See buying choices for this item to see if it's one of the millions that are eligible for Amazon Prime.


Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Fall of Kelvin Walker
 
See larger image
 

The Fall of Kelvin Walker (Paperback)

by Alasdair Gray (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)

Available from these sellers.


3 used from £0.01
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover 12 used & new from £3.49
Paperback (Reprint) 5 used & new from £10.22

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

1982, Janine (Canongate Classics)

1982, Janine (Canongate Classics)

by Alasdair Gray
Poor Things

Poor Things

by Alasdair Gray
3.3 out of 5 stars (3)  £6.99
The Ends of Our Tethers

The Ends of Our Tethers

by Alasdair Gray
4.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £5.49
The Book of Prefaces

The Book of Prefaces

by Alasdair Gray
5.0 out of 5 stars (2)  £33.25
Old Men in Love

Old Men in Love

by Alasdair Gray
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £14.00
Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 160 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New edition edition (29 Aug 1991)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0140121609
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140121605
  • Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.8 x 1.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 933,374 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #31 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > G > Gray, Alasdair
    #36 in  Books > Fiction > Cult Authors > Gray, Alasdair
  • See Complete Table of Contents

Product Description

Product Description
Kelvin Walker is in London to make his fortune. He plans to start at the top and through his absurd ambition a megalomania surfaces that is unrelieved by his insensitive and ruthless attempts at friendship and romance. Yet is he all bad?

Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Fall of Kelvin Walker
59% buy the item featured on this page:
The Fall of Kelvin Walker 4.0 out of 5 stars (1)
The Ends of Our Tethers
41% buy
The Ends of Our Tethers 4.0 out of 5 stars (1)
£5.49

 

Customer Reviews

1 Review
5 star:    (0)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Faith and Power and Fun and a cursed kind of Scottishness, 6 Jan 2007
By Chris M. Dooks "bovinelife" (Glasgow) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I've lived in Scotland for 15 years now as an exiled Englishman and only in the last few years have I really gotten into polymath Alasdair Gray's work. It's a kind of anthropology reading him. He's brilliantly idiosyncratic but I feel like I am being educated and wildly entertained at the same time.

This is a book about faith and it makes me really want to know about Gray's own faith.

This book seems to be a very accessible way into Gray's world view. I didn't realise he was so damn prolific! I got into him seriously, as a friend has one of his murals in her Glasgow flat and I began to tour Glasgow to find other examples of Gray in action as a painter of murals. Then I went onto beginning reading him. I couldn't get into Lanark, but I am trying! After I enjoyed "Unlikely Stories Mostly" I found a copy of Kelvin Walker in Byres road Cancer research shop for £1.00 and read it in two sittings, something I've not done with any book as I am a slow reader. It was just a riot of psychology, what underpins a certain kind of confidence of a rebellious wide-eyed visitor to London from "Glaik" (- which I encourage the reader to look up the origin of that place name) and his very filmic adventures in a kind of presbetyrian Dick Whittington romp. It also has possibly the first example in literature of "car-crash television" which, if real, would make it onto "the 100 most embarrassing moments in television." - There's a great, brisk narrative arc in the book. Gray wastes nothing. He is satarist and actually, he can write romantic warmth when he wants to in this novel. His central character - although amazingly gifted (by his own admission) is emotionally stunted and you find out why as we go on. And then the car crash...

I like this book because it makes you believe - even fleetingly - that the protagonist can beat the system, that faith is a form of food and energy, no matter what kind of faith that is. But there is a darker tone at play, that points at the "dour" kind of "miserable Christianty" that people speak about in Scotland. That you can never really succeed because there's no humility in success and we better not forget our place as dour Scots.

It's a great shame the reprints of this book do not have Gray's design all over them as he is a fantastic graphic designer - my little battered Penguin is very beautifully put together.

It's a bit of a prophecy of trial-by-television, of devolution in Scotland (Gray has written much on this subject in essays), of arrogance, chancers, con merchants - but more importantly, what motivates and underpins their actions.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


   
Related forums


Listmania!


Look for similar items by category


Feedback


The Body Shop

The Body Shop - Vitamin C Skin Boost
Protect and boost your glow with The Body Shop Vitamin C Skin Boost.

Shop The Body Shop

 

More From Alasdair Gray

Poor Things

Poor Things by Alasdair Gray

"It wouldn't be an exaggeration to hail Alasdair Gray as one of... Read more
£8.99 £6.99

 

A Close Shave

Philips Nivea Coolskin HS8060 Moisturizing Rotary Shaving System
For all types of hair removal, stay smooth with Amazon.co.uk.

Discover Shaving & Hair Removal

 

Treat Someone

Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates--available in any amount from £5 to £500 With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

Learn more about Gift Certificates

 
Ad

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.

Continue Shopping: Top Sellers

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates