it to myntti tonight, in case you guys meet sooner.

Interview with James Robertson: The Testament of Gideon Mack at BooksfromScotland.com

Edited to add that Gideon Mack is with myntti now. 2009 KTMC #50. 

Journal Entry 10 by wingmynttiwing from Tampere, Pirkanmaa Finland on Tuesday, November 03, 2009

This book has not been rated.

Kuriiri tässä. Annan kirjan CL:lle, kun seuraavan kerran nähdään.

Edit. I've returned the book to CatharinaL. 

Journal Entry 11 by CatharinaL at Pirkkala, Pirkanmaa Finland on Thursday, June 23, 2011

This book has not been rated.

Jep, kirja on hyllyssäni. 



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