Book Review: The Mack

The Mack: Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow School of Art by Robyne Calvert
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’ve spent many months reading The Mack. I had no intention of hurrying through it; I did want to finish it before the new year though, so I’m content!

I’m also wistful. I’m going to miss sitting down with a cup of tea to read a few pages and study pictures. I’d read each page a couple of times, there’s just so much to take in. Robyne Calvert has done a mind-bogglingly outstanding job of creating a book that helps fill a corner of the void left by the terrible fires the Mack suffered. She’s documented in as much detail as possible every aspect of the building from its creation, to its interior and furnishings, to the impact its had on so many. It would be a sad thing indeed if this book didn’t exist.

A week or so ago, I saw a reference to the Hen Run, an especially-loved corridor in the Mack. It no longer exists, but I’d read so much about it, and studied pictures in detail, that for a moment, my brain tried to pull up my memories of having walked the Hen Run. I’ve never been to Scotland so of course that’s impossible, but this book captures so much about the Hen Run that I could almost believe there was a memory somewhere in my head. What a gift this book will be to future generations.