- Hardcover: 387 pages
- Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd (26 Aug 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0224051571
- ISBN-13: 978-0224051576
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14.4 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 399,043 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Mighty Walzer
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Howard Jacobson has been described as "one of the funniest writers alive", his fiction a masterpiece of comedy. "At its best", writes Mary Loudon, "it simply tears you apart." Following the success of No More Mr Nice Guy in 1998--Jacobson's foul and funny rendition of the sex war--The Mighty Walzer moves into the strange, and passionate, world of ping pong to tell the life of one Oliver Walzer. "Grandiosity was in the family," Oliver announces at the very beginning of his account of a childhood in Manchester in the 1950s. "On my father's side. Normally, when I speak of "the family" I seem to mean my father's side. Make what you like of that." It's a challenge which runs throughout the book. We can make what we like of this "history of embarrassments" and the family--"from some sucking bog outside Proskurov"--which supports it.
"One disillusionment at a time" is the principle behind Jacobson's telling of a youth suspended between ping pong and masturbation, mortification and omnipotence, anti- Semitism and the Akiva gang. At the Akiva club, Walzer comes into his own: he's a natural, with the makings of a "star" (even if he is stoned by the "prefab boys" on his way there). At home, he's caught between the flamboyance of his market-trader father--the "swag", and swagger, he wants to pass on to his son--and his mother's famous "reserve". Balancing the split legacy--win or lose? laugh or cry? put up or shut up?--is part of the pain, and pleasure, of the book. No surprise, perhaps, that Walzer is unwilling to make a clear distinction between the two. When it comes to sex and friendship, family and history, life and ping pong, The Mighty Walzer is a brilliant story of one man's journey to the realm of "pain fun": the pleasure of a life spent losing and learning what you can ask for. --Vicky Lebeau
Review
"The most dangerously funny writer in the English language." - "Sunday Times"
"From the Trade Paperback edition."
"From the Trade Paperback edition."
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
When I first read this book, I was not bowled over by it, but as time went by a nagging thought in my mind became increasingly apparent – “You have to read this book again.” And thank goodness I did; The Mighty Walzer is a minor masterpiece.
I think the main reason I love this book so much is that Walzer is something of an anti-hero, but sympathetic nevertheless – Alexander Portnoy rather than Holden Caulfield. He is a character with whom any teenage misfit is able to identify.
The novel’s humour is largely down to Jacobson’s deadpan delivery, without which the book would be much more heavy-going. There are moments which misfire – I was not convinced of the necessity of the Cambridge scenes, though maybe necessity is not the point – Jacobson is telling a story, and not everything in life makes sense. I found the reunion scenes particularly powerful.
I would urge anybody to read this book, but would advise that some prior knowledge of Yiddish (or at least Hebrew or German) could be useful. “The Joys of Yiddish” by Leo Rosten is a sound investment for the first-time Yiddish-user.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
There are certain novels where the author finally makes good on all the promise that he's previously shown (think Martin Amis' "London Fields"). In "Walzer," Jacobson is able to combine his misanthropic humor with a genuinely touching coming-of-age story. No doubt the author is tired of reviews that compare him to Mordecai Richler, but with this book he has surpassed Richler and come into his own. This book is both funny and sad, and I cannot recommend it more highly.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
One of Jacobson's great strengths is his facility with language. His prose style is wonderful, full of beautifully constructed passages which read as natural and unfeigned. This book demonstrates that skill throughout.
Another great strength is his humour, which here made me laugh out loud at times, and at others brought a wry smile.
The story is excellent, and his characters are vivid and well drawn.
Another great strength is his humour, which here made me laugh out loud at times, and at others brought a wry smile.
The story is excellent, and his characters are vivid and well drawn.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Funny, as ever
Howard Jacobson shot to fame when he won the 2010 Booker Prize with the Finkler Question. I was put off the winning novel itself by various comments, so was tempted to try out one... Read more
Published 6 months ago by anozama
Apalling
I haven't read any other books by Howard Jacobson so I can't compare it with them. But I can compare it with all the other novels I've read in my life, and - hand on heart - this... Read more
Published 8 months ago by sparky747
Hard bats etc
A comic English novel and table-tennis, two of my Favourite Things. How could this not be a good read? Read more
Published on 6 Aug 2007 by Paul Callick
more ping than pong - very funny
I must admit i did laugh out loud at some of the episodes in this, my first, Jacobson. He is a very clever writer and with the Jewish, post war, likely lad nostalgic humour this a... Read more
Published on 13 Sep 2005 by Huck Flynn
Tedious & Uninspiring
This book was extremely disappointing. From the cover it appeared to be a warm coming of age story involving a sport (table tennis) which is very infrequently written about (a... Read more
Published on 1 Aug 2000
A book Dr Leavis might recognize as a novel
In the saltless ocean of cleverness that appears to be the modern novel it is good to find an island of transmuted experience. Read more
Published on 15 Feb 2000
The Art of Ping Pong
Howard Jacobson's most recent novel, The Mighty Walzer, is not only amusing, but beautifully written, so it offers the reader something more substantial than mere entertainment. Read more
Published on 27 Nov 1999
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