Walter

Walter #1

by David Cook

Walter, a young, mentally handicapped man, learns to cope with his father's indifference, and his co-workers' ridicule and develop a sense of personal dignity

Genres: Fiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

David Cook is a British author, screenwriter and actor.
He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London and his first role was in the 1962 film adaptation of A Kind of Loving. He began to write in the early 1970s - his first novel Albert's Memorial was published in 1972.
He won several awards: Writers Guild award, 1977; American Academy E.M. Forster award, 1977; Hawthornden prize, 1978; Arts Council bursary, 1979; Southern Arts prize, 1985; Arthur Welton scholarship, 1991.; Odd Fellow Concern Book award, 1992.

Reviews

[O · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Please Walter, be a good boy'
'Want to, want to.'

It has come to my attention that I own a signed copy of this book.

I'm rather thrilled that I have this opportunity to actually ADD a book to Goodreads! I was so surprised that it was not here. I read this when I was a child, which I suppose I shouldn't have done. My sister was reading it and well, I picked it up. Before the ending, I remember flinging it away, Pollock's painting haunting me from below my bed. It starts with Sarah's desire to have a child, and you come to realise that she doesn't care who her husband would end up being. As long as she can have a child. She marries a man who was produced as the result of an incestuous ordeal between father and daughter, Eric. Their child is destined to be a genetic monstrosity.

It's a cruel irony that the one thing she wanted, she ends up despising, there was one scene that sent chills through me, where Sarah has the chance to throw Walter into the path of a train. I think it was because I was young myself reading it, I often wondered if there were trains if my mother would take the opportunity to throw me off a bridge before one.

The dependence on Jesus, in a sort of mocking way left me with a feeling of being perturbed. I think this book helped me release the hold I had over Jesus to also help me with everything. A good read, indeed.

[Steve Flig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been on my 'must re-read' list for many years, along with many books that I think left an indelible mark on me when I read them in my younger days, but which, if truth be told, I can remember very little about. I liked the fact it was by a local author and set in Lancashire, and recall that a film version of it was shown on Channel 4's opening night (though I never saw it).

So it was almost like reading a new book full of time-leaps, twists and surprises that still got me. The book starts before Walter was born and covers several decades of his life. That this book has become an out-of-print obscurity is undeserved, but perhaps inevitable, given that it is to a great extent a commentary on society's treatment of the learning disabled and the mentally ill. In that respect it remains relevant, but dated, with doubtless many more recent works tackling that agenda in a more contemporary context.

It is beautifully written, heart-breaking at times. I am looking forward to re-reading the sequel too 'Winter Doves', as well as watching / listening to film and radio spin-offs starring Ian McKellen (and many other familiar names) assuming I can track them down.

Fun fact: the writer David Cook (1940-2015) presented the first two series of the ITV children's series 'Rainbow'.

[Hanneke Voskuilen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dan denk je, ik lees even snel een leuk boek over een niet zo’n slimme gozer en duiven, maar dan blijkt t over een mentally handicapped man te gaan die keihard probeert mee te doen met de maatschappij maar niet toegelaten wordt. En ja, dan zit je voor je t weet in een overvolle sprinter van Utrecht naar Amersfoort toch een beetje te huilen. Achja soms heb je dat.

[Ranon · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting insight in to a world that many never visit. It's an almost optimistic account of a life touched with cruelty (at the tongue and hand of other people), and lack of prospects for those on the edge of society in a capitalist nation. Walter would be described nowadays as having 'additional learning needs' which may (or may not) protect him better from the vultures of humankind, but in his time he was someone to be taken advantage of for the abilities he posesses, combined with his lack of understanding of the intentions of others.

I can't find the right words to describe how the story of Walter teaches the value of being contented with your own world, no matter how small or limited, and in spite of what may affect you from the wider world of those outside it.

[K.B. Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books that stays with you long after you've finished it. Walter is described as one of Jesus' mistakes. His father was the result of incestuous abuse and Walter is mentally and physically challenged. The book is beautifully, painfully observed and well worth a read.

[Fantasy lover · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very special story. It starts with the mothers POV; funny bud her life was build on wrong stories told by her mothers and a sad life follows.
You start to think her man is a loser,then you read his POV and also his story is just sad.
And Walter..just when you think he could make it alone just fine..
He does find a way to live with what happens to him bud it is all so sad

[Dave Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://electrichalibut.blogspot.com/2...

[Bella Baxter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Το μυθιστόρημα αφηγείται τη ζωή του Γουώλτερ, ενός ατόμου με σοβαρή νοητική και σωματική αναπηρία. Η ιστορία είναι μια ωμή και συγκινητική εξερεύνηση της ζωής του Γουώλτερ από τη γέννησή του μέχρι την ενηλικίωση, εστιάζοντας στις προκλήσεις που αντιμετωπίζει ο ίδιος, αλλά και η οικογένειά του ...
Είναι ένα δυνατό, ρεαλιστικό έργο που θέτει ερωτήματα για την ηθική, την ανθρώπινη αξία, την αγάπη και τα όρια της αντοχής, αναγκάζοντας τον αναγνώστη να αναλογιστεί τη δική του στάση απέναντι στη διαφορετικότητα .
Σύσταση:Θα σας συγκινήσει

[Theresa Mckay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this novel years ago and have finally managed to get a second hand copy. Alas, no Kindle edition! It's a deeply moving story, following Walter from childhood to adulthood, when his mother dies and he is placed in a mental hospital. Beautifully written.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I wish it was more popular so I can read a more in depth analysis of what this book was truly about. The parallels between Walter and the pigeons were so well done.