Lager and Pernod 
Frank Kermode
- The Man Who Walks by Alan Warner
Reviewers rarely feel it prudent to begin by confessing bafflement, but the admission may sometimes be unavoidable. This is my sentiment as I contemplate the four novels of Alan Warner. He has been highly praised (‘dazzling’, ‘classic’, ‘significant’, ‘vastly gifted’, ‘a genius’, ‘one of the most influential literary mould-breakers ever’), and I’m sure none of these eulogies, understandably preserved on the covers of his books, is entirely unmerited. But it is one thing to praise, and another to describe, the work that earned these compliments.
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Frank Kermode’s books include The Sense of an Ending and The Uses of Error.
Other articles by this contributor:
‘Disgusting’ · Frank Kermode remembers William Empson
Here she is · Zadie Smith
Who has the gall? · Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Writing about Shakespeare · Frank Kermode has his say
Point of View · Atonement by Ian McEwan
Retripotent · B. S. Johnson
Our Muddy Vesture · Frank Kermode watches Pacino’s Merchant of Venice
Nothing for Ever and Ever · Housman’s Pleasures
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