As a major film of Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s Sunset Song is released, Francesca Street looks at why the 1932 novel is still at the heart of the Scottish literary canon.
A novel chronicling the growing pains of a young woman in rural pre-war Scotland may seem unconnected to the modern world, but First Minister Nicola Sturgeon named Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s Sunset Song her “fave book of all time” for a reason.
Sunset Song is ingrained in Scotland’s heritage. An earthy modern classic, its focus on working-class people and its innovative use of dialect paved the way for Lanark by Alasdair Gray and Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh.
Grassic Gibbon’s novel celebrates the link between humanity and our environment. Literary critic Hannah Sackett says his books “contain a subtle and complex reading of how people and communities relate to and shape their surroundings”.
This link between people and their environment is nowhere more apparent than in Scotland. Here the crags, mountains and lochs enrapture and captivate. As poet Sir Alexander Gray said: “These windy spaces/Are surely my own.” Sunset Song’s heroine, Chris, feels a tangible connection to her surroundings which dictates her decisions.
The importance of place is intrinsic to the novel.
A spiritual ancestor of Thomas Hardy, Grassic Gibbon imagines a fictionalised but minutely drawn setting for his heroine’s tumultuous life. The fictional Kinraddie is his Wessex. Grassic Gibbon uses this imagined place to tell a modern, realistic novel, tackling hard-hitting themes which remain crucial today.
Chris is a latter-day Scottish Tess of the D’Urbervilles, forced to endure unbearable hardships, she remains resilient and robust throughout.
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