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Sea Room: An Island Life in the Hebrides | 
 enlarge | Author: Adam Nicolson
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $1.99
You Save: $12.96 (87%)
Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 392748
Media: Paperback
Edition: Revised
Pages: 416
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 0061238821
Dewey Decimal Number: 941.14
EAN: 9780061238826
ASIN: 0061238821
Publication Date: August 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Some wear on book from reading, spine creases, wear on binding and pages.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
In 1937, Adam Nicolson's father answered a newspaper ad—"Uninhabited islands for sale. Outer Hebrides, 600 acres. . . . Puffins and seals. Apply."—and thus found the Shiants. With a name meaning "holy or enchanted islands," the Shiants for millennia were a haven for those seeking solitude, but their rich, sometimes violent history of human habitation includes much more. When he was twenty-one, Nicolson inherited this almost indescribably beautiful property: a landscape, soaked in centuries-old tales of restless ghosts and Bronze Age gold, that cradles the heritage of a once-vibrant world of farmers and fishermen. In Sea Room, Nicolson describes and relives his love affair with the three tiny islands and their strange and colorful history in passionate, keenly precise prose—sharing with us the greatest gift an island bestows on its inhabitants: a deep engagement with the natural world.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
Make room for Sea Room January 29, 2008
John D. Mackintosh (LEXINGTON, SC USA)
Superb! As someone of Scottish ancestry who went to graduate school there back in the 1970s, I was naturally drawn to this book. Taken at face value, writing a book on three tiny, uninhabited islands is quite challenging, given the nearly four hundred pages this book encompasses. Mr. Nicolson writes stirring prose as he disects every aspect of the Shiants--history, geology, plant life, animal life, etc. From this, the reader can acquire knowledge on a wide variety of subjects that extend well-beyond these little isles--for example, I learned that the abundant defecation of geese is brought about their need to constantly reduce body weight or else lose the ability to fly, as these are indeed heavy birds.
As one interested in the history of the Western Isles, what these islands experienced has application for this entire area, in that many of the smaller isles have experienced the same trend towards depopulation that have beset the Shiants, with the last permanent residents leaving the Shiants in the early 1900s. The author contends that all of this a byproduct of modern, urbanized society which results in individuals in remote places feeling isolated, a psychology that didn't exist 500 years ago when what one could find on one island or the nearby mainland didn't differ substantially from the small islands you inhabited.
Humor abounds, especially funny to read about his father's experinces in the 1930s, the story of him walking around in the nude as he was the only one there, only to be surprised by unknown visitors having a pic nic. Also in the 1930s, his father invited two beautiful young ladies who were to serve as bridesmaids for the future Queen Elizabeth II for a visit. The author muses on why Dad ever invited them as the rat-infested house had no electricity and conditions were very primitive. The trip ends horribly for the young women, with a rat disrupting their sleep and their having to leave the isle the next day by wading out to the boat taking them back to the mainland. Conditions today are still just as primitive-no electricity, running water, etc.
Best part--the end--beautiful description of sitting on a high hill--with the Isle of Skye to the east, the Outer Hebrides to the west. What a place! What a book!
An awesomely serene Hebridean outing June 17, 2006
Celestialabyss
I bought this book to indulge my interest in Scotland's islands, and found that, and much more. Essentially, this is a memoor with history, geology, flora and fauna tucked into it. The three small Shiant islands in the Hebrides come alive in Nicolson's hands. He's an excellent writer, drawing the reader in without "effect". You can sense his total awe and regard for this legacy. And, except for the rats, you find yourself wanting to live there, for a few summertime weeks, simply exploring coves and beaches and the semi-desolate interiors of these islands. Along the way, you learn a lot, in pleasurable fashion. Nicolson truly touches on the islands' soul. Recommended!
 The Ultimate Island Getaway May 17, 2006
Chris Casey (Winthrop, WA USA)
A compelling book about the realities of life in the Scottish Islands. Adam has done an excellent job of blending historical details with his descriptions of this area. Well worth a read!
With each new step an arrival . . . July 18, 2005
Ronald Scheer (Los Angeles)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Ah, what a fine book this is. Reading it is like spending time with a new friend. Nicholson has a sharp and curious mind and a generous spirit. You may not think you can be much interested in a group of three little islands in the Outer Hebrides - the Shiants - their climate, wildlife, prehistory, geology, archeology, socio-economics, agriculture, shepherding, folk literature, the sea currents around them, and the host of other topics covered in this book, but Nicholson draws you in. Soon you are immersed in whatever there is to be known about what amounts to less than a square mile of rock, cliffs, beach, and meadow.
The book is organized around the turn of the year, beginning with Nicholson's first journey to the islands in his own boat in the spring, and ending with the first gusty wet weather of autumn, as he sits at the window in a two-room cottage writing. Into this annual cycle he interweaves story upon story, often speculative, of how the islands came to be, how they came to be what they are, and the people over thousands of years who have lived here.
As the year passes, Nicholson sketches in the broad sweep of recorded history from St. Columba to the present, noting the several hands through which the islands have passed, including his father's and his own. A team of archeologists identifies the remains of Iron and Bronze Age settlements and spends a summer uncovering a long abandoned farmstead. The discovery of a buried cobblestone with an ancient inscription sends him on one of many attempts to unravel mysteries that he uncovers.
The book is based on considerable research, and Nicholson pieces together a previously unwritten history of the islands with references drawn from many old documents and interviews with historians and other experts. He helpfully illustrates his text with many photographs, drawings, and maps.
This book is for anyone who feels the magical pull of islands. You will not regard them quite the same way again.
The land owns us... May 10, 2004
bensmomma (Ann Arbor, Michigan)
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
Not the other way around. This was the greatest theme I took away from Adam Nicolson's "Sea Room," the story of the three tiny, uninhabited Shiant (say "Shant") Islands in the Hebrides of Scotland, which Nicholson inherited from his father (the famed author Nigel Nicolson, the son of Vita Sackville-West). Nicolson's approach to describing the islands for his readers resembles John McPhee's: it's an engaging blend of natural history (how were the islands formed?), human history (who lived here and why?), archaeology, and ecology (how do the animals and plants of the Shiants form a whole world?). The difference is that Nicolson's passion for place is quite specific: he loves the Shiants like one loves one's parents, infinitely and irreplaceably. You can't imagine him running off and writing a second book about another place. Nicolson's prose is lyric and detailed at the same time; despite the length (350 pages and more), the story never flags. At the end of the book, Nicholson defends his continued private ownership of the islands (many feel they should be a public trust); I wasn't convinced, but I respected his strong urge to transmit his love of the place to his son and future generations of his family. By the way, Nicholson publicly offers the keys to his cottage to anyone desiring to stay there (his e-mail address is in the book); but consider first that rats seem now to be part of the natural ecology of the place. But perhaps that won't phase you (it doesn't phase Nicholson a bit!).
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