His Bloody Project

I don't regularly read things on the Booker longlist and don't give much credence to the prize itself, however, this book looked incredibly interesting so I bought it.

To give a general overview, the reader is looking at a collection of documents which make up the book. The main plot is a triple murder carried out by Roderick Macrae,  a 17 year old from a village called Culduie. The book includes Roderick Macrae's own memoirs written in jail whilst awaiting his trial, several witness testimonials, post-mortem reports for the victims and a criminal psychologist's report on Roderick.

The book is always a "why did the crimes take place" rather than a "whodunnit". In this, I found it rather unusual and interesting but that may be due to my usual aversion to crime fiction. What really makes this book stand out is the background it's woven into. The classism and injustice prevalent in 19th century Scotland at parts made it difficult for me to read the book. The psychiatrist's report is especially difficult as it's obvious he expects physical differences between "learned gentlemen" and those of the "lower ranks". In fact, this form of classism is so commonplace at the time that Roderick is surprised when the psychiatrist wants to visit him in jail. He remarks " 'Have my crimes so elevated me that gentlemen now seek out my company?' ".

Their visit to the factor was one of the hardest passages I have read which and another example which signifies the injustice of their situation. Roderick and his father visit the factor as they are being bullied by the village constable and acquiring a multitude of fines due to not complying with the regulations. Therefore, they want to see the regulations. The factor responds "Of course, there are regulations, but you cannot see them. The regulations exist because we all accept that they exist and without them there would be anarchy." and goes on to accuse them of "wishing to consult the regulations in order that you might break them with impunity"

Getting back to the motive of the murders one is left with strong sympathy for Roderick. Regardless of why he committed the crime, the environment he grew up in was so unsupportive of his academic prowess and the cruelty he endured under both his father and his neighbour so strong that it's hard to imagine a person becoming the best they can be under the situation. I feel that Roderick would have turned out to be a completely different person had he been raised in a less harsh environment and most likely he would've avoided the psychological trauma which led him to the crimes.

The 'revelation' at the end of the book of an alternative motive didn't do much to add to the story for me. I suppose it was to lead the reader to think that Roderick might indeed have been a criminal at heart instead of just a young boy who wanted to avenge his family. It certainly makes Roderick's account untrustworthy but at this stage the reader had already seen inconsistencies between his account and the post-mortem reports. It made me question Roderick in a harsher light certainly but it couldn't take away for sympathy for him and the others who lived in this incredibly harsh environment.