Riddley Walker: Penguin Modern Classics

This is one of the great fantasy novels of all time. I have loved and admired it for many years. Although summaries of the plot often state that this post-apocalypse world was brought about by nuclear war the mention of a 'power ring' suggests to me that it was a particle accelerator similar to the one at CERN that did the damage. When it comes to a glossary I think it's more fun to work out one for yourself as I did the first time I read it. In this edition I don't find Will Self's introduction particularly helpful. What is he on about? Somebody said, was it him? that Eusa stood for the USA. Personally I thought the European Space Administration more likely. Anyway I would recommend this book to anyone who is not afraid to let their imagination take flight. Good reading!

I have read this book many times, ever since my dad bought it for me when I was fifteen, 40 years ago, and I've always found something new in it; it can be read on so many levels and as from a fifteen year old as my experience and knowledge grew, as the book drifted back into my reading orbit, so did my enjoyment.However in recent times, to my shame, it had dropped off my 'ownership' list. Chatting to my sister-in-law, on our recent holiday to the States, we were extolling the virtues of favourite books, of which Riddley Walker was at the top of my list, but I was being a bit vague describing it so I finished with a 'just get it, you won't regret it' and that would be my recommendation to any one thinking of reading this book.Mike

I wasn't the most popular member of my book group last month for I chose this book as our monthly read. No disrespect to them intended for, although we are a quite literary lot, this book was far away from our normal fare. A couple of us had read and enjoyed some of Hoban's other novels, which are quirky, fun and fairly light. I said "Let's try Riddley Walker then, it's his cult one," knowing nothing else about it. Little did I know what I was letting myself in for ...You see, it's written entirely in a degenerate pidgin English - Riddleyspeak. Right from the off, you can tell it'll be terribly difficult to read and require much concentration. For a novel of 220 pages plus intro and notes it has taken me ages to read, and I did breathe a sigh of relief at the end - but it was a strangely rewarding experience. I admit it took me about eighty pages to get into the Riddleyspeak. Before that, I was having to read everything two or three times to work it out (a short glossary at the back helps on occasion), later I could read it fairly fluently if I concentrated. It is also a novel steeped in the ancient storytelling tradition, and we frequently break off for a tale handed down and mutated through generations of post-apocalpytic folk.Set in Kent way in the future, mankind has returned to an Iron Age existence after the 1 big 1 wiped out any normal way of life. Those that remain have to scrimp out their existence by hunting and foraging, and wild dogs make the forests unsafe for lone travellers. Although they have a simple life, the villagers and travelling gangs who put on shows are desperate to regain their clevverness; they search the dumps and ruins for clues. Rare ancient artifacts unearthed take on religious and cultural significance and are interpreted in a way that takes account of all the legends and superstitions that have grown up after the apocalypse.Riddley is just twelve. His Dad is a connexion man in their village; a shamanistic even clerical role to summon up words of wisdom from his sixth sense to help them make sense of this strange new world. His Dad dies in an accident and Riddley, newly initiated into manhood, takes on his role, but soon wonders that there must be more to life than this after the Eusa show arrives. He runs away, and we follow his adventures with him on his oansome and celebrate his coming of age.Now I've finished the book, my first reaction after that initial sigh of relief was that I definitely need to read it again. I'm sure I'll get so much more out of it on a second reading as it's chock full of symbolism. The myths of the Green Man, which as a pagan symbol is scattered throughout Canterbury cathedral where Hoban got his inspiration for the book, and Punch and Judy shows in particular resonate through the book - this was fascinating, but it'll have to wait though. It is a daunting yet rewarding read and also an important novel. The edition I read, had an interesting introduction by Will Self whose Book of Dave also employs its own dialect, and also an afterword and notes by the author, which were useful and elucidating.

I've just read this masterpiece for the third time and have nothing to add to the wholly justified praise, but have a question to pose of fellow Riddley fans, which is where are the horses? Hoban is not very informative about livestock but we can assume that cows, sheep and fowl are still raised. Are horses extinct? Riding them would save a lot of the time that the protagonists spend 'roading' ... too late now alas to ask the author.No trubba.

Firstly, there are some laugh out loud parts of this book, and although the language is unusual, its no harder to pick up than the writing in 'A Clockwork Orange'. Even if you don't get all the meanings, you always get the gist. It's a great commentary on society, the nature of man, religion and government, and its a powerful tale all of its own.I really enjoyed it up until the half-way point, and then I began to wonder whether there was real supernatural elements in the story or not. This is quite a big deal with respect to the story because a lot of the plot revolves around the garbled understanding of mankind's history prior to the apocalypse, which has been boiled down to a culture myth surrounding a person called 'Eusa' (which you quickly begin to think relates to USA). Now, as a culture myth, this was interesting. But when it began to appear that some of kind of mysticism was seeping into the book, I began to questing the credibility of the plot. A book either has supernatural elements or it doesn't, but it can't rely on superstitious plot devices while at the same time questioning religious belief. This doesn't work.Also, there are certain downbeat elements to the book which are someways overplayed. Yes, mankind is scrounging away in an Iron Age existence for the most part, but he has discovered tillage and farming, and is on the threshold of new technical discoveries. Ultimately, these discoveries have the capacity to boost progress (although at a terrible cost).I would liken this book to 'A Canticle for Leibowitz', which, although is completely different in tone and style, deals with similar themes albeit from a different time perspective. Riddley Walker is a good book as well, and definitely worth a read just for its originality, and is a great addition to any Sci-Fi library.

I have read this book five times. The first time, back in the seventies, I didn't understand what was going on and even when I finished a second read-through I was confused. So I read it again, and I was staggered by its force. Riddley Walker is the 12-year old author. His language is difficult, a disintegrating version of English. No speed-reading here: "I dont think it makes no diffrents where you start the telling of a thing. You never no where it begun realy. No more you know where you begun your oan self." Riddley lives in a post-apocalyptic England (called "Inland"), hundreds of years after "the One Big One," a world-wide atomic war, devastated the land, the sea, the people, and the language. It's a novel filled with courage, wisdom, and optimism. Last week, I finished a fifth-time marathon, reading the book to myself aloud. Lights dawned. I still have some puzzles to untangle, but I now realize that "aloud" meant I slowed down, listened, and learned. One reviewer said the book kept readers from becoming stupid. Amen. Most readers don't want to feel stupid, so they might give the book to a second-hand shop. But others might be up for the challenge. "Walker is my name and I am the same. Riddley Walker. Walking my riddels where ever theyve took me and walking them now on this paper the same." Give young Riddley a chance.

Interesting premises and technique, but the plot gets ridiculous after a few chapters

I first read this book in the early 1990's then I loaned it to someone who never returned the book. During lockdown 2020 I re-purchased it and have just finished it. The first time I read it I was young and impressionable, I would say but this time, less of both. The idea behind the story of Riddley Walker, I can understand the rave reviews, to develop a language like this takes talent and dedication. Having said that, there are glimpses of how great this story could have been but I think it got lost in the zealous use of the language, the long rambling paragraphs where it was difficult to find the point and direction that went on and on. In the end, I was pleased it came to an end.

Reading Riddley Walker has been one of the most profound and moving experiences I've ever had with literature. Every sentence and every word stuck to me, and I couldn't help but want to get lost in the corrupted language.Some 2347 years, give or take, after a nuclear holocaust has wiped out our present civilization, the world's been stagnating in its earliest stages. Riddley Walker's is a text written by its eponymous connexion man after his naming day (i.e., 12th birthday), which means the text is written in a form of English quite transformed from our own. His short-lived role of connexion man ties him as a go-between to the ruling elite of the local Inland and Eusa folk. In a dead world with no electricity, communications, methods of transportation, science, literature, &c., he’s trained to translate the Mincery’s (‘Ministry’) puppet renditions of Punch & Pooty (‘Judy’) shows and the teachings of Eusa (‘St. Eustace,’ taken from the Cambry (‘Canterbury’) cathedral).Eusa’s dynamic teachings are the foundation for moral authority across the Inland (present-day Kent). He was, once upon a time, a religious martyr responsible for the 1 Big 1--tricked by the devil (‘Mr Clevver’) into splitting the atom (‘Little Shynin Man the Addom’) and causing the final holocaust. His head is spoken of as still speaking law at the mysterious island of Ram, where the ruling elite presumably live and dole out the Mincery’s law through puppet theater. His guilt is a guilt of a society driven by knowledge and power to be self-destructive, and it’s a guilt carried by the Eusa folk of Riddley’s time. Like many religious followers, the Eusa folk carry the suffering of Eusa in both physical and psychological mutations--their emotions form a telepathic connection between one another, and often packs of wild dogs. Riddley, as part of his connexion duties, has one version of Eusa’s Story and its core teachings memorized. The memorized text he uses for his work reflects modern religions: Its teachings were written long after the existence of Eusa, but centuries before Riddley Walker recites them, and the language itself is slightly less corrupted compared to the language the current Inlanders speak.Punch & Judy pop up with significant influence throughout the book. At times, the creepy rebelliousness of Mr Punch is literally channeled through Riddley, who carries a pre-war, rotten Punch doll as a charm. For the central conflict, we even get a full performance of Punch & Judy mythologized for the people of the Inland. (Despite its unoriginality, that ranks among my favorite passages from any novel. I highly recommend those unfamiliar to give Neil Gaiman’s Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr Punch a look-see first. I’d wager his creepy graphic novel knowingly takes a lot from Hoban’s use of the doll.)Riddley Walker’s difficult at times, but is balanced enough between catchy lyricism and a Joycean nightmare that its messy style is more a boon than a distraction. Even though the language is of its own world, its vocabulary is as limited as the culture employing it. Keeping it simple, then, Hoban has riddled the language with as many layers and allusions as he could. You still have to slow down, but at least you'll want to--and ain't that a clear sign of great writing if ever there was one! (Indeed, the 1998 edition features an afterword by the author, with a sample from his first draft written in standard English. It carries little of the published novel's weight.)While some guiding themes are built from typical Cold War fears, they're written in a way that effects a timelessness in this new mythology Hoban created. The corruption of language, and mythopoeic reconstruction of a moral belief system in this future Dark Age keeps Walker's text from feeling dated by Cold War ideology and its technological trappings. E.g., the Inland's folklore is often peppered with broken references to science and technology, but the backwards, '70s understanding of it benefits the backwards state of the Inland society. Puter Leat is Computer Elite; Belnot Phist is Nobel Physicist; 1stoan Phist is Einstein Physicist; and--a favorite--the sovereign galaxies and nebulae above are the sarvering gallack seas and flaming nebyul eye.Knowledge is the currency of power in the Inland, particularly the lost knowledge of the industrial age. This is probably why no one ever seems to be headed anywhere in Riddley Walker: They’re fighting to take Eusa’s very steps and split the Little Shynin Man once again, taking equal movements forward and back with each Ful of the Moon. Kinda sucky world, but I really wanna go back.Arga Warga.

Je m'attendais à quelque roman des années 80, un obscur roman-culte pour geeks, et en fait c'est l'écriture qui m'a saisi: inspirée, puissante, inattendue. La syntaxe et le vocabulaire créent un dépaysement total. C'est inoubliable et c'est le meilleur préalable à "The Book of Dave" de Will Self (qui reconnaît volontiers la filiation)...