Edward Waverley goes on a vacation to Scotland, staying with an old friend of his uncle's. He meets a Highland Chief and is invited to spend a couple of weeks hunting in the highlands. Waverley is inspired by the noble demeanor of the highland clans, and his romantic side gets the better of him. He becomes embroiled in the Jacobite Rebellion, and he falls in love with the Chief's pretty sister. At first, his adventures seem glamorous and exciting, but he quickly learns that he must deal with reality and give up his childish daydreams of glory.

A beautiful, intriguing tale of valor, love, honor, loyalty, with absurd funny bits and sorrow intermingled. This is my favorite book of Sir Walter Scott's!

I love the setting of the Scottish Highlands! It is absolutely beautiful. I found it incredibly interesting to learn about the old customs and rich culture of Scotland, and the way the Highlands and the Lowlands have such different manners and even a different language. Some of the Highland characters only speak Gaelic and only know a few words in English.

I absolutely adore Waverley's character. He is brave and honorable and true. He is a dreamer, preferring books and poetry, but also an active person, ready to dive into any adventure or defend his honor with a duel. The best thing about Edward Waverley is his intense character development. Through all his adventures and experiences, he learns to navigate reality as it really is, instead of wishing for foolish dreams. He has a very fiery personality, and he learns to tame some of those wild emotions.

All the supporting characters are fantastic! Every one of them is unique and memorable and interesting. They are a wild group sometimes! I love that each personality is well-written in a thoughtful way. They have their own character arcs, their own little intrigues and sorrows in the background.

The writing is phenomenal! It draws you in slowly and completely immerses you in this old world of history. I love that we get to see the inner workings of Edward Waverley's thoughts and emotions as he grows and changes. The rich language really puts the reader into the middle of every scene. There is a wonderful balance of serious and comical scenes, and moments of rest and action.

I adore everything about this book!

This started out good much like Rob Roy did but quickly lost steam as it went on. I realize this is a popular Scott novel and some view it as one of his best works but nothing for me can ever eclipse Ivanhoe.

This novel was written some 200 and 4 years since, and for many modern readers, it will show its age more than others. However, for the experienced reader, and his initial readers, this is a four star novel.

Although it is often referred to as "the first historical novel", that is not essentially true. However, it contains the traits of historical novel in the modern sense of the word and historical novels are very popular now (Wolf Hall anybody?). Scott's purpose, which he accomplishes admirably based on few precedents before him, is an evocative, pleasurable yarn, full of historical insight and lessons, for lack of a more pleasing word, for us all.

It is 60 years since the battle of Culloden. Britons in 1814 have forgotten the message of this battle and its significance in British history. Scott is placed within the perfect context for telling this tale. A lowlander Scot himself, he wishes to thematically explore the dual nature of the Scot who found themselves caught in this last struggle for the (legal) right of a Stuart to rule Britain (James IV) over the usurpation of 1689 (The Glorious Revolution) by Hanoverian successors. The Highlanders initially achieved great success and the whole campaign ended in a historically monumental battle at Culloden.

To read this book, you must know this background. Scott insists on it. The tension lies in the fictional characters who exist in this historical world and how their fates interact with the domination of historical facts that must occur in the narrative. You must know who Bonnie Prince Charlie was, who the Jacobites were, what the Act of Union was, how Culloden turned out. A good edition will give you a brief overview.

Scott is lamenting the fall of an older way of life, of chivalry, highland culture, Scottish pride, Scottish dialect (which retreated forever into the Highlands in 1715), and the division of identity evinced by this conflict. Enter Waverley, a British soldier who must reconcile his torn identity between England and Scotland. To evoke this conflict, Scott gives him two love interests, one from each side of the conflict. Several vivid characters populate this narrative, including Fergus MacIvor and the Baron of Bradwardine. As with usual with Scott, the novel begins with a heavy buildup of narrative and then leads to high adventure.

You might want to hesitate reading this book for a number of reasons. If you are American, you may find the history impenetrable. Most US history books don't mention Culloden. If you have a healthy knowledge of British and Scottish history, you will understand the significance of this conflict. Scott also frequently breaks into a number of languages and dialects, most frequently Highland Scottish accents, Latin, and French (Italian appears once or twice). Other than Scottish, the references are limited to proverbs and quotes, but Scottish dialect can be hard to read for some. I would also add that the characters do evoke our sympathies and interest in general, but Waverley is not one of the great protagonists ever. He is mainly a cypher for Scott's concerns with the conflict between English and Scottish identity (most recently demonstrated by the Scottish Independence Referendum). He often seems to be at the mercy of events rather than driving them. The two love interests are not especially noteworthy other than their ethnic identities. The Baron of Bradwardine is the predominant "father figure" in the novel (though not Waverley's) but he can either amuse or annoy as he frequently breaks out into Latin (though he is a central figure in Scott's examination of Scottish culture, particularly heraldry).

Bottom line: I would actually recommend most readers use the superb audiobook available from Naxos, as David Rintoul nails all of the dialects and really evokes the fiction with his excellent reading. If not, you can give it a go on your own. It takes an advanced reader, but it's not at all impossible or difficult for an experienced reader. I can understand why Scott has fallen out of favor in literary circles, but it doesn't take away from his achievement. Jane Austen herself said that it was unfair Scott wrote this book as now nobody can surpass it. I wouldn't quite go that far, but as Scott himself is trying to urge us to do in this book, we still need to listen to voices of the past for they still have a lot to tell us.

Just finished the book today and really liked Walter Scott writing style. Very fun and enjoyable to read as a young English man coming of age story while he is travelling in Scotland. It reminded me of Robin Hood or King Arthur and his knight adventure.

We learn about the Scottish custom and history.

I recommend this novel to those who will be interested to those things.

This is the one that started it all off for Scott in the prose sense and was also the beginning of the historical novel in the Western tradition. Its title has resounded down through the years, giving its name to a whole series of Scott’s novels, to Edinburgh’s main railway station, to a kind of pen nib (n  They come as a boon and a blessing to men, the Pickwick, the Owl and the Waverley Penn,) a class of GWR locomotives and to the last ocean-going paddle steamer in the world.

Our hero, Edward Waverley, English and heir to an estate there, is encouraged by his uncle to take up a commission in the army. After arriving with his troop in Scotland he receives leave of absence to visit an old friend of his father, the irredeemably Jacobite Baron Bradwardine of Tully-Veolan. Events and an indisposition contrive to keep him there beyond his commanding officer’s pleasure, an unfortunate circumstance as this is 1745 and historic events are afoot. His troop has shown rebellious leanings and this along with his absence leads to his commission being revoked. At the same time comes news his father has been disgraced and removed from his government post in London. The friendship Waverley has struck at Tully-Veolan with Fergus Mac-Ivor (also known as Vich Ian Vohr, the latest of his line to accede to this honorific,) Waverley’s change in circumstances and the interference in Waverley’s affairs by one Donald Bean Lean, delivers him into the company of Charles Edward Stuart and the Jacobite Army now in Edinburgh. Waverley’s presence as an English adherent is a boost to the Prince’s cause, as it promises more such support.

As a member of the Jacobite Army Waverley takes part in the Battle of Prestonpans – or Preston as it is usually described by Scott (except when Jacobites call it Gladsmuir,) where he saves the life of a Government officer, Colonel Talbot, who knows his father well. Waverley goes all the way down to Derby and back up before he is separated from the retreating army during a skirmish at Clifton south of Penrith and makes his way to London to try to reinstate his reputation with the paroled Colonel Talbot’s help.

I would not advise anyone to start their reading of Scott’s novels with this book. In addition to his usual long-windedness, here it is more or less obvious that Scott is here feeling his way into the writing of a novel. In the last chapter “A Postscript, which should have been a Preface” Scott informs us he had at one time abandoned the book but some years later came across the papers again and went on to complete it, an interval which could not have helped. Later novels of his are more approachable but in Waverley there are many longueurs in the early passages and too much of a rush towards the end. That Scott himself makes the point in the text, “earlier events are studiously dwelt upon, that you, kind reader, may be introduced to the character rather by narrative, than by the duller medium of direct description; but when the story draws near its close we hurry over the circumstances,” does not render this imbalance any less marked. Certain of the characters are fond of Latin tags; which was to be a recurrent trait in Scott’s works. Some names are also clearly jocular, there is a Laird of Killancureit, and a pair of lawyers, Messrs Clippurse and Hookem.

Waverley is, though, necessary reading for anyone interested in the history of the Scottish novel.

Worth reading simply because it one of the most significant novels in the history of western literature. The publication of Waverley changed the face of the novel forever and therefore deserves to be read and studied. However, it's also a very engaging historical romance and adventure, following Edward Waverley's journey into Scotland and its romantic landscape and finally into the Jacobite rebellion.

There are many segments of verses, which I wish I was able to naturally follow. Hoping to find some Waverley music project
Also, there's a lot of vernacular scottish, and french and latin, and I admit, would have found it easier to immerse in an abridged edition

And if you're here, reading this,
https://open.spotify.com/album/33h2xN...

Please don't read Scott. There are too many books and life's too short. Even Fenimore Cooper is better, and Fenimore Cooper is fall-down terribly terrible. Garbage like this is what destroys a newcomer's interest in reading true classics like Austen and Dickens, Melville and Tolstoy. I don't care if you're a casual reader or a bibliophile or a PhD or you're trapped on a desert island with only this one book. Burn it for warmth. Scotty Boy's long overdue for decanonization.

When I first tried reading 'Waverley' at the age of 10 or 12, I hated it. The Scottish English was incomprehensible, the politics too confusing, the plot too slow. Now that I am 24, I love it. I finished reading it today. I think it exquisite. It is rare to find a novel so well-written and well-plotted, with such incredibly vivid imagery. There are scenes and sentences that later novelists would plunder- Thackeray's description of the death of George Osborne owes much (consciously or unconsciously) to Scott's description of the death of the Laird of Balmawhapple. Much of the historical novels of Sienkiewicz are a debt to Walter Scott.
Waverely's wavering between England and the Highlands between the sweet Rose and the romantic Flora forms the structural axis of the book. Yet although Wavery is ostensibly the hero of the novel, he is not the force that drives the events that surround him. He is more of a pawn who is driven by circumstance than an active hero. It is only in reading this novel that I understood why Georg Lukacs admired Walter Scott's historical methods so much (my notes on Georg Lukacs's 'Historical novel are somewhere tucked away in my notes from my undergrad. Yet no-one thought to tell me to read Walter Scott first!)
My praise so far has been literary- but my reactions have been almost too emotional. I had to put the book down several times to stop myself from reacting too strongly- and I am still mourning the death of one of the characters. Scott's words have been like strokes of a painter- drawing incredibly vivid images in my head- not for a while have I had such a visceral reaction to a novel. If you love 19th century literature read it. If you love stories of Highland Scotland, read it. If you love both-you've probably already read it- so re-read it again and again. I am sure I will.

Title: Waverly
Author: Sir Walter Scott
Narrated by: David Rintoul
Publisher: Naxos Audiobooks
Length: Approximately 17 hours and 9 minutes
Source: Purchased from Amazon.com (Audible)

Have you ever heard of the Waverly novels? I first heard of them when I was a kid and read how Laura Ingalls Wilder read them in The First Four Years. I later learned that Jane Austen enjoyed them. The first of the Waverly novels, Waverly, was chosen as one of the January selections for the Northwoods JASNA Book Club.

I started to read this as a novel, but realized I needed an audiobook to help with the “old fashioned” language. Switching to audio really helped out. Even better David Rintoul was the narrator. He played Mr. Darcy in the 1980 Pride and Prejudice adaptation. He had a great voice for audio.

Waverly is credited as being the first historical fiction novel. The subtitle is “’Tis Sixty Years Since” and it is set during the Jacobite uprising of 1745. If you are an Outlander fan, this should be a familiar setting. Edward Waverly is the heir to an estate through his uncle. He has decided to join the army right before the Jacobite uprising. He is stationed in Scotland and travels through the country on the way to his post. Through a series of misunderstandings, he loses his commission in the army and finds himself amongst the rebellion. He even meets Bonnie Prince Charlie. He also meets two beautiful, but very different women, Anne and Flora. Which one will he choose and how will he survive the uprising?

This book was very popular in its day. I think the romance, adventure, and uniqueness drew people to the novel. I found it difficult to keep my interest in as the story rambled and went off into areas that were not important for the plot. Edward Waverly, was a poor hero. He didn’t stand for any one cause and just seemed to float through the novel observing the action and heroics of others. This was Sir Walter Scott’s first novel. Does his writing style get better in his later famous works Ivanhoe and Rob Roy? Unfortunately, none of the other book club members could get into this book. I think it’s lucky I switched to audio.

This review was first posted on my blog at: https://lauragerold.blogspot.com/2022...

This was my reread of a book I first read 50 years ago, but hadn't picked up since. I still really enjoyed Scott's style, including all of the descriptions. I have noticed, though, that I'm tired of reading books about young people who are so idealistic they can't actually function in the real world, and that's how this story felt for me. Am I getting old? I suspect it's a temporary feeling, but for now this wasn't the best book for me to be reading. Still, I liked Edward Waverly and the book overall.

Pompous and unreadable. Do yourself a favor and read something else. Even twilight. Just. Anything.