A Dandie Dinmont Terrier; the breed's name derives from one
of the characters in Guy Mannering who keeps such dogs.
Guy Mannering itself is interesting and has some terrific characters, but the writing is just too stretchy for me. As in Ivanhoe, the dialogue was over-long and too detailed. I had a great urge for characters to get to the point already. It is a book of action, with way too many words between. The plot is at root a romance--the featured lovers face great obstacles and the getting over of them is the work of the book. The title character Guy Mannering is not the romantic hero and in fact has no love interest (like love is only for youth). He is a background figure who crosses paths with the hero, Harry Bertram, several times, but never on purpose. Bertram was kidnapped at age five and grew up unaware of his true identity. In India, he meets and falls in love with Mannering's daughter Julia. He follows the Mannerings to England and then Scotland, where he seeks the means to openly court Julia.
Bertram undergoes ordeals and trials upon his journey, to the point at which he has but the clothing on his back, no friends, and no means of establishing his identity--neither the identity he knows (Vanbeest Brown) nor the one he doesn't (Harry Bertram). In true hero-journey fashion, his deeds along the journey earn him friends and information that help him through the dark night of imprisonment and into the sunny day of a hearty inheritance. I wouldn't disclose these events if they weren't so obvious in the romance formula.
Meanwhile, back in Scotland...Bertram's father was tricked into selling all of the family property to a slimy villain named Glossin. One of the most moving scenes of the book takes place on the day the property transfer takes place. Old Bertram and his daughter are seated on a hill watching as the neighbors from miles around go through their home putting offers on their worldly goods. Except for Meg Merillies, Bertram's daughter and the other female characters are not very important to the plot, except as objects for men to fight for and fight over. They do not direct the action in their own lives to any degree.
As in the other two Scott books I've read, the side characters are truly engaging--real scene stealers. My favorite is Meg Merrilies, a gypsy witch goddess of great height and abilities. She is so old that no one remembers when she wasn't old, and she has a longer attachment to the Bertram land than any of the Bertrams even though she has never owned any of it. Meg directs the action at key points and is one of most important characters in the book. I can't believe no woman has ever made a movie of this book just to get that role. The gypsies, in general, are a shadow population that Meg can bring to bear at certain times and places. Go to www.allpoetry.com and search for the poem "Meg Merrilies" by John Keats. The poem is much more romantic than the hard-edged Meg in Guy Mannering.
Meg Merrilies in a stage portrayal, 1855Another great character is Dandie Dinmont. Yes...the dog breed was actually named after this character. Farmer Dinmont does raise dogs, but his larger role is as a supporter of Harry Bertram. Dinmont is also larger than large, large appetites and large loyalties. Harry saves his life and thereby gains lifelong friendship. Like Meg, Dinmont gains credibility from his relationship with the land.
A third secondary character (third secondary!) is Dominie Sampson, teacher to Harry before his kidnapping and faithful servant of the Bertram family through good times and bad. I can't even explain him--he's tongue-tied and stammering most of the time, yet his loyalty to the Bertrams ennobles him--and people who "get" him are thus identified as good. Guy Mannering takes immediate liking to Dominie. Sampson's key role in the story (in plot terms only) is as someone who can verify the story of Harry's kidnapping and establish his identity when he returns to Scotland.
The fourth terrific character is Pleydell, the attorney. The scenes between Pleydell and Guy Mannering are wonderful and funny and crisp, in great contrast to much of the narrative.
All in all, I liked Guy Mannering, but if it hadn't been on the book list I am sworn to read, I don't know if I would have stuck with it. It was very popular when published, so maybe I am too used to sound bites and short swallowable chapters (Patterson!) and facebook posts and sitcom length narratives to really enjoy reading at the leisurely pace this book enforced. I do know that the characters will live with me forever and that I've had Meg Merillies as a role model long before I met her in print! I have one more Scott book to read, written much later than this one. I'll be interested to see if Scott's style changed over time.
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