Laidlaw

Travel Guide

Glasgow of course is a major character in the Laidlaw novel and the descriptions are evocative of a dark side of the city that you won’t necessarily want to visit. McIlvanney’s Glasgow is a bleak place indeed.

You could walk for as long as you liked in this city and it wouldn’t know you.  You could call every part of it by name. But it wouldn’t answer.

Glasgow of the 1970s

This is the city of the 1970s not just the streets and the city atmosphere but the attitudes, lifestyle, drinking culture and of course the language. All focusing on building a highly evocative image of the underbelly of the city, its people and the time period –

“Across the street the door of the Corn Exchange opened suddenly and a small man popped out onto the pavement, as if the pub had rifted. He foundered in a way that suggested fresh air wasn’t his element

Glaswegian dialect

The Glaswegian dialect makes for some evocative Tartan Noir gems too  –

To Harkness speech seemed like  a foreign language here.

‘Oh, they’re in an awfy state, sir,’ the old man said. ‘Sadie especially. Ye couldny get sense oot o’her. They’ve had an awfy time , ye know.

Visit Scotland’s Glasgow

This may not be the kind of tour that a guide from Visit Scotland  might offer  but this link takes you to the real Glasgow and indeed remember that this IS fiction and that Glasgow is one of the friendliest and cultural cities in Scotland. Not to mention the walks beside the canals, the pedestrian city centre and the architecture..