THE ROARING IN THE GLENS

The cadence of Scottish speech and the tenor of rural life there with its bogs, storms, and personal feuds dwarf this account of a twelve year old girl's year with her animal-keeper uncle. Sequences starring the deer are tediously anthropomorphic without communicating any relationship between a deer's growing up and Kristy's maturing--which is restricted to her realization that feuds are negotiable and that her father and uncle are capable of fighting over her. The girl's didactic understanding of wildlife and several informative nature talks brake the slow pace to a near stop.