Wednesday 27 November 2013

Two Books and two Kelpies

Christmas is coming and I noticed two books related to the Loch Ness Monster which might be of interest to readers. The are both novels and so won't make it into my Nessie bibliography but a good read is a good read.

The first is "Wonder of Ness" by James Jeffrey Paul. Some may recall James as the man who recently donated his collection of Loch Ness Monster books to the Inverness Library. His book is reviewed here by Kirkus Reviews and you can find out more at Amazon.




Amazon previews the book thusly:

"To some, Loch Ness is a joke. To some, it is the most important thing in the world. A major new expedition has been formed to locate the elusive creature of Loch Ness. Suddenly it seems as if everyone in the world is rushing to join the expedition, and for every conceivable reason. For each of them, it will be a journey into wonder--and a plunge into mystery, terror, and his own personal heart of darkness. A grand symbolic adventure in the tradition of Moby Dick and The Hunting of the Snark."

The second book is entitled "The Loch Ness Legacy" by Boyd Morrison. His book is discussed by the Highland newspaper, the Forres Gazette here and is listed on Amazon though strangely they list it unavailable despite an August publication date. His own website also promotes it. I haven't read these books myself, so offer no comments either way!




And, finally, before the Loch Ness Monster there was the Loch Ness Kelpie. In recognition of that ancient Highland terror, two 100 foot high Kelpie statues have been unveiled near Falkirk and have received national attention. They're looking good and I hope to visit them some time!






3 comments:

  1. Can't wait to read them. Hope they don’t turn out to be slasher Nessie type terror stories. But then again, how else would one make a beastie interesting. Poor Nessie, always getting a bad reputation and press.

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  2. I was on holiday in Western Scotland in October and on the way home which was October 12th I passed these two statues.I think they were about 90% complete.It was the first time I became aware of them.At first I thought it was a advert for an Equestrian event and remember thinking they are quite large and thought they must be made of some material that could be quickly dismantled after the event.I have learn't here that they are statues,and they are magnificent structures.My congratulations to all involved.Nessie is often reported as having a long neck and small head which does not seem to fit with these creatures,are all Kelpie reports identical.Jack.

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    1. Old Kelpie tales have been embellished over the centuries to arrive at the demonic equine form. However, direct eyewitness tales often have the tell tale lake monster features.

      Modern reports are more uniform but are tainted by a subset of misidentifications and hoaxes.

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