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The Man Who Walks
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.
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.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
6 people are currently reading
192 people want to read
About the author
Alan Warner
80 books187 followersNote: There is more than one Alan Warner, this is the page for the award-winning Scottish novelist. For books by other people bearing the same name see Alan Warner
Alan Warner (born 1964) is the author of six novels: the acclaimed Morvern Callar (1995), winner of a Somerset Maugham Award; These Demented Lands (1997), winner of the Encore Award; The Sopranos (1998), winner of the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year Award; The Man Who Walks (2002), an imaginative and surreal black comedy; The Worms Can Carry Me to Heaven (2006), and The Stars in the Bright Sky (2010), a sequel to The Sopranos. Morvern Callar has been adapted as a film, and The Sopranos is to follow shortly. His short story 'After the Vision' was included in the anthology Children of Albion Rovers (1997) and 'Bitter Salvage' was included in Disco Biscuits (1997). In 2003 he was nominated by Granta magazine as one of twenty 'Best of Young British Novelists'. In 2010, his novel The Stars in the Bright Sky was included in the longlist for the Man Booker Prize.
Alan Warner's novels are mostly set in "The Port", a place bearing some resemblance to Oban. He is known to appreciate 1970s Krautrock band Can; two of his books feature dedications to former band members (Morvern Callar to Holger Czukay and The Man Who Walks to Michael Karoli). Alan Warner currently splits his time between Dublin and Javea, Spain.
Alan Warner (born 1964) is the author of six novels: the acclaimed Morvern Callar (1995), winner of a Somerset Maugham Award; These Demented Lands (1997), winner of the Encore Award; The Sopranos (1998), winner of the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year Award; The Man Who Walks (2002), an imaginative and surreal black comedy; The Worms Can Carry Me to Heaven (2006), and The Stars in the Bright Sky (2010), a sequel to The Sopranos. Morvern Callar has been adapted as a film, and The Sopranos is to follow shortly. His short story 'After the Vision' was included in the anthology Children of Albion Rovers (1997) and 'Bitter Salvage' was included in Disco Biscuits (1997). In 2003 he was nominated by Granta magazine as one of twenty 'Best of Young British Novelists'. In 2010, his novel The Stars in the Bright Sky was included in the longlist for the Man Booker Prize.
Alan Warner's novels are mostly set in "The Port", a place bearing some resemblance to Oban. He is known to appreciate 1970s Krautrock band Can; two of his books feature dedications to former band members (Morvern Callar to Holger Czukay and The Man Who Walks to Michael Karoli). Alan Warner currently splits his time between Dublin and Javea, Spain.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 19, 2019
Warner's fourth book bears many marks of similarity to his first three, both in subject matter, imagination, setting, and unevenness. Set in the same part of Scotland's Western Highlands, the story revolves around the port town of Oban. As in Morvern Callar and to a lesser extent These Demented Lands, there's a central figure wandering the landscape in semi-picaresque fashion in pursuit of a large sum of cash. The protagonist is "The Nephew" a semi-homeless tinker whose legendary wild uncle (the title character) has stolen a pub's World Cup pool money. As he wanders the highlands a step behind his uncle, the Nephew (who is a bit of an oddball himself) manages to get in situations where he has weird sex, takes odd drugs, pukes, drinks, urinates in a doll's head, feasts with nobility, and gets mixed up with an inordinate number of total weirdos. Warner's fictional Highlands are a sort of rural New York where every time you turn around there's some madman who's all to happy to include you in his world.
Warner's first two books, especially These Demented Lands, exhibited a kind of wild borderline surrealism that sometimes worked and sometimes didn't. These Demented Lands didn't really have enough of a narrative line and ultimately fell apart, however here he's got just enough of a plot to keep everything together. The Nephew's quest is often hilarious, often horrifying, and wholly imaginative, while at times veering off course and just barely holding together. Warner's clearly a talented writer and this is one of his better efforts, but I'd still suggest trying his much more accessible The Sopranos before you delve into this.
Warner's first two books, especially These Demented Lands, exhibited a kind of wild borderline surrealism that sometimes worked and sometimes didn't. These Demented Lands didn't really have enough of a narrative line and ultimately fell apart, however here he's got just enough of a plot to keep everything together. The Nephew's quest is often hilarious, often horrifying, and wholly imaginative, while at times veering off course and just barely holding together. Warner's clearly a talented writer and this is one of his better efforts, but I'd still suggest trying his much more accessible The Sopranos before you delve into this.
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April 3, 2021the uncle we're in pursuit of throughout has some kinda inner ear condition whereby he can't go up- or downhill when drunk, necessitating all kinds of kooky spirograph routes around the scottish countryside (a la the kid in the family circus sunday strips but feral & missing an eye). in turn you could say a picaresque like this is a novel with an inner ear condition: crazy detours all over in search of level land, episodes of vertigo, & the q arising from page to page (even graf to graf) of "how did we get here?" some absolutely hilarious set pieces provided you're willing to go w/ the flow, e.g. the abandoned canoe that's not actually abandoned & the run-in w/ elderly swingers. a funny esoteric quality here but unclear whether that was alan warner entertaining himself via in-jokes or this reader not being familiar enough w/ gulliver's travels & scottish history. do not be dissuaded by 1-star reviewers Mad About Pee Jokes; this is the worcestershire sauce that your prawn crisps have been missing
July 20, 2012
A real shocker of a book.
Found in Kiddy library - I struggled with morvern called but really enjoyed the sopranos - so I thought that I would give this one a shot.
The story - the man who walks is a drifter/loner/poet/frank from shamelss character who has stolen £27000 from a pub and is walking across scotland. His nephew is sent to find him and reclaim the money.
Most of the story is told from the nephews experience, although he does find the inside of a print cartrdige and can decipher some of the uncles ramblings about various things.
Weird situations and characters are contstantly inserted with no though of relevance or meaning to the story and the author shocks with perverse sexual acts until the conclusion is met.
He was set up for this odessey but why and how and the unlces involvement are unclear.
Absolute waste of time and the worst drivel I have read for many a year.
Found in Kiddy library - I struggled with morvern called but really enjoyed the sopranos - so I thought that I would give this one a shot.
The story - the man who walks is a drifter/loner/poet/frank from shamelss character who has stolen £27000 from a pub and is walking across scotland. His nephew is sent to find him and reclaim the money.
Most of the story is told from the nephews experience, although he does find the inside of a print cartrdige and can decipher some of the uncles ramblings about various things.
Weird situations and characters are contstantly inserted with no though of relevance or meaning to the story and the author shocks with perverse sexual acts until the conclusion is met.
He was set up for this odessey but why and how and the unlces involvement are unclear.
Absolute waste of time and the worst drivel I have read for many a year.
April 27, 2019
In his lush, inimitable prose, Alan Warner takes the picaresque into a whole new realm. Our protagonist, The Nephew, is tasked by a sinister figure, The Foreman, with hunting down his uncle, The Man Who Walks, who has stolen a 27,000 Pound World Cup Pool from the Port's notorious Mantrap pub (and stolen both sets of The Nephew's Old Dear's [The Man Who Walks' own sister] false teeth) and done one of his runners into the wilds of the Highlands. The Nephew's journey takes him over braes and across Lochs, although a peculiarity (one of many) of The Man Who Walks is that alcohol effects his inner ear, so that any inclines will cause him to fall over sideways, which causes him to take outlandish detours, or to lie up to get the alcohol out of his bloodstream. This lends itself to a very meandering chase through the depth and breadth of Argyllshire, in which shit (and pish, and vomit, and car crashes, and adultery, and anal sex, and theft of railway drinks trolleys, and kneecappings, and much else that may be deplored) happens.
January 23, 2016
"As per usual" with Alan Warner, this book is incredible, literally; I was amazed many times that someone can be that good with language. This was the last of his books I hadn't yet read, I hope he's coming with something new soon because he's definitely my all-time favourite writer now.
October 9, 2010
It sucked. I had no idea what the protagonist was going on about half the time.
February 16, 2020
Impressively dark and atmospheric Scottish fiction, with a clear nod to Kidnapped. Loads of foul language, foul smells and improbable events make the unreliable narrator interesting and a little challenging, but totally worth it. Did seem a little slow in places, but the manic surrealism kinda balanced it all out.
"Those who have nothing, own everything."
"Those who have nothing, own everything."
July 6, 2020
Strange strange book. But it was interesting to read.
August 31, 2020
Love Warner. His stuff is great. This was pretty mental and a great ending.
August 16, 2021
Bizarre but brilliant.
May 27, 2012
As far as disturbing goes, thank you Warner, for almost daring me...
As fascination works, you kept me glued to the page and in an enduring state of "something", something I'm still not sure about.
Let's be frank; understanding this book might put you in with the loonies, but I'd much rather be down there then missing out on this one.
Qua understanding, I'm in purgatory.
TMWW is a bizarrely readable book for its fascination. It requires a certain stamina, but hey, a book can be put away....
The search, or tracking, of a nephew for/of his uncle.
The nephew in the know of his uncle's habits, the reader learning along.
There's a sound bit of Gonzo, Kerouac-ism, distancing.
Four stars for pittfall fun; logic-you-learn-by-reading-on, and humanity.
(if you like the League of Gentlemen, try this book for a change)
As fascination works, you kept me glued to the page and in an enduring state of "something", something I'm still not sure about.
Let's be frank; understanding this book might put you in with the loonies, but I'd much rather be down there then missing out on this one.
Qua understanding, I'm in purgatory.
TMWW is a bizarrely readable book for its fascination. It requires a certain stamina, but hey, a book can be put away....
The search, or tracking, of a nephew for/of his uncle.
The nephew in the know of his uncle's habits, the reader learning along.
There's a sound bit of Gonzo, Kerouac-ism, distancing.
Four stars for pittfall fun; logic-you-learn-by-reading-on, and humanity.
(if you like the League of Gentlemen, try this book for a change)
June 21, 2015
Questo libro, come accade spesso nei libri di Warner, ha della magia.
Quel tipo di magia che ti tiene incollato alla lettura divertendoti e commuovendoti.
Bello. Proseguo...
Ma.
Ma purtroppo tanta di quella carne al fuoco, si riduce, nella seconda parte, in tanto fumo, dall'ottimo odore ma dalla scarsa consistenza.
Ho addirittura saltato qualche passo..
Peccato. A mio parere avrebbe dovuto stringere e costruire un finale più degno della prima parte del libro.
Comunque, Warner è un Autore che merita e che continuo a seguire. ++(+)
Quel tipo di magia che ti tiene incollato alla lettura divertendoti e commuovendoti.
Bello. Proseguo...
Ma.
Ma purtroppo tanta di quella carne al fuoco, si riduce, nella seconda parte, in tanto fumo, dall'ottimo odore ma dalla scarsa consistenza.
Ho addirittura saltato qualche passo..
Peccato. A mio parere avrebbe dovuto stringere e costruire un finale più degno della prima parte del libro.
Comunque, Warner è un Autore che merita e che continuo a seguire. ++(+)
March 19, 2016
I was given this book to proof read as someone had complained about it in the library. All I can say is it's the most revolting, disturbing, senseless and ill written piece of filth I have ever read. The only inoffensive part of the book is its cover which should be clearly censored, many people choose their books by the covers. Even the blurb gives no warnings to the contents. The one star is for the cover.
April 4, 2014
Dark, grotty, perverted, brutal and blackly humorous. The slowest chase novel ever written, in a good way. There's a plot but it's slow to unravel. It's Warner's musical prose that really drives the novel, that and his brilliant depiction of madness, memory, and the desolate beauty of the west coast of Scotland.
June 14, 2007
Cathy has quoted me again, saying: "My mother didn't need to live to see a world so hostile to smoking." She also wrote: "8-trax: on the losing side of history."
September 3, 2021
One of the funiest books I have ever read - West Coast of Scotland in all its glory
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews