Sunday 24 July 2016

The Brilliant and Forever by Kevin MacNeil

On an invented Scottish island, where half the population is made up of intelligent, literate alpacas, the Brilliant and Forever is an annual literary festival.

Can Archie, the greatest alpaca poet ever win this most prestigious event and prove that alpacas are as good as humans?

This is an entertaining, insightful novel, dealing with issues such as human rights and cultural diversity but also full of humour. I love the idea invented here of haiku-cookery, the rules of which include (I paraphrase):

The first meal of the day contains 5 ingredients
the second meal of the day contains 7 ingredients, and
the third meal of the day includes 5 ingredients
all meals must include seasonal produce

Read this book for an alternative take on Scottish island life and culture. And alpacas.

The Brilliant and Forever by Kevin MacNeil, published by Polygon (2016)

2 comments:

RG said...

I'll put it on the Scotland list. I am just about to start a smallish book called something like a short history of Scotland.

Anonymous said...

wow, sounds very different :D