Re: Witch Wood by John Buchan
Posted by:
jdworth (IP Logged)
Date: 25 January, 2017 02:38PM
Personally, I found it very worthwhile. The eeriness is definitely understated rather than overt, and suggests considerably more than it says, but this gives the novel a weird glamor of substantial power. However, I am not one who is at all deterred by dialect, and the Scottish dialect here is indeed quite pervasive in the novel overall, and in fact is quite integral to the creation of the aura of weirdness; it wouldn't work nearly so well in straightforward English.
My suggestion, therefore, is to tackle R. L. Stevenson's "Thrawn Janet" first (if you've not read it before), and see how the dialect there sits with you (again, it is very much a part of the success of that tale, as here). If you find that one tough going, then you're unlikely to be able to make it through Witch Wood with any pleasure. If, on the other hand, you find the short story to be to your taste, then by all means go for it, as I think it is a fine example of the Scottish weird tale.