After the scandalous theft of a pub's World Cup cash kitty, a homeless drifter pursues his eccentric uncle: 'The Man Who Walks', north, up into the Highlands to recover the money - a cool £27,000. The nephew's frantic, stalled progress and other bizarre diversions form Warner's fourth, wickedly hilarious novel.
But who is The Man Who Walks? Is he simply a water-carrying madman with one glass eye and a fondness for whisky and pony nuts, who collects old Christmas trees for money and old newspapers to make his home, and who has a physiological inability to handle slopes? Or is he a savant, touched by the hand of God, wandering the back roads along ancient, ancestral tracks? And as the sinister, unstable nephew gains on The Man Who Walks, and their paths begin to meet, can it be that it will all end in a field and that this field is Culloden Moor?
Since his first novel, Morvern Callar, Warner's fictional world has become a deliciously familiar one: a Scotland at once real and surreal, patrolled by Hollywood productions, ex-British Rail trolley-girls, crazed snowboarders and a sybaritic aristocracy. His writing is savage but learned, shot through with deviant sexuality and demented humour but, at the heart of this fierce and strange world, there is huge human tenderness, moments of extraordinary lyrical beauty and a ranging, breathtaking imagination.
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The opening sentence promises, and threatens, equally. "The Nephew was lain silent atop the paper sacks of pony nuts near the roof of the agric supply warehouse, dreaming about ghost bags, when his mobile diddled 'Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves'". From this arch but poetic introduction Warner spins a strange, eerie, brutish, edgy, kinetic, voluptuous story, set in his usual sodden and hallucinatory Scotland-on-steroids. The characters are a motley crew of misfits, lordlings, computer geeks, scribblers, and Caledonian soaks, with names like Raincheck, Macushla, Jaxter, Hacker, Syrupy Piece, Tracy the Trolley, and Brian. Together and apart these strange creatures wander the lochs and braes of Auld Scotland doing drugs, each other, and occasional disservices to the English language.
What is it about? That's a bit harder to say. The themes are the perennial Warner ones: blurred identity, rustic quirkiness, the intrusion of the surreal. There are many stunning moments of sly, shocking, vivid, Warnerian beauty; there are also a few moments of lazy underwriting, and overheated imagining. Somewhere among all this glory and disorder is probably a serious take on what it means to be a whole human being in late-capitalist Europe. This is deeply, deeply intriguing.--Sean Thomas
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. After the scandalous theft of a pub's World Cup cash kitty, a homeless drifter pursues his eccentric uncle: 'The Man Who Walks', north, up into the Highlands to recover the money - a cool GBP27,000. The nephew's frantic, stalled progress and other bizarre diversions form Warner's fourth, wickedly hilarious novel. But who is The Man Who Walks? Is he simply a water-carrying madman with one glass eye and a fondness for whisky and pony nuts, who collects old Christmas trees for money and old newspapers to make his home, and who has a physiological inability to handle slopes? Or is he a savant, touched by the hand of God, wandering the back roads along ancient, ancestral tracks? And as the sinister, unstable nephew gains on The Man Who Walks, and their paths begin to meet, can it be that it will all end in a field and that this field is Culloden Moor? Since his first novel, Morvern Callar, Warner's fictional world has become a deliciously familiar one: a Scotland at once real and surreal, patrolled by Hollywood productions, ex-British Rail trolley-girls, crazed snowboarders and a sybaritic aristocracy. His writing is savage but learned, shot through with deviant sexuality and demented humour but, at the heart of this fierce and strange world, there is huge human tenderness, moments of extraordinary lyrical beauty and a ranging, breathtaking imagination. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR001773076
Book Description Condition: Very Good. 1707745119. 2/12/2024 1:38:39 PM. Seller Inventory # U9780224051095
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Used; Good. Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. This book is in good condition but will show signs of previous ownership. Please expect some creasing to the spine and/or minor damage to the cover. Grubby book may have mild dirt or some staining, mostly on the edges of pages. Seller Inventory # CHL8648904
Book Description Condition: Very Good. First edition copy. . In protective mylar cover. Seller Inventory # SB07OS-01594
Book Description Taschenbuch. Condition: Sehr gut. 2. Auflage. Taschenbuch, geringe altersübliche Gebrauchsspuren, Papier leicht nachgedunkelt. Buch. Seller Inventory # 10685228
Book Description Trade. Condition: Good. No Jacket. First Edition. Tough Lyrical and Erotic, it is off season in a remote highland port. good condition. Seller Inventory # 010990
Book Description Condition: Good. Creases to the spine. Content is fine. Seller Inventory # 047223-6
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. 314 pages. 279 pages ; 22 cm After the scandalous theft of a pub's World Cup cash kitty, a homeless drifter pursues his eccen tric uncle: 'The Man Who Walks', north, up into the Highlands to recover the money - a cool [pound]27,000. The nephew's frantic, s talled progress and other bizarre diversions form Warner's fourth novel. But who is The Man Who Walks? Is he simply a water-carryi ng madman with one glass eye and a fondness for whisky and pony n uts, who collects old Xmas trees for money and old newspapers to make his home, and who has a physiological inability to handle sl opes? Or is he a savant, touched by the hand of God, wandering th e back roads along ancient, ancestral tracks? And as the sinister , unstable nephew gains on The Man Who Walks, and their paths beg in to meet, can it be that it will all end in a field and that th is field is Culloden Moor?--Jacket. Seller Inventory # 513n