They deal with the lives of Orkney folk past and present, but there is nothing parochial or quaint about these works. This is an Orkney that speaks for the world and all its people. One cannot fail to be moved by the sheer humanity of these tales. Not a word is wasted. He uses the language sometimes in the manner of an ancient Norse saga and sometimes like a Japanese haiku.
Every word is precious.
The tales are grounded so firmly in the landscape that every stone in the earth, every wave crashing on the shore, every beam of sunlight on a distant hilltop, becomes a metaphor for the action in the tale. Set in the context of the natural world and with these constant references to nature many of the tales take on a mystical quality. Often it is not just the words he uses, but the words he leaves out, which so enhance this quality. Consider this description of the act of making love from A Calendar of Love. I love thee too, said Jean.