The Testament of Gideon Mack

Infobox Book
name = The Testament of Gideon Mack
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Cover Art
author = James Robertson
illustrator = James Robertson
cover_artist =
country =
language = English
series =
subject =
genre = Philosophy/Religion/Insanity/Tragedy
publisher = Penguin Books Ltd (United Kingdom)
pub_date = 2007
english_pub_date =
media_type = Paperback
pages = 389
isbn = 9780141023359
oclc =
preceded_by =
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The Testament of Gideon Mack is a novel by Scottish author James Robertson, first published in 2006, and in paperback in 2007. The novel has an extensive variety of themes which include Tragedy, Philosophy, and a Father and Son relationship.

Significance

Long-listed for the 2006 Man Booker Prize.

Synopsis

Set in present-day Scotland, the main narrative is framed by the recollections of a publisher concerning his acquaintance with the strange story of Gideon Mack, his disappearance, and the discovery of his last testament. The testament itself forms the main story, and recounts the life of its author, Gideon Mack, son of the manse (i.e. the son of a minister of the Scottish Kirk), who followed in his father’s steps, eventually becoming minister to the small town of Monimaskit. Gideon, however, does not really believe in God as such, and doesn’t possess much vocation. He becomes increasingly disillusioned with his existence, until an accident sends him tumbling into a local gorge. Believed to be dead, he instead emerges three days later, claiming to have met and conversed with the Devil, who confirmed several of his doubts. Having scandalised and alienated his friends, parish, and the Kirk at large, Gideon disappears again, leaving his written account behind for posterity… The epilogue is presented as the report of a freelance journalist (who first brought the manuscript to the publisher’s attention) interviewing several of the inhabitants of Monimaskit who were mentioned in Gideon’s testament.

Themes

The novel explores the interplay of religion, faith, and wider culture, and the sense of alienation from, or absence of, God often evident in the modern world. Gideon’s encounter with the Devil in some ways becomes the denouement of his life, finally providing him with a perspective from which to understand the world, and his place in it. The conflicting and cordial relations which Gideon holds with those around him recur frequently throughout the novel, but it is only after his experience, when the conflicts become predominant, that he seems able to approach true happiness. The issue of belief within modernity receives sharp focus in the question of whether or not Gideon is insane, or whether he did actually meet the Devil. This debate is further complicated in the epilogue, which gives a third person overview of Gideon’s story, and suggests that he may, to some extent, be an unreliable narrator.