The Lost Art of Gratitude

After all, what can one say about life that hasn't been said before? Jamie, Isabel, Grace, the aptly named Cat, and young Charlie are here presented for our quiet pleasure, going about their lives and moving through their entirely real world. The characters are deeply enmeshed in the pleasure centers of a certain type of reader, the one who smiles fondly at Ellen Glasgow or Elizabeth Goudge books when they emerge, raining the slight wisps of dust that neglect engenders, from a long shelf-slumber. McCall Smith manages to bring these characters to modern life, Trollopean in his expansion of the core characters's world but maintaining a caring and kindly focus on them.

I wish more people could achieve the feat of getting novel cycles like show more this published. It's not that there is anything that will win a Nobel contained in these pages, but rather that every page of them affords the voyeuristic pleasures that reading always does, but without the slightly unsavory prurience that so often seems obligatory in current sex-drugs-violence potboilers.

I expect, one day soon, to visit Edinburgh and see Isabel's "green Swedish car" tootle by me as I stand at a zebra crossing, Charlie in his carseat and Jamie animatedly making a point to a composedly driving Isabel, as I wait to cross the Royal Mile. I can think of no more precious compliment to give to Alexader McCall Smith than that. show less

I am never sure why I like this series when I start reading, but by the time I am halfway through I find them enchanting. Not much happens in these stories, but the author's use of language is delightful. Interesting enough, I do not care for the No. 1 Detective series. I look forward to the next Isabel Dalhousie novel.

The Lost Art of Gratitude, by Alexander McCall Smith, is the sixth in his Isabel Dalhousie series, which is the only one of his that I've continued reading book after book. Not that I didn't like the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, but I got tired of it after a while; so far, Isabel has not lost her charm for me. This time around, the philosopher and editor of the Review of Applied Ethics is facing a number of problems, some rather more easily dealt with than others. In the matter of Jamie, she finally decides that yes, she will marry him, especially after seeing how he relates to Charlie, their 18-month-old son. In the matter of the journal, Professor Dove is once again trying to remove her from her post as editor (to be show more replaced by himself, of course), but his machinations are easily undone, it only takes a little research to sort him out. And then there's niece Cat, yet again with an unsuitable man, not to mention ongoing encounters with Brother Fox. But most importantly, there's Minty Auchterlonie, an acquaintance who asks Isabel for help, which Isabel feels morally obliged to provide despite her deep and abiding dislike of the woman; the problems posed by that person are more difficult to resolve, especially as Minty seems to be lying to her at every turn....I really enjoy the Dalhousie series; everybody in it is gentle (mostly) and Isabel has much time to ponder how moral philosophy would address the dilemmas in which she finds herself. McCall Smith is a delightful writer, and I see this series as perhaps the coziest of his cozies. Recommended! show less

For the most part I enjoyed this book as I have its predecessors. The machinations with Dove and Lettuce are entertaining. She and Jamie are happily in love.Charlie,their cute and smart little love of a son may have uppity tastes in food. Isabel is not surprised to learn that her niece Cat is dating a stunt man.

It's Isabel's thoughts about people, and the complexities of our lives, and her always trying to do better. Her love and care for those around her, including Brother Fox are the precious keys in making this a great series.

But Isabel deciding against her better judgement to help the ambitiously selfish Minty Auchterlonie was disappointing. I prefer her assisting those who deserve her assistance. But Isabel does have the last show more word with Minty.

And Isabel is thrilled when Jamie proposes! show less

The fox episode put this one over to 4 stars for me. Each Isabel D book I have read has had some passage wherein she imagines what she would do if she were a fictional character and then re-asserts that no, she is real and not fictional. I haven't liked these passages because they draw attention to my act of reading the thoughts of fictional characters. They make explicit what I am happy to leave hidden behind the scrim of my suspension of disbelief. But this book did not contain that sort of passage (unless I missed it). Instead it contains a statement which describes the hook and the brilliance of this writer's novels:
[Perhaps that was what adults really wanted, searched for and rarely found: a simple story in which good triumphs show more against cynicism and despair. ...one did not publicise the fact too widely, certainly not in sophisticated circles. Such circles wanted complexity, dysfunction and irony: there was no room for joy, celebration or pathos. But where was the *fun* in that?]
Joy, celebration and pathos in the small moments of ordinary lives. Bless. show less

This is an Isabel Dalhousie novel, and while there is a bit of a mystery - actually some unpleasant but perhaps not punishable by law wrong doings - most of the story follows Isabel's rather peripatetic thoughts. Even when she is doing one thing, or taking part in a conversation, her mind goes off on a philosophical musing. I quite enjoy the quietness of the stories. I give it a solid 4.

The book consists primarily of the train of thought of Isabel Dolhousie, professional philosopher, who now owns and edits a journal of applied ethics in Edinburgh and is mother to an eighteen-month-old boy. It's fun to listen in as she spends equal time and effort analysing the most trivial and significant events and thoughts. An acquaintance from a previous book in the series---I assume, since I've only read one other---tells Isabel that someone has been threatening her and asks Isabel for her help. Most other authors would concentrate on this; instead, this part of the story only occasionally is mentioned.