We read it for A level Eng Lit, in the olden days. All I remember now is Scott's over-elaborate prose style, which was new to me at the time, when I was open to all things literary.

Never read anything by Wally Scott before and it was a very mixed experience. A tiresome first third, during which I almost abandoned the book, settled into a very satisfying middle third before the great rush of resolution in the last part. Reading in part like an expanded stage play with character entries and exits overt, held in check by the self-conscious narrative style, this is a precursor to the great 19th century novels of England. Many familiar tropes are to be found; last minute reveals, lost inheritances, mistaken identities, unknown lineages, confessions, all neatly resolved with a flourish in a handful of pages - claims and inheritances restored, the wicked punished, true love rewarded, and so on. You need to battle woeful exposition, thick Scottish brogue, and a primary character given to verbosity and Latin. Throw in some archaic expressions and you have a heady mix of language. To its credit I stayed the distance, and it made me laugh out loud. For 19th Century lit nuts I am afraid.

This book was well worth my time. I enjoyed every minute of it! I was able to predict much of what would happen before the end, but that just made it even more interesting. Scott is a witty writer and with the Antiquary he created a true gem of a literary character. I loved him from the beginning and liked the revelations about his character that develop along the way. It could have used another chapter at the end, since the final few paragraphs seemed a little too rushed.

Wonderfully narrated with amazing Scottish accents.

I have read that this was Sir Walter Scott's favorite among his novels. I can see why. Full of humor, believable dialogue, landscape, and character, it is a book to leisurely read. I think Scott must have loved writing slowly, in detail, in the moment, in the here and now, and letting the book unfold itself.
I will want to reread this one!

Lo leí hace años y me pareció precioso, debo leerlo de nuevo ahora con más edad para saber si me gusta.

One of Scott's slower books. Even more history than usual. Very little time with the hero.

Mucho envoltorio para tan poco caramelo. Este me lo he terminado, pero se me ha hecho muy laaaarrrrrgooo

Scott is one of those authors who is so thoroughly disregarded nowadays, despite having been deeply loved for generations, that this is the first of his books I have actually read.

The plot is certainly fairly daft, in the way that early novels often are - operatic in its random coincidences and dramatic circumstances, romantic escapism rather than real novel of manners. And yet...

The character of Oldbuck, the titular antiquary, is so splendidly drawn that he seems more alive than ninety-nine percent of fictional characters. You can imagine meeting him - indeed, he feels like someone I know better than most of my actual acquaintances, with all his flaws and faults and very real virtues.

Nor is he entirely alone - the old beggar Ochiltree, in particular, is marvellous, and it's all set in a Scotland that is marvellously evocative of a time and place now long gone. It's all delivered with a light touch, simply evocative and wittily erudite by turns, as the author takes on the style of Oldbuck himself.

A pesar de su tinte folletinesco, que a veces se sigue como una novela de detectives, es una obra llena de ironía en la que destacan grandes personajes como el propio anticuario o el scottish rover, siempre dispuesto a ridiculizar lis compirtamientos de las clases privilegiadas.

Let me begin by saying I respect Sir Walter Scott as an author. There are no “but’s” that follow.
Antiquary was a good book and a good story.
Why 2 Stars then?


Characters: 2
I enjoyed the characters, Scott created. There were interesting and very different from anyone you would encounter these days, I felt. Who is an Antiquary, anyways? Is it a person who collects old stuff or is it a historian? Is it both? What is a blue cloak? If they are honored for their service to he king, why are they beggars? Questions like these ran through my head all story long. Each one of them represented a certain kind of a person who lived in England/Scotland during Scott’s Times. Each character was unique and different in their own way and provided a good backstory of how people behaved and how social classes worked in an everyday setting.
What I had difficulty with is understanding what they were saying in almost every dialogue piece. Having tried to supplement this book with an audio book when I was on a go, I quickly had to stop the audio book or I was going to get lost in the old language. Or maybe it is Scottish dialect?

Plot: 2
That leads me in the Plot of the book. I felt it was good, engaging and interesting somewhere deep underneath all the fluff, all the dictionary look ups and all the wiki historical browsing. I persevered, I figured out what Scott was saying and than somewhere half way through the book, I also figured out what the ending was going to be. I was hoping I was wrong, but I was not.


Setting: 3
Given the Scott’s own point that Waverly novels are meant to show the spirit of his times, I can’t help but think of Balzac who did the same with his “Human Comedy”. One huge difference is that I read Balzac translated to English from old French so I can immerse better in the story. Setting as great, Scott does a great job creative a good and immersive images of the old times, it is just very difficult to comprehend. I suppose it is fair to say that his work did not age well and that is my biggest gripe with this Work. I wonder how many years before the books will become unreadable and maybe someone qualified should consider updating the language while somehow preserving the feel of the times so that young people can also enjoy this work.

As it is right now, I cannot imagine anyone who is not a deep DEEP fan of old literary works actually lasting through this story. I’d recommend you stayed away from this book, unless you have a reason not to. Use this as a gauge:
1. When was the last time you have finished, let’s say , a Charles Dickens novel.
2. Did you flip the back cover and wished it did not have to end?
If 1 is within the last 12 months, proceed to #2. If 2 is a solid yes, give Antiquary a try.

If not...read something else, save your time, you’ll thank me later.


Roman “Ragnar”

Atmospheric novel. Definitely not as dramatic as Ivanhoe. I loved the Antiquary. Since novels tend to imitate other novels, the end was slightly predictable and rather hurriedly wrapped up, reminding me of Dickens, Austen and other novelists from times when declarations of love were not recorded as dialogue :)