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Wilt #2
The Wilt Alternative
In this, the second of Tom Sharpe's chronicles about Henry Wilt, our hero is no longer the victim of his own uncontrolled fantasies. As Head of a reconstituted Liberal Studies Department he has assumed power without authority at the Fenland College of Arts & Technology and the fantasies he now confronts are those of political bigots and reactionary bureaucrats- in addition to his wife's enthusiasm for every Organic Alternative under the compost heap and the insistence of his quadruplets on looking at every problem with an unflinching lack of sentimentality. Wilt's problems are compounded by nature in the shape of a rose bush, nostalgia, temporary infatuation with a foreign student and the hostility of medical services unwilling to attend to his most urgent needs. But it is only when Wilt becomes the unintentional participant in a terrorist siege that he is forced to find an answer to the problems of power, which have corrupted greater men than he. With a mental ingenuity born of his innate cowardice, Wilt fights for those liberal values which are threatened both by international terrorism and by the sophisticated methods of police anti- terrorist agents. In the confusion that follows, Wilt resumes his dialogue with the unflagging Inspector Flint and is himself subjected to the indignity of a psycho- political profile. Bitingly funny and brilliantly written, THE WILT ALTERNATIVE exposes the farcical anomalies, which have become the social norms of our time.
218 pages, Paperback
First published July 30, 1979
109 people are currently reading
900 people want to read
About the author
Tom Sharpe
87 books559 followersTom Sharpe was an English satirical author, born in London and educated at Lancing College and at Pembroke College, Cambridge. After National Service with the Royal Marines he moved to South Africa in 1951, doing social work and teaching in Natal, until deported in 1961.
His work in South Africa inspired the novels Riotous Assembly and Indecent Exposure. From 1963 until 1972 he was a History lecturer at the Cambridge College of Arts and Technology, which inspired his "Wilt" series Wilt, The Wilt Alternative, Wilt on High and Wilt in Nowhere.
His novels feature bitter and outrageous satire of the apartheid regime (Riotous Assembly and its sequel Indecent Exposure), dumbed- or watered-down education (the Wilt series), English class snobbery (Ancestral Vices, Porterhouse Blue, Grantchester Grind), the literary world (The Great Pursuit), political extremists of all stripes, political correctness, bureaucracy and stupidity in general. Characters may indulge in bizarre sexual practices, and coarser characters use very graphic and/or profane language in dialogue. Sharpe often parodies the language and style of specific authors commonly associated with the social group held up for ridicule. Sharpe's bestselling books have been translated into many languages.
His work in South Africa inspired the novels Riotous Assembly and Indecent Exposure. From 1963 until 1972 he was a History lecturer at the Cambridge College of Arts and Technology, which inspired his "Wilt" series Wilt, The Wilt Alternative, Wilt on High and Wilt in Nowhere.
His novels feature bitter and outrageous satire of the apartheid regime (Riotous Assembly and its sequel Indecent Exposure), dumbed- or watered-down education (the Wilt series), English class snobbery (Ancestral Vices, Porterhouse Blue, Grantchester Grind), the literary world (The Great Pursuit), political extremists of all stripes, political correctness, bureaucracy and stupidity in general. Characters may indulge in bizarre sexual practices, and coarser characters use very graphic and/or profane language in dialogue. Sharpe often parodies the language and style of specific authors commonly associated with the social group held up for ridicule. Sharpe's bestselling books have been translated into many languages.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 160 reviews
September 27, 2020
One of the most cynical, disturbing, and entertaining works dealing with bureaucrats, educational systems, alternative ways of living, and the all time bestseller of potential spoiler> infidelity
Lifetime relationships, marriages, hookups, and how society and the people involved deal with the possible changing conventions, personalities, and evolutions in these over the years are some of the underlying topics Sharpe is using to create his patented, weird humor, and hilarious settings and constellations.
There are certainly hidden innuendos and connotations I don´t get in this one, because the whole second plot revolving around a spy agent terrorist premise is spiked with political and economic real life facts I find to both boring and depressing to deal with. Too specific, reduced history in general without metacontext and global impact, (or, much better, Big History instead), has never been my thing.
Sharpe is no happy go lucky feelgood comedy, it´s more of a disturbing, irritating black comedy with very dirty humor, so just readers who can deal with this should invest some time in the amazing work of this outstanding author who began his career with ironizing Apartheid and changed to write about daily life, education, marriage, politics, and bureaucracy. Oh, and dirty jokes, of course, and lots of it.
If you like the new wave of groundbreaking adult animation series such as Archer, Rick and Morty, Bojack Horseman,… this is your thing, if not, better avoid it.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
Lifetime relationships, marriages, hookups, and how society and the people involved deal with the possible changing conventions, personalities, and evolutions in these over the years are some of the underlying topics Sharpe is using to create his patented, weird humor, and hilarious settings and constellations.
There are certainly hidden innuendos and connotations I don´t get in this one, because the whole second plot revolving around a spy agent terrorist premise is spiked with political and economic real life facts I find to both boring and depressing to deal with. Too specific, reduced history in general without metacontext and global impact, (or, much better, Big History instead), has never been my thing.
Sharpe is no happy go lucky feelgood comedy, it´s more of a disturbing, irritating black comedy with very dirty humor, so just readers who can deal with this should invest some time in the amazing work of this outstanding author who began his career with ironizing Apartheid and changed to write about daily life, education, marriage, politics, and bureaucracy. Oh, and dirty jokes, of course, and lots of it.
If you like the new wave of groundbreaking adult animation series such as Archer, Rick and Morty, Bojack Horseman,… this is your thing, if not, better avoid it.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
June 28, 2012
Re-reading after many years. This follow on from the first book in the series, Wilt, is just as funny and delivers some genuine belly laughs from Tom Sharpe's usual high farce. Having read it before (several times!) I knew what was coming but Sharpe's style ensures it remains fresh, witty and humorous - the joy is in the delivery, not just the content.
March 7, 2017
No pude parar de reír con el momento manga pastelera.
June 25, 2019
- Desde luego estás...
- Enamorado -dijo Wilt.
- Iba a decir completamente loco.
- Viene a ser lo mismo.
- Enamorado -dijo Wilt.
- Iba a decir completamente loco.
- Viene a ser lo mismo.
December 24, 2019
I came to Terry Pratchett by way of PG Wodehouse. On a Wodehouse fan club that I’m a member of on Facebook, a common question that people tend to ask is: Which other authors would you recommend to readers who like Wodehouse?, and invariably, among the answers to that is Terry Pratchett. I’d never read Pratchett before, but after hearing so much praise for him (and having received a very specific recommendation for The Wilt Alternative), I decided I had to give this book a try.
By the time I was about ten pages into The Wilt Alternative, I was thinking to myself that this was nothing like anything Wodehouse ever wrote. As it proceeded, that impression was reinforced. Henry Wilt is married to Eva Wilt (who has developed a passion for ‘alternatives’, all those one-time hippie, now-cool and sustainable methods of composting, recycling, reusing etc) and they have recently moved into a posh house with the ‘quad’, their four small, precocious and rather terrifying daughters. Wilt is trying to juggle work at the Tech, the pre-polytechnic where he teaches, and Eva rents out the attic to a German au pair… whom Henry falls head over heels in love with. Only to have it turn out that the gorgeous Fraulein Mueller isn’t quite what she appears to be.
I stand by my initial impression that this wasn’t necessarily a book a fan of Wodehouse would like. That is, if you like Wodehouse for the completely escapist world he created: escapist, idyllic, pure—where the most villainous villains (like Spode) did little other than spout a lot of vitriol or occasionally hit someone. Where love seemed to have nothing to do with sex, where sex is rarely even hinted at.
The Wilt Alternative, on the other hand, is dirty. As in filthy funny, with people running around naked, men suffering some really embarrassing accidents to their ‘appendages’, and more. There are also some really nasty criminals—murderers, no less. And serious crime.
But one thing I will concede, Wodehouse comparison or no Wodehouse comparison. This was funny. It was laugh-out-loud funny. In Wilt’s ridiculously convoluted (yet successful, mostly) attempts to wriggle out of dangerous situations, in the dialogue, in the absolutely crazy and convoluted way things play out. I found myself giggling helplessly through a good deal of the book. The conversations between Baggish and Chinanda on the one hand and Flint’s lot on the other were especially hilarious, as were the simultaneous conversations happening with the representative(s?) of the People’s Alternative Army. And Wilt’s shenanigans after the run-in with the rosebush… Ah. Memorable.
Not Wodehouse, but very funny.
By the time I was about ten pages into The Wilt Alternative, I was thinking to myself that this was nothing like anything Wodehouse ever wrote. As it proceeded, that impression was reinforced. Henry Wilt is married to Eva Wilt (who has developed a passion for ‘alternatives’, all those one-time hippie, now-cool and sustainable methods of composting, recycling, reusing etc) and they have recently moved into a posh house with the ‘quad’, their four small, precocious and rather terrifying daughters. Wilt is trying to juggle work at the Tech, the pre-polytechnic where he teaches, and Eva rents out the attic to a German au pair… whom Henry falls head over heels in love with. Only to have it turn out that the gorgeous Fraulein Mueller isn’t quite what she appears to be.
I stand by my initial impression that this wasn’t necessarily a book a fan of Wodehouse would like. That is, if you like Wodehouse for the completely escapist world he created: escapist, idyllic, pure—where the most villainous villains (like Spode) did little other than spout a lot of vitriol or occasionally hit someone. Where love seemed to have nothing to do with sex, where sex is rarely even hinted at.
The Wilt Alternative, on the other hand, is dirty. As in filthy funny, with people running around naked, men suffering some really embarrassing accidents to their ‘appendages’, and more. There are also some really nasty criminals—murderers, no less. And serious crime.
But one thing I will concede, Wodehouse comparison or no Wodehouse comparison. This was funny. It was laugh-out-loud funny. In Wilt’s ridiculously convoluted (yet successful, mostly) attempts to wriggle out of dangerous situations, in the dialogue, in the absolutely crazy and convoluted way things play out. I found myself giggling helplessly through a good deal of the book. The conversations between Baggish and Chinanda on the one hand and Flint’s lot on the other were especially hilarious, as were the simultaneous conversations happening with the representative(s?) of the People’s Alternative Army. And Wilt’s shenanigans after the run-in with the rosebush… Ah. Memorable.
Not Wodehouse, but very funny.
July 14, 2013
I think I may have outgrown Tom Sharpe. Funny - yes. But wanted to finish so I could turn to something more nutritious. Perhaps I was in the wrong frame of mind.
January 27, 2025
I used to enjoy Tom Sharpe as a teenager in the 1970s. I recently reread Wilt (1979). I'm delighed to report it was as amusing as I'd remembered whilst simultaneously very un-PC and unreconstructed so some of the language and attitudes inevitably jar with modern sensibilities.
The Wilt Alternative (1979) is the second in the Wilt series and was every bit as amusing and unrecontructed as the first one. The plot is even more outlandish than in the first book. I am looking forward to pressing on with the third in the series.
4/5
In this, the second in the chronicles about Henry Wilt, our hero is no longer the victim of his own uncontrolled fantasies. When Wilt becomes the unintentional participant in a terrorist siege he is forced to find an answer to the problems of power that have corrupted greater men than he.
The Wilt Alternative (1979) is the second in the Wilt series and was every bit as amusing and unrecontructed as the first one. The plot is even more outlandish than in the first book. I am looking forward to pressing on with the third in the series.
4/5
In this, the second in the chronicles about Henry Wilt, our hero is no longer the victim of his own uncontrolled fantasies. When Wilt becomes the unintentional participant in a terrorist siege he is forced to find an answer to the problems of power that have corrupted greater men than he.
February 9, 2017
"Wilt especulava sobre o paradoxo do progresso material e da decadência espiritual e, como de costume, não chegou a conclusão alguma."
A vida de Henry Wilt caminha sempre por linhas tortas. Tem mais dores de cabeça como presidente dos Estudos de Formação Geral do que quando era apenas um professor. Agora tem de lidar com os professores, além dos estudantes. Em casa as coisas não são muito melhores. Num novo bairro, numa nova casa, com um estatuto social mais elevado, Eva Wilt está mais entusiasmada que nunca e dedica-se a um estilo de vida alternativa, onde tudo é mais ou menos orgânico. A par da sua extraordinária existência como casal, as suas quatro filhas gémeas tornam-se cada vez mais insuportáveis à medida que crescem.
"Eu sou um realista nato, a experiência ensinou-me a esperar o pior. E quando o que acontece é melhor fico deliciado."
Tudo piora quando Eva aluga o quarto do sótão a uma mulher alemã e Wilt volta à esquadra da polícia não como suspeito, mas como testemunha. A palavra chave é "terrorismo". E o Inspector Flint está de volta, depois de quase ter sido levado à loucura pela honestidade brutal de Wilt no livro anterior, e desta vez tem alguma satisfação, para além da frustração normal que a natureza do estranho casal Wilt provoca em toda a gente.
Pode parecer suficientemente mau quando Wilt tem um encontro perigoso com uma roseira e os seus espinhos, mas este acontecimento é o prelúdio de uma sinfonia de loucura. A única forma de apreciar o humor de Tom Sharpe é lendo os seus livros, mas uma coisa é certa, ele sabe jogar com o seu enredo melhor do que ninguém. Uma e outra vez ele atira a bola ao ar só para a apanhar e atirar outra vez. Nada é suficientemente insano para o escritor.
"Se a sua experiência pessoal servia de alguma coisa, verdade e ficção eram por igual inaceitáveis."
A vida de Henry Wilt caminha sempre por linhas tortas. Tem mais dores de cabeça como presidente dos Estudos de Formação Geral do que quando era apenas um professor. Agora tem de lidar com os professores, além dos estudantes. Em casa as coisas não são muito melhores. Num novo bairro, numa nova casa, com um estatuto social mais elevado, Eva Wilt está mais entusiasmada que nunca e dedica-se a um estilo de vida alternativa, onde tudo é mais ou menos orgânico. A par da sua extraordinária existência como casal, as suas quatro filhas gémeas tornam-se cada vez mais insuportáveis à medida que crescem.
"Eu sou um realista nato, a experiência ensinou-me a esperar o pior. E quando o que acontece é melhor fico deliciado."
Tudo piora quando Eva aluga o quarto do sótão a uma mulher alemã e Wilt volta à esquadra da polícia não como suspeito, mas como testemunha. A palavra chave é "terrorismo". E o Inspector Flint está de volta, depois de quase ter sido levado à loucura pela honestidade brutal de Wilt no livro anterior, e desta vez tem alguma satisfação, para além da frustração normal que a natureza do estranho casal Wilt provoca em toda a gente.
Pode parecer suficientemente mau quando Wilt tem um encontro perigoso com uma roseira e os seus espinhos, mas este acontecimento é o prelúdio de uma sinfonia de loucura. A única forma de apreciar o humor de Tom Sharpe é lendo os seus livros, mas uma coisa é certa, ele sabe jogar com o seu enredo melhor do que ninguém. Uma e outra vez ele atira a bola ao ar só para a apanhar e atirar outra vez. Nada é suficientemente insano para o escritor.
"Se a sua experiência pessoal servia de alguma coisa, verdade e ficção eram por igual inaceitáveis."
July 28, 2011
While some may say it is in the same vein as Wilt, this has the quads playing a fantastic supporting role. (And why not if Sharpe hits gold every time?) I have yet to erase the image of Wilt impersonating the People's Alternative Army. The joy of fucking with anti-terrorist squads. A tour de farce. And all I can say is : MORE.
December 21, 2021
The dad of four diabolical children, teacher now promoted head of his department, and, so, having moved into a posh neighbourhood, you'll be excused to think Wilt's life took a semblance of normalcy. That would be counting without, first, his imposing wife who put it into her head to rent one of their room to a German student, and, two, the remarkable ability of the couple to turn seemingly banal events into extraordinary catastrophes!
Chaotic and hilarious, full of crazy jokes just going crescendo, Tom Sharpe takes us here into a mad adventure where sanity is everything but granted. It is, in any case, way way better than the first opus!
Chaotic and hilarious, full of crazy jokes just going crescendo, Tom Sharpe takes us here into a mad adventure where sanity is everything but granted. It is, in any case, way way better than the first opus!
May 27, 2025
The second book in the Wilt series smashes right through the fine border that separates sarcastic and slightly absurd humor from slapstick and silly humour and so I did not enjoy it very much. The last third manages to repair quite a lot of this and turned the whole thing into something quite readable in the end.
Wilt and wife manages to lodge a young female that turns out to be an international terrorist. That then goes the Wilt way, unsurprisingly.
Wilt and wife manages to lodge a young female that turns out to be an international terrorist. That then goes the Wilt way, unsurprisingly.
December 13, 2021
Funny but can't make my mind up.
May 29, 2011
I think this has got to be man’s humour, because it reminds me of that TV prog The Worst Week of My Life which my ex guffaws at, whilst I remain stony faced until my five minute cringe-threshold is reached, and then I have to leave the room.
I rarely give up on a book, but only read a third of this before I was getting too wound up to continue. Not a relaxing Sunday afternoon read! I do not find other people’s misfortunes funny. I do not find lack of communication funny. I do not find one incident involving bad luck (i.e. unfortunate timing) followed by another, then another, funny.
[a woman asking Wilt about enrolling on a Rapid Reading course]
’My problem has always been that I’m such a slow reader I can’t remember what the beginning of the book was about by the time I’ve finished it,’ said the woman. ‘My husband says I’m practically illiterate.
She smiled forlornly and implied a breaking marriage which Wilt could save by encouraging her to spend her Monday evenings away from home and the rest of the week reading books rapidly. Wilt doubted the therapy and tried to shift the burden of counselling somewhere else.
I rarely give up on a book, but only read a third of this before I was getting too wound up to continue. Not a relaxing Sunday afternoon read! I do not find other people’s misfortunes funny. I do not find lack of communication funny. I do not find one incident involving bad luck (i.e. unfortunate timing) followed by another, then another, funny.
[a woman asking Wilt about enrolling on a Rapid Reading course]
’My problem has always been that I’m such a slow reader I can’t remember what the beginning of the book was about by the time I’ve finished it,’ said the woman. ‘My husband says I’m practically illiterate.
She smiled forlornly and implied a breaking marriage which Wilt could save by encouraging her to spend her Monday evenings away from home and the rest of the week reading books rapidly. Wilt doubted the therapy and tried to shift the burden of counselling somewhere else.
August 7, 2021
The 2nd book in the Wilt series by Tom Sharpe.
Tom Sharpe has the ability to make you laugh out loud.
I read these books a long time ago and writing the reviews has given me the appetite to start reading Tom Sharpe novels again. Luckily I have quite a few to choose from so will start reading shortly.
Great characters, fun plots and well written making these books laugh out loud funny.
Tom Sharpe has the ability to make you laugh out loud.
I read these books a long time ago and writing the reviews has given me the appetite to start reading Tom Sharpe novels again. Luckily I have quite a few to choose from so will start reading shortly.
Great characters, fun plots and well written making these books laugh out loud funny.
October 9, 2018
Tom Sharpe never disappoints! Funny, good sense of humour and always manage to place Wilt in a crazy and awkward situation. Preferred the first one, but nevertheless I give it 5 stars for all the laugh attacks I had on my way to work!
February 1, 2019
What can one say? It is vulgar, over the top, not believable, frenetically paced riot. My first Wilt. At times reminded me of Confederacy of Dunces with it's crazed set pieces, but that one does build up to scenes and this one just sort of smashes you into them over and over. Great.
December 14, 2016
Even better than the first book.
December 23, 2016
Not as good as the first one but not terrible either. The last chapters are the worst, but there's a laugh here and there. I might read the next one in the series some day.
August 4, 2022
Un libro entretenido en el que seguimos otra aventura de Henry Wilt y su esposa Eva.
July 14, 2021
"And now The Wilt Alternative which, despite numerous comic scenes, can’t help being overshadowed by its serious, angry, and still tragically relevant, analysis of the terrorist mindset."
https://astrofella.wordpress.com/2015...
Не че нещо, но такива ревюта не съм срещала на български.
"Алтернативата Уилт" е колкото комично, толкова и структурирано четиво за тероризма в ежедневието през 70-те в Англия, все по-бивша империя.
И всичката либерална щуротия, която там вече се е завихрила и е дала доста храна на хората на мисълта.
https://astrofella.wordpress.com/2015...
Не че нещо, но такива ревюта не съм срещала на български.
"Алтернативата Уилт" е колкото комично, толкова и структурирано четиво за тероризма в ежедневието през 70-те в Англия, все по-бивша империя.
И всичката либерална щуротия, която там вече се е завихрила и е дала доста храна на хората на мисълта.
February 8, 2024
Pues si pensaba en el primer libro qué disparate todo, en este se ha lucido el autor 😂😂. Algunos pasajes se me han hecho algo pesados, pero el inicio, hasta casi la mitad, y el final hacen que le dé el 4 sobre 5 por lo mucho que me he reído.
Jamás veré igual un cocodrilo, ni las máquinas basculantes que van con monedas para críos, ni los retretes orgánicos... 😂😂😂😂
A por el tercero 🎉💪
Jamás veré igual un cocodrilo, ni las máquinas basculantes que van con monedas para críos, ni los retretes orgánicos... 😂😂😂😂
A por el tercero 🎉💪
April 16, 2024
It wasn't as funny as the first book, but it's still entertaining. There are still 3 left in the Wilt series!
November 28, 2021
Sarcastic, satirical, vulgar, surreal at times, but always hilarious – the second Wilt book picks up right where the previous one left off. Tom Sharpe is one of the funniest writers of all time – not the pure harmless clean comedy of P.G. Wodehouse, not the witty, subtle but extremely relevant humour of Terry Pratchett. This is more in-your-face toilet and sex humour, so trigger warning right there before you read a Tom Sharpe book. He is still a very clever writer, and it would be completely wrong to label his books as ‘filled with cheap dirty jokes. Let’s not forget this is an author who got deported from South Africa for speaking out against, and writing a couple of novels, about apartheid.
The plots are always a lot of fun, the characters memorable and hilarious, and the setting almost invariably one bad day away from surreal. It is always fascinating to see how a somewhat regular everyday scenario can quickly disintegrate into the farcical. Rarely has an author been able to turn the mundane into pure comedy – whether it’s marriage, inheritance, the nobility, the government, taxes, the police, healthcare, education – Tom Sharpe’s humour shines throughout in his writing. Oh, and while there’s mention of crocodile ‘buggering’, I doubt any animals were hurt in this story. Just though I’d clarify.
I probably would rate the first Wilt book slightly above this one, but if you read and loved the first one, you must read this.
The plots are always a lot of fun, the characters memorable and hilarious, and the setting almost invariably one bad day away from surreal. It is always fascinating to see how a somewhat regular everyday scenario can quickly disintegrate into the farcical. Rarely has an author been able to turn the mundane into pure comedy – whether it’s marriage, inheritance, the nobility, the government, taxes, the police, healthcare, education – Tom Sharpe’s humour shines throughout in his writing. Oh, and while there’s mention of crocodile ‘buggering’, I doubt any animals were hurt in this story. Just though I’d clarify.
I probably would rate the first Wilt book slightly above this one, but if you read and loved the first one, you must read this.
December 22, 2024
Another enjoyable Wilt romp. I particularly liked the duelling revolutionary demands of the Peoples Alternative Army Group 4 and the People's Alternative Army created by Wilt as a distraction.
Broad comedy and satire of academics, the police, the military, ecologists, psychology and even lawyers. Well done!
Broad comedy and satire of academics, the police, the military, ecologists, psychology and even lawyers. Well done!
August 26, 2021
Henry Wilt has a quite comfortable life. He is married to a very energetic and enthusiast of all sorts of "natural" things woman; he is father of quadruplets and is the head of the department of Liberal Studies at the Fenland College of Arts and Technology. Furthermore, he lives in a big and wonderful and big house in a high class neighborhood. However, he feels that his life is nothing but miserable. At home he feels like a dummy in the hands of his wife and all his social and environmental thoughts and actions. In addition to that, he neither can't cope with the quadruplets, four outspoken girls that loose no opportunity to importunate him. Things aren't better at work, where he has to bear with the responsibility for the the acts of all his teammates and subordinates and the department, a bunch of bourgeois marxists that just can't help infuriating the school direction with clearly inadequate performances.
But one day a bright light appears in his life: the new lodger of the attic apartment, a precious German girl called Irmgard Mueller. Wilt falls automatically in love with her, and this feeling gives him a good reason to feel much better about his life. However, this apparent happiness won't last too much... Mueller turns out to be an international terrorist, and while the police is trying to capture her and her companions, things get complicated and all ends up with the kidnapping of the quadruplets and Wilt himself at their own home. In that circumstances, Wilt will have to squeeze his brains to achieve a satisfactory resolution to the action. But when we are talking about Wilt, nothing seems to neither satisfactory or normal...
Probably, Tom Sharpe's Henry Wilt is one of the most hilarious characters of the British literature. His outstanding ability to turn any usual situation into a kind of Odyssey has become legendary. With the inestimable help of her wife Eva, all Wilt novels are a collection of odd and hilarious situations which demonstrate that humans have the capacity to turn anything into a disaster or into something embarrassing, in this case with extremely comic results. Going a little further in this analysis, Wilt series seems to be a kind of consolation to the British middle class for his accommodated and apparently boring lives. To me, it is like if Sharpe was trying to say his compatriots that their life might be boring and even absolutely grey, but at least they can keep their dignity with them, a thing that Henry Wilt looses a couple of times a week. Anyway, it is a captivating novel, because with hilarity it offers us a little bit of action and intrigue, so you are invited to read it avidly to know how the story ends.
In a few words, it is a fully recommended book if you want to read and exhilarating novel, if you want to laugh aloud...
But one day a bright light appears in his life: the new lodger of the attic apartment, a precious German girl called Irmgard Mueller. Wilt falls automatically in love with her, and this feeling gives him a good reason to feel much better about his life. However, this apparent happiness won't last too much... Mueller turns out to be an international terrorist, and while the police is trying to capture her and her companions, things get complicated and all ends up with the kidnapping of the quadruplets and Wilt himself at their own home. In that circumstances, Wilt will have to squeeze his brains to achieve a satisfactory resolution to the action. But when we are talking about Wilt, nothing seems to neither satisfactory or normal...
Probably, Tom Sharpe's Henry Wilt is one of the most hilarious characters of the British literature. His outstanding ability to turn any usual situation into a kind of Odyssey has become legendary. With the inestimable help of her wife Eva, all Wilt novels are a collection of odd and hilarious situations which demonstrate that humans have the capacity to turn anything into a disaster or into something embarrassing, in this case with extremely comic results. Going a little further in this analysis, Wilt series seems to be a kind of consolation to the British middle class for his accommodated and apparently boring lives. To me, it is like if Sharpe was trying to say his compatriots that their life might be boring and even absolutely grey, but at least they can keep their dignity with them, a thing that Henry Wilt looses a couple of times a week. Anyway, it is a captivating novel, because with hilarity it offers us a little bit of action and intrigue, so you are invited to read it avidly to know how the story ends.
In a few words, it is a fully recommended book if you want to read and exhilarating novel, if you want to laugh aloud...
October 22, 2025
Outrageous events, witty dialogues, and funny characters. Eva Wilt, wife of Henry, decides to take on a lodger which leads to the central plot of the novel.
June 30, 2017
5/5 hilarious!
I've yet to read another author who can convey the ridiculous, the satirical, and the downright hilariousness of fu$#ed up situations in such an... enjoyable way. Anything I say about the actual book will spoil it, so I can't comment much on that front, other than to say if you want to read something funny, something that will occassionally even make you quite literally laugh, or at the very least chuckle, out loud... this is it.
I would recommend this to ANYONE with a sense of humor, but certainly NOT to prudes, or those who take humor as a series of insults against them, someone they know, their beliefs etc. If Tom Sharpe makes fun of wives and marriage, it's a joke. If he makes fun of women... it's a joke (not sexism... there IS a difference). The great thing about Tom Sharpe is he insults all of his characters. It isn't exclusive to one gender or character. They're all a bunch of buffoon lunatics. It would seem that some people who have low rated this throughout the internet don't understand the definition of humor, and can't appreciate it. The Wilt novels are very readable. They have some adult themes, so if you don't consider yourself an adult, perhaps ... read them unless you're a kid, basically. Of course, since you're a kid, my telling you these are inappropriate for you will likely make you read them. So enjoy corrupting your mind.
If you don't find this funny you: A.) lack a sense of humor B.) take humor too seriously C.) lack a sense of humor. D.) You take jokes as actual insults against your beliefs (kind of the same as B, C, and A really).
I've yet to read another author who can convey the ridiculous, the satirical, and the downright hilariousness of fu$#ed up situations in such an... enjoyable way. Anything I say about the actual book will spoil it, so I can't comment much on that front, other than to say if you want to read something funny, something that will occassionally even make you quite literally laugh, or at the very least chuckle, out loud... this is it.
I would recommend this to ANYONE with a sense of humor, but certainly NOT to prudes, or those who take humor as a series of insults against them, someone they know, their beliefs etc. If Tom Sharpe makes fun of wives and marriage, it's a joke. If he makes fun of women... it's a joke (not sexism... there IS a difference). The great thing about Tom Sharpe is he insults all of his characters. It isn't exclusive to one gender or character. They're all a bunch of buffoon lunatics. It would seem that some people who have low rated this throughout the internet don't understand the definition of humor, and can't appreciate it. The Wilt novels are very readable. They have some adult themes, so if you don't consider yourself an adult, perhaps ... read them unless you're a kid, basically. Of course, since you're a kid, my telling you these are inappropriate for you will likely make you read them. So enjoy corrupting your mind.
If you don't find this funny you: A.) lack a sense of humor B.) take humor too seriously C.) lack a sense of humor. D.) You take jokes as actual insults against your beliefs (kind of the same as B, C, and A really).
June 18, 2018
*** Possible Spoilers ***
This was published in 1979 so I found it amazing how those things being satirized were still relevant today. It is very dark humor and certainly not to everyone's tastes but even though I'd read it before I still found myself laughing at some of the scenes.
Wilt is a middle aged man who aspires to a life of peace and tranquility and yet constantly finds himself amidst chaos - admittedly some of his own making. For example he is a prude who is not prepared to tell the receptionist in a crowded waiting room at a hospital emergency intake that he needs assistance for a badly lacerated penis. As a result he is subjected to various painful and unrelated procedures by insensitive health providers. As a result the reader gets a glimpse into a National Health Service that values bureaucracy over the well-being of its patients and believes that dignity is an archaic concept best forgotten in the name of efficiency.
Tom Sharpe has a number of targets for his wit among then being progressive education, new-age fads from the 1970s, terrorists and government bureaucracies.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and I highly recommend it but for those who aspire to 'social consciousness' it should probably be skipped.
This was published in 1979 so I found it amazing how those things being satirized were still relevant today. It is very dark humor and certainly not to everyone's tastes but even though I'd read it before I still found myself laughing at some of the scenes.
Wilt is a middle aged man who aspires to a life of peace and tranquility and yet constantly finds himself amidst chaos - admittedly some of his own making. For example he is a prude who is not prepared to tell the receptionist in a crowded waiting room at a hospital emergency intake that he needs assistance for a badly lacerated penis. As a result he is subjected to various painful and unrelated procedures by insensitive health providers. As a result the reader gets a glimpse into a National Health Service that values bureaucracy over the well-being of its patients and believes that dignity is an archaic concept best forgotten in the name of efficiency.
Tom Sharpe has a number of targets for his wit among then being progressive education, new-age fads from the 1970s, terrorists and government bureaucracies.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and I highly recommend it but for those who aspire to 'social consciousness' it should probably be skipped.
April 12, 2025
Las tribulaciones de Wilt de Tom Sharpe es una novela que mezcla sátira social y comedia de enredos. A través de su protagonista, Henry Wilt, un hombre atrapado en una vida de frustraciones, el autor aborda de forma burlesca las tensiones de la clase media y las situaciones absurdas que pueden surgir de la rutina diaria. Sin embargo, aunque la crítica social es afilada y el humor tiene momentos agudos, la trama a veces se me hico excesivamente repetitiva y previsiblemente caótica.
Es entretenida, pero le falta profundidad. Aún y así, es una novela muy cortita que se lee rápido y va bien si te apetece desconectar un rato
Es entretenida, pero le falta profundidad. Aún y así, es una novela muy cortita que se lee rápido y va bien si te apetece desconectar un rato
February 3, 2016
Después del primer libro de la serie, que me pareció de lo más divertido que he leído, supuse complicado llegar a ese nivel con la continuación, y así me lo ha parecido. La historia es aún más absurda que la primera, pero con menos gracia. Como entretenimiento no está mal. Se lee rápido, y se dispara contra todo: religión, modas, snobs, educación.. Se echan de menos las charlas de Wilt con el inspector de policía o con sus alumnos, que eran una risa total. No está mal, pero tampoco es imprescindible.
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