The World According to Bertie

By: Alexander McCall Smith

Narrated by: Robert Ian MacKenzie

Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

The World According to Bertie is the fourth in the series and revolves around the many colorful characters that come and go at No. 44 Scotland Street. McCall Smith handles the characters with his customary charm and deftness - the stalwart Tory chartered surveyor, the pushy mother, and, most importantly in this novel, the beleaguered Italian-speaking prodigy, Bertie. This is classic McCall Smith - clever, witty and entertaining - and beautifully illustrated. A chance encounter with Armistead Maupin in San Francisco inspired Alexander McCall Smith to write this series of novels based around the fictional No. 44 Scotland Street in Edinburgh's New Town.

Listen to all of our 44 Scotland Street titles.

©2008 Alexander McCall Smith (P)2008 Recorded Books, LLC

Poor Bertie

Interesting title for this book as poor Bertie is finding out that HIS world is located in the "Twilight Zone." For the last five years now, Bertie wakes up every morning and he's still six years old, trapped in some Dantian ring of Hell. Luckily for them, everybody else at 44 Scotalnd Street seems to be moving on with their lives. Watch out Mr. Matheson; Alexander McCall Smith is challenging you as the new master of the horror genre.

Love these books!

The wit and gentle humor is just my cup of tea and the narration is most excellent.

Delightful

This is the fourth in the series and I think it was my favourite. I certainly enjoyed it more than number 3, Love Over Scotland, which seemed to drag a bit for me. I prefer if things are a tad farfetched, because I don't actually want to feel sad about Bertie's life or how awful it is if a dog is suffering somewhere and this one seemed to keep reality at just a slight distance. When that is the case, the comedy underneath can really shine. I'm all set to dive into the next one. The narrator was startlingly good, conveying each character, including the dog, perfectly and squeezing every bit of nuance out of the text.

A vacation for my brain

If you could sum up The World According to Bertie in three words, what would they be?

insightful, hilarious stories

Who was your favorite character and why?

you don't actually like any of them, maybe i like Bertie's dad...they are all interesting and irritating.

What about Robert Ian MacKenzie’s performance did you like?

superb, his ladies are great, the men, expressive...the canine is the best!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Nothing and everything in Scotland

Any additional comments?

I am very very attached to this writer, in particular the books set in Scotland. Erudite, kind, observant, refined, a fabulous writer and thinker!!!

My companions through my days

The characters are my daily companions; they open another world for me. Mundane Magic is (the) real one,. The person who has the heart & words to create it is a Magician . As is the voice that lends its spoken craft to the audible appearance a magic messanger.

Beginning to get bored…

I’m beginning to lose my enthusiasm for this series. It seems one long-winded pointless character has now been replace by another. This second character used to be interesting, but that’s changing. I’m also unsure of how much of Bertie’s story I can take because his mother is so despicable. If someone doesn’t stand up to her soon, I’m out.

McCall Smith: What an incredible treat!

I read a review of one of the 44 Scotland Street series which was not at ALL complimentary, to say the least. I was saddened because the writer missed the whole point of these fabulous books and one of the best narrators I have ever heard: Robert Ian MacKenzie. Was he looking for blood? Perhaps, guts? These aren't those kind of books. Instead, McCall Smith gives us a glimpse into an absolutely incredible world of (gasp) ORDINARY people. And I have fallen in love with them. Totally. When one book ends, I feel as if all my friends went on vacation at the same time and I am left bereft and alone...well, maybe that might be overstating it a bit...but, honestly, Bertie, Big Lou, Olive, Domenica, Matthew, Miss Harmony and Tofu, etc... are so very wonderful.

No one was more surprised as I, that I could simply adore books which weren't jam-packed with the requisite blood and guts. You go, Alexander McCall Smith and Robert Ian Mac Kenzie! I'm hooked!

One of my absolute favorite authors!

Alexander McCall Smith is a wonderful author. I love all of his series. The great narration makes these books a fun listen, too. I highly recommend all of his books.

Interesting

It sounds like knit-picking but from the title I expected Bertie to have a lot bigger part in the story. I was disappointed. Other than that, it was interesting watching (listening to) the relationships shift & develop.

Great visit to 44 Scotland Street

I have always enjoyed the McCall Smith characters and the various series, whatever their locations, Edinburgh or Botswana. I grab each one as soon as it is available for download and I am never disappointed in the economy of expression yet attention to nuance contained therein. McCall Smith has an excellent grasp of the various moral and situational ambiguities inherent in modern life and is proficient as well as entertaining in expressing them.

I thought this latest episode left a few compelling threads dangling, however, although perhaps that was intentional, leaving the reader wanting more. There was also a significant variation in my attention level, as the narrative went from yawn to laugh-out-loud hilarity.

There were a few passages that were not really critical to the story lines that could have been shorter, in my opinion, but at least this listen was around 11 or so hours instead of the usual 6, so there is access to a longer interlude with the inhabitants of 44 Scotland Street and their cohorts.