Tom Sharpe Books In Order

Publication Order of Piemburg Books

Publication Order of Porterhouse Blue Books

Publication Order of Wilt Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Collections

Tom Sharpe (born 1928-2013) was an English author of fiction and literature novels famously known for his Wilt novel series as well as Blott on the Landscape and Porterhouse Blue. He was born in Holloway, London and raised in Croydon. His father, Reverend George Coverdale was a Unitarian minister who actively participated in politics in the 1930’s.

Sharpe attended Bloxham School and then went to Lancing College. He later joined National Service in the Royal Marines before joining Pembroke College in Cambridge where he studied social anthropology and history. The author relocated to South Africa in 1951 and worked as a teacher and social worker before being deported for sedition in 1961. His time in S. Africa inspired his novels Indecent Exposure and Riotous Assembly in which Sharpe mocked the apartheid regime. He later wrote a play, The South African which also criticized the administration and after the play was performed in London, Sharpe was deported from South Africa.

After being sent to England, Sharpe served as a lecturer at the Cambridge College and later Anglia Ruskin University. This teaching experience inspired Sharpe’s Wilt series in which he ridicules the popular English culture. From 1995, Sharpe and his wife Nancy divided their time between Cambridge and their home in Spain where he wrote Wilt in Nowhere. The couple had three children, and despite living in Catalonia, Sharpe did not learn either Catalan or Spanish. The author died in 2013 aged 85 from complications of diabetes.

Blott on the Landscape was adapted into a 1985 BBC Television series by the same name. The series featured Gorge Cole who played the role of Sir Giles Lynchwood and David Suchet playing the role of Blott. Porterhouse Blue was adapted into a 1987 TV series by Malcolm Bradbury for Channel 4 in four episodes. The film starred Ian Richardson playing the role of Sir Godber Evans and David Jason as Skullion. Wilt was adapted into a 1989 movie by the same name featuring Mel Smith, Eva Wilt and Griff Rhys Jones.

Wilt

Wilt is the first book in a novel series of the same name. The main character Henry Wilt is tied to a ridiculous job and a domineering wife. Ahead of him at the Polytechnic lies the years of trying to thump literature into the minds of the joiners, plasterers, butchers and the like. On the other hand, things are no better at home where his wife is given to boundless and unforeseen fits of enthusiasm for a trampoline, transcendental meditation or yoga.

However, if Wilt can do anything about his ridiculous job, he can do the something about his wife, as his imaginations and fantasies grow daily more suicidal and more concrete.

After a bad experience at a party thrown by some nasty Americans, Wilt soon finds himself in some embarrassing situations: Eva stalks out and Wilt under the inspiration of alcohol puts one of his murderous fantasies into effect. However, suspicions are soon aroused, and Wilt achieves a nasty notoriety in the role of the good guy helping the cops with their inquiries.

For Wilt, even though he is helping the police, he is actually on the other side of the fence- always questioning “Where’s Eva Wilt?” However, Wilt flourishes in the heat of the investigation as the police fire up the flames of the circumstantial evidence; Wilt employs all his powers to show that the authority cannot tell a missing individual from a hole in the ground.

Blot on the Landscape

Blot on the Landscape is a standalone novel by Tom Sharpe first published in 1975. The book was adapted into a six-part TV series for BBC TV in 1985.

At the far end of Cleene Gorge town is Handyman Hall, the home to Sir Giles and his wife, Lady Maud Lynchwood. However, Giles in secretly in favor of making sure that the controlled access highway passes via the Cleene Gorge. This is because he will be compensated for the destruction of his home which under the covenant of preventing its sale.

While pretending to be supportive Giles takes steps to prevent the inquiry and undermine the alternatives being adopted, to make sure that the new road passes through the Gorge. On the contrary, Lady Maud’s family has been a resident of the gorge for over five centuries, and so she is defensive of her heritage and so expects her husband to support her.

Things take a twisted turn when the couple faces marital problems. For example, Sir Giles sexual infidelity and Lady Maud’s her children to continue her line to which her husband profoundly opposes and other actions of Maud’s gardener, Blott. Blott is a former German POW who is also rumored to be Italian. He is patriotic to his new home and his nation.

Blott’s makes use of his military training and starts a covert operation including wiretapping and blackmail to compromise Sir Giles activities on Maud’s behalf and also to undermine the construction of the motorway which Giles supports. He also discovers and plans to jeopardize Giles plans. In the course of the struggles to save Gorge, a nearby village is destroyed by Blot to increase a widespread opposition to the works. Giles is soon discovered by Blott and Lady Maud in bed-bound by his mistress and blackmailed. The Hall is soon converted into a wildlife park to prevent the removal of its residents. Giles is finally murdered by lions after he is discovered by Maud and Blott trying to burn the Hall. As a final option, Blott concretes himself in his home thus hindering work progress. Dundridge, the man in charge of the motorway construction, is frustrated and demands the SAS to remove Blott. However, Blott manages to repel the SAS attempts and launches an attack on his archway estate for which the SAS is finally blamed, finally causing enough public attention such that the plans are dropped.

Blott on the Landscape is captivating read; its adaptation into 1985 television series was positively acclaimed. The book was also released as an audiobook in two different formats. If you like novels full of humor, comedy, and fiction, then Tom Sharpe are the books you should consider reading.

5 Responses to “Tom Sharpe”

1. David: 6 months ago

   I’ve read all his books at least four times. Best and funniest books you’ll ever read.

   Reply
2. Tony Mitchell: 9 months ago

   Bloody genius, though I’ve just found out that there are two books i haven’t read. A situation soon to be rectified

   Reply
3. charles mcgill: 2 years ago

   I read all Tom Sharpe books and loved them all.

   Reply
4. Malcolm Day: 3 years ago

   I’ve read most of his work, and never failed to get a sore jaw through laughing, I think the funniest being Grantchester Grind.

   Reply
5. Joe Elze: 4 years ago

   Love Tom Sharpe, especially his exquisite satire on South Africa. Wish that he was still around to write one on the utter mess South Africa has become under black government.

   Reply