A beautiful little rural tragedy, set on an estate in the west of Scotland during World War II and exploring complicated issues of social class, religion, different kinds of relationships with nature, and the way we deal with illness and disability in ways that are both very specific to the time and place and deeply universal. I was expecting it to be a kind of Scottish Of mice and men, and it was in a way, but deep down it reminded me more of someone like Kawabata, in the way the writing forces you to pay enormous attention to small details of social expectation and landscape.

The language is important as well, though, very poetic in places, and carefully graded in its Scottishness according to the character who is giving the point of view. Scots words appear in the text in an undemonstrative, matter-of-fact way wherever they do the job better and more precisely than their Standard English counterparts would, and it’s up to the reader to know what they mean.

I must read more by this man! ( )

Beautifully written tragedy of class and human infallibility , of idealism and violence, of good Vs evil.

WWII and two brothers are brought to gather pine codes, the precious seeds needed when the trees are felled for the war effort. Calum with his physical and mental disabilities has a childlike innocence and deep empathy for all in nature, he is at home here whilst the protective Neil rails against their lot, the dank hut they have been banished to given to them on the say so of the gamekeeper whose hates Calum with a passion, for the disabilities he displays, and becomes slowly and devastatingly sworn to destroy him.

Drawing inevitable comparisons to Steinbeck’s of Mice and Men this Scottish classic is a compelling read, not just for the writing that draws deftly its many weighty themes together but also for the story that draws you even though doom overshadows at every point and doesn’t quite follow the path you think. From the tight knots we wrap ourselves from Christian duty to class ridden protocols. From the tragedies which eddy out and break men. From the kindness and hope, not just from childlike Calum but from the conscientious objectors. Endurance and sacrifice are cut to display different facets and whilst the overarching theme of good Vs evil no character falls thinly into either. Underpinning this all is the beauty of the Scottish setting in all its harsh glory: the loch and forest jewels amongst human detritus.

It’s a sad mesmerising book, relevant but capturing a lost time & I, for one, highly recommend it. ( )

The cone-gatherers of the title are two labourers on a Scottish estate during the Second World War, who spend their days gathering pine-cones from the treetops so that the forest can one day be replanted after being cut down for lumber to help the war effort. A job so unexpected and remote from modern-day life that it sometimes felt like reading about men in a sci-fi novel performing some incomprehensible and repetitive task on an alien world.

It's very efficiently written, with not a word or comma wasted. The setting is so isolated and self-contained, and the characters so richly symbolic, that the novel teeters on the edge of allegory – and there is also a looming sense of disaster that meant I wasn't quite sure, as I read it, if I was really enjoying the experience. But there are many deep, lapidary sentences in here to mull over, and the layers of symbolism can't fail to set off at least a few interesting chains of thought. As I read the final extraordinary line of the book, I suddenly realised I was extremely moved by it. ( )

This book would be the perfect pick for a book club. The story isn't adventurous or even particularly exciting, but it's chock full of things to think about. It screams for discussion. When I finished the last sentence I just wished I knew someone else in this world who had read it so I could talk about it with them. Woah, what was that about? The main themes are fairly obviously hatred and innocence, but there's so much depth to it. The story is set on a large Scottish estate during WWII. On this estate is a large wood that is slated to be chopped down in the Spring, it's lumber to be used in the war effort. As such, two men have been hired to climb to the top of the trees and collect cones for seed to replace the forest once it has been felled. All the able-bodied men are off at war so the cone-gatherers are a middle-aged rheumatic and his younger brother, a simple-minded hunchbacked dwarf. The cone-gatherers' low station in society along with the younger brother's deformities inspire hatred and love in those around them. This shares many similarities with Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, but is also quite different. The depth is amazing and worth the read just for that. The ending, the fate that awaits innocence, is shocking--perhaps foreseeable, but shocking just the same. ( )

Set in the highlands of Scotland during the second world war, two brothers, one with learning difficulties, who are employed by the forestry service, are sent to a highland estate to gather cones for seeds. Although they are accepted by most of the working community the gamekeeper develops a pathological hatred of them and ends up killing one of them. There is also contrast between the accepting attitude of the majority of the community and the prejudice of the estate owner's wife who is in charge while her husband is away in the army.
Excellent read (could be a bit less wordy) ( )