''Morvern Callar'' is a 1995

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

novel by Scottish author Alan Warner. Published as his first novel, its

first-person narrative A first-person narrative (also known as a first-person perspective, voice, point of view, etc.) is a mode of storytelling in which a storyteller recounts events from that storyteller's own personal point of view, using first-person grammar su ...

—mainly written in Scots—explores the social life and cultural interests of the titular character following the sudden death of her boyfriend. The novel was a winner of the

Somerset Maugham Award The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to ...

in 1996, and a critically acclaimed

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...

directed by Scottish film director

Lynne Ramsay Lynne Ramsay (born 5 December 1969) is a Scottish filmmaker and cinematographer, best known for the feature films '' Ratcatcher'' (1999), '' Morvern Callar'' (2002), '' We Need to Talk About Kevin'' (2011), '' You Were Never Really Here'' (2017) ...

was released in 2002.

Development

Warner initially developed the narrative of ''Morvern Callar'' from the perspective of the titular character's boyfriend. He became frustrated with the rigidity of the perspective and reworked the novel to be from Callar's perspective, and to begin with her boyfriend's suicide; he commented that "I was very, very uncomfortable and nervous about it – I didn't think it was convincing. I thought the rhythm was very strange. I didn't think it was any good. And I didn't show it to anyone."

Analysis

''Morvern Callar'' has been analyzed as dealing with "the neoliberalization of working conditions from within" in the British Isles, using a polyphonic style of narrative depicting the overlapping yet abruptly changing lives of its characters to convey precarity; hence, "the absence of any collective organization in the novel further emphasizes the divisions that precarity creates".

Reviews

* Dunn, Angus, review of ''Morvern Callar'' by Alan Warner, in Bryan, Tom, ''Northwords'', Issue 7,

Ross and Cromarty Ross and Cromarty (), is an area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. In modern usage, it is a registration county and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. Between 1889 and 1975 it was a Shires of Scotland, county. Historical ...

District Council, 1996, p. 33,

References

1995 British novels Scottish novels Novels by Alan Warner Novels set in Argyll and Bute British novels adapted into films 1995 debut novels Jonathan Cape books {{1990s-novel-stub