I'm not the most popular member of my book group at the moment 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, 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. For a first reading I'll rate it 7/10 ( )

I can't praise Riddley Walker enough.

It's utterly unique, like nothing you've ever read, and probably the most absorbing book I've ever read. It's set in a post-apocalyptic future hundreds of years in the future in and around Kent. The human race has devolved to an Iron Age style existence due to nuclear war in the 20th century. It tells the story of the eponymous Riddley, as he tries to piece together what happened around Doomsday, and explores efforts to rekindle an ancient weapon, the '1 Big 1'.

It has an incredible style, and is incredibly rich thematically and linguistically. It's written in a degenerate, devolved English a bit like Finnegan's Wake. It lends itself to reading out loud (or in silence, in that phonetic 'voice in your head' manner.)

So rich, haunting and beautiful that I would recommend it to any intelligent adult. Not a casual, light read - but a glorious read if you are up for the challenge. ( )

God, this book is fantastic.

Ever wonder what it must have been like to live in a world where all that you have is all that's around you, where the earth could hold any kind of horror at all and you'd believe it because all you know is what you see and what you whisper about at night around the fire? That's the kind of world Hoban's created for Riddley and his people. It's an utterly believable (mentally, that is-- there are some sciencefictiony things about the plot that are obviously not natural) society. The sheer thought that went into this-- it's as if Hoban went off and lived as an iron-age peasant himself for a lifetime.

It's the mentality of these characters that really gets me. In the passages where Riddley, our Huck-Finn-esque hero, visits the old 'stannins' of the 'bernt towns' and roams among the ruins of our destroyed society, the feelings he describes are so earnest and bowelsy, so bewilderingly human, that it's hard not to be awed. His philosophical reflections are relevant an honest. This book is, in a large part, about the philosophy of what it means to be human-- what the "idear of us" really is. But there's no frivolity of thought here. The idea that simple people in touch with the world can know things our society can't is borne out in full by what Riddley has to say. What is the idear of Power? Should the 2 come 1? What are we-- are we in 2, are we loan and oansome, or ought we come gether? When we try to move forward in life-- when we try to progress, when we plumb the secrets of the world, searching for the Nos. of the many cools and the party cools, what are we doing? Are we hurtling towards our own destruction? What does man do to himself, in the end-- is there nothing for us in the future but the 1 Big 1, the moment when we finally destroy ourselves? Or is there another way?

The language above is from the book. Yes, it's a bit intimidating. But he's created such a tight linguistic web of meaning with his Riddelyspeak that it's better, at times, to read straight on through without hesitation, to let the allusions and ideas that these worn-down words create just flow on into your head. Every word means more than one thing. Our convoluted latinate multisyllables have been broken down here into nuggets of real meaning, and Hoban's word choices often work on so many levels that it's difficult to tell what he's actually doing. The reader is as bewildered as Riddley is. This book is designed to bewilder. It works wonderfully.

A classic if I ever knew one. Astonishing and brutal and profound. There is absolutely no reason why not to read this book. Absolutely none at all. It's got a kind of mastery in it that you rarely get to see in most contemporary work. This is the 20th century looking back at itself with horror, and it's a lesson for anyone. ( )

Incomparable.

Read it out loud for language.

Read again for bliss. ( )

'Intensely ponderable.' So says one of the review quotes on the back cover. That's for sure.

Narrated by Riddley in an imagined dialect, set in a post-nuclear holocaust distant future, it demands full concentration and rewards it with a stunning evocation of a world returned to the dark ages. The language is amazing and I constantly found myself re-reading paragraphs, puzzling out the meanings and turning over the implications. It isn't like Trainspotting where your brain suddenly clicks into the dialect and you suddenly know exactly what Renton is talking about, but Riddley's voice still works its way into your head and you begin to piece together the meanings and build up a picture of the myths and history.

I have always been fascinated by books set in post-apocalyptic futures (something to do with growing up at the height of the Cold War) and this is one the best. ( )