Mark WallingtonRecensioni

First heard this on Radio 4 as Book of the Week, which is why i wanted to read it.

Mark Wallington, at an age that most would be considering retirement, decides that now the children have left home he needs to realise his musical ambitions. With the slight handicap of a lack of musical talent...

So after choosing his instrument, the ukulele, he sets off on a one man, un-promoted tour of the UK on the open mic circuit of pubs and clubs. He travels from a pub in Brighton all over the UK, eventually ending up at a pre-arrangeed gig at a hotel in Cape Wrath.

Along the way he travels via foot and train, suffers the last of the dreadful B&B landladies and is crowned Uke of Edinburgh at the festival.

Great book. Some laugh out loud moments.

This is definitely an Autobiography but it's like no autobiography I've ever read. Mark Wallington has written, not about his life as such, but about the cars that have peppered his life. He tells us about the very first car his father bought, through to the purchase of the car that - 'should see him out.' Knowing it was going to be a story about cars I was a bit dubious, but I really enjoyed the read! His father was the proverbial car nut, before car nuts became fashionable. The Wallingtons took family holidays in 'The Car', towing a caravan, in a newly born era of cars. Mark and his father lived through the best of the motoring phenomenon, and what I really loved about the book, was the sense of family that came through. Stories of their early days of motoring, pre-freeways, twenty-four hour service stations and link roads were a real treat! These were the days of long, family drives into the country on Sundays, days when a petrol station owner knew your name, pumped your petrol and checked your 'levels'. The Wallington family travelled to Spain towing a caravan, and loved it. They holidayed in Cornwall, in the rain, and played cricket on the beach. If you want to read a book about cars, don't read this. If you want to read a book about family values and connections, about life before things became complicated by ring roads, speed limits and cruise control, read it!! I smiled often, laughed now and then and closed the book after the final page and thought, awww, I've finished.½

500 Mile Walkies. I cannot believe no-one else on LT has reviewed this very funny read. The author attempts to walk the whole of the Devon/Cornwall coast path, at the last moment agreeing to take a friend's dog with him. “Boogie” turns out to be a nightmare dog who almost turns the trip into a complete disaster. A good read.

Wallington does much better on two legs than two wheels. This is the story of a failed journey, or a journey of failures. There's some of the Wallington deftness of touch, the sense of place and language, but it's missing something that makes his other books special. Possibly it's the pace, things pile on top of each other without much time for reflection. But as I tease apart the problem in my mind I realize that it's the lack of a companion on this journey. There's something about a four footed friend that makes him a better writer, and makes for a better book. I can't really recommend this at all, as Wallington has written other books which are so much better.

I am always cautious about books which proclaim on their covers that they are 'hilarious' and so on. I blame the editors usually, and oddly enough it seems to happen most of all to authors who have a dry, understated kind of humour that I actually enjoy. Presumably because editors don't believe that dry understated humour will catch the book-browsers attention. In any case, Pennine Walkies is simply about a man and dog walking the Pennine Way, some 270 miles through Northern England.

Wallington is a natural, easy writer which makes for easy reading. There's enough detail to inspire folk who are inclined that way to look into doing the walk themselves, or at least stopping in at some of the scenic spots along the way. He conveys the sense of travelling, and of the people and places along the way, and a bit of the philosophy of walking and middle age - but none of this is laboured and all the parts blend into a satisfying narrative.

Recommended, for those that like walking, and reading about walking, and dreaming about walking the great trails.

There was a TV series made based on this novel, and I would have loved to have seen, having enjoyed the book so much. This is a novel about families and the people in them, their ups and downs and the joys of everyday life.

Unable to sell his scripts, Mark Wallington decided that the best way to earn a modest living while keeping enough time available for writing would be to take up gardening. He didn't seem to know a great deal about it, but was fortunate in his first client, who needed help because her arthritis had become too sever for her to manage her large garden alone. Under her guidance, Wallington seems to have managed to wing it, doing mostly maintenance work during the summer, gaining clients by word of mouth and being lucky enough to find Mr Gold, owner of an extensive string of properties let to non-gardening tenants. Mild excitement is provided by his rivalry with Powergardeners and by the author's lack of any real knowledge about gardening - will he be unmasked as an imposter?

I was kept reading by the fact that there is nothing to object to - Wallington and his friends are an amiable bunch, and his adventures mildly amusing. The writing is chatty and eveything moves along at a fairly rollicking pace, summer reading if ever I saw it.