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Comment: Hardback; 5; First Edition; Dust jacket is lightly shelf-marked, upper panel curled, corners bumped, laminate beginning to peel slightly at rear lower edge, price unclipped with previous seller's sticker on front flap; black boards are unmarked, gilt titling bright, corners sharp; binding is tight; pages are age-toned at edges but unmarked. A very good first edition.; 1980; 220 Pages; 5;
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Russell Hoban
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Riddley Walker Hardcover – 16 Oct. 1980

by Russell Hoban (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars 682 ratings
Riddley Walker
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  1. Print length
    220 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Jonathan Cape Ltd
  4. Publication date
    16 Oct. 1980
  5. ISBN-10
    0224018515
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0224018517
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Jonathan Cape Ltd
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ 16 Oct. 1980
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ First Edition
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 220 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0224018515
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0224018517
  • Item weight ‏ : ‎ 454 g
  • Customer reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 682 ratings

About the author

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Russell Hoban

Russell Hoban

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Russell Hoban was the author of A Bargain for Frances, A Baby Sister for Frances, Best Friends for Frances, A Birthday for Frances, and Bread and Jam for Frances, all illustrated by Lillian Hoban. He also wrote Bedtime for Frances, illustrated by Garth Williams.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
682 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find this book to be a seminal work of great brilliance, with one review highlighting its engrossing depiction of a post-apocalyptic world. Moreover, the book receives positive feedback for its originality. However, the language receives mixed reactions, with some finding it well-written while others describe it as confusing.

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ReadabilityPacingOriginalityLanguage
35 customers mention ‘Readability’35 positive0 negative

Customers find the book highly readable, describing it as a seminal work of great brilliance and an interesting read.

"This is one of the great fantasy novels of all time. I have loved and admired it for many years...." Read more

"Amazing book giving an alternative view of life, when all the things we know and rely on are not there...." Read more

"...A good read; it seems repetitious sometimes and the pace gets bogged down in the middle, but it's something completely different and thoroughly..." Read more

"...It flows so well and is really engaging. It encourages the imagination and points towards a new civilation that is built from our folly...." Read more

22 customers mention ‘Pacing’17 positive5 negative

Customers appreciate the pacing of the book, finding it thought-provoking and elucidating, with one customer describing it as an imaginative vision of a post-apocalyptic world that is engrossing.

"Amazing book giving an alternative view of life, when all the things we know and rely on are not there...." Read more

"...It flows so well and is really engaging. It encourages the imagination and points towards a new civilation that is built from our folly...." Read more

"...It's a great commentary on society, the nature of man, religion and government, and its a powerful tale all of its own...." Read more

"...The authors playful love of words and his imaginative vision of a post-apocalyptic world are engrossing, the story is well told and the language not..." Read more

5 customers mention ‘Originality’5 positive0 negative

Customers praise the book's originality, with one describing it as a masterpiece of imagination.

"Where do I start. A master piece, a work of the highest order. It flows so well and is really engaging...." Read more

"So original and unique in terms of its vision and voice...." Read more

"...introduction adds tremendously to the value of this most original classic." Read more

"What an incredible incredible novel Unique and well written but a hard,slow read." Read more

27 customers mention ‘Language’11 positive16 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the language of the book, with some finding it well written while others describe it as confusing and written entirely in a degenerate pidgin English.

"...Difficult to get into but stick with it and the going gets easier...." Read more

"...of SF fans might find a great deal to enjoy here, deciphering the double-entendre wordplay, identifying the locations and interpreting the semiotics..." Read more

"...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'...." Read more

"...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..." Read more

Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • Frodo's Friend
    5.0 out of 5 stars HAPPY ZANTING
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 April 2015
    Verified Purchase
    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!
    9 people found this helpful
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  • Robin Stafford Allen
    5.0 out of 5 stars A very different read!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 April 2016
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    Amazing book giving an alternative view of life, when all the things we know and rely on are not there. Difficult to get into but stick with it and the going gets easier. The fact that it takes place in Kent is somewhat irrelevant but fun if you have a connection with Kent.
    One person found this helpful
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  • J Behan
    4.0 out of 5 stars As an "SF Masterwork"
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 April 2013
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    On its face, this may not be a SF masterwork that would appeal to all SF readers, indeed, some might not consider if SF, since its themes are mystical and border on that which is usually recognised (or dismissed) as fantasy. Also, the whole book is written in an bespoke dialect that takes some concentration to decipher in places, and this may be distracting for some. Worse still for the space-faces, this is a self-consciously literary novel about the power of names, numbers, storytelling and myth, and there aren't any tidy conclusions or satisfying answers to be had.

    ...OR, the hardest of SF fans might find a great deal to enjoy here, deciphering the double-entendre wordplay, identifying the locations and interpreting the semiotics of this post-apocalyptic world (we *do* love a puzzle). This book had me running to Wikipedia several times to learn about saints, architecture, Punch-and-Judy...

    The story? A great deal is written elsewhere, so I'll keep it brief; the fatefully-named Riddley Walker belongs to a hunter-gatherer society and at 12 years old, is becoming a man. His countrymen are insular and superstitious, and their society is run by the cult of "Eusa", presumably an amalgam of "USA" and "St. Eustace". Through a bizarre travelling puppet show, its ministers tell how "Eusa" became seduced by "clevverness" into unleashing the "1-big-1", causing the nuclear war that has thrown the world back to savagery. Riddley finds himself on the wrong side of this superstition, and on the run. His journeys then lead him to confront some of the truths about his world, even though he is doomed never to see them for what they truly are.

    Full disclosure here; I was destined to enjoy "Riddley...", because it is set where I grew up (somewhere between "How Fents" and "Burnt A**e" on the map). As a kid, I imagined those downs, fields and woods as everything from a medieval kingdom, to the sort of bleak future described here, and this book was alive for me with a tapestry of mental pictures that not every reader has access to. But do not be discouraged if you don't know a Sandwich from a Devil's Kneading Trough; there are some great webpage companions if you want to interpret the names of the locations and all you *really* need to know is that it's set in small region of the UK, sometime in the far future.

    A good read; it seems repetitious sometimes and the pace gets bogged down in the middle, but it's something completely different and thoroughly recommended to the SF fan looking to broaden their literary horizons a bit.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • dehaigh
    5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 April 2012
    Verified Purchase
    Where do I start. A master piece, a work of the highest order. It flows so well and is really engaging. It encourages the imagination and points towards a new civilation that is built from our folly. Some aspects of the novel require further thought but what is reaped by doing this is so rewarding. Thank you Russell suppose I better check some of your other titles.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • A buyer
    3.0 out of 5 stars I'd give 3 and 1/2 if I could
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 July 2013
    Verified Purchase
    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.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • F
    3.0 out of 5 stars Meh
    Reviewed in Italy on 13 October 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Interesting premises and technique, but the plot gets ridiculous after a few chapters
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  • MMM
    5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant and important book
    Reviewed in Canada on 17 April 2022
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    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.
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  • alaska
    5.0 out of 5 stars Arga Warga Yoop yaroo!
    Reviewed in the United States on 1 December 2015
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    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.
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  • Michelle Morgan
    3.0 out of 5 stars Unique but the story gets lost.
    Reviewed in Australia on 5 September 2021
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    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.
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  • O. Chy
    5.0 out of 5 stars die einzige Macht ist keine Macht
    Reviewed in Germany on 25 June 2007
    Verified Purchase
    Ein Buch dass zum Nachdenken zwingt. Selbst wenn man englischversiert ist, fällt einem das Lesen und vor allem das Verstehen am Anfang sehr schwer. Das ist auch die Absicht, denn dadurch wird die eigene Rate des Verstehens auf die der Hauptfigur heruntergesetzt.

    Wenn man einmal den Kniff heraus hat, die Wörter dieses Englischen einer primitiven Zukunft zu lesen, offenbart sich das Buch als eines der durchdachtesten, intelligentesten Reflexionen über den Menschen und seiner Natur, bei dem die Spannung der Abenteuer auch nicht zu kurz kommt. Mir kamen Vergleiche zu dem "Herr der Fliegen" und vor allem zu "Lobgesang auf Leibowitz" auf.

    Riddley Walker schreibt im Jahre 2347 O.C.(our count) über die Geschehnisse in einem "Inland" dass sich langsam aus der Dunkelheit des "Bad Time" erhebt. Umgeben von den Überresten der "Alten", ihren rostigen Maschinen und verbrannten Ruinen wird den Menschen immer wieder vor Augen geführt wie sehr sie sich von Ihrer ehemaligen Größe entfernt haben, als es noch "Boote in der Luft und Bilder im Wind gab". Jegliche Technologie in Riddleys Welt ist der der frühen Eisenzeit ähnlich, Rohstoffe wie Eisen werden aus den Müllkippen der Alten gezogen oder in mühevoller Handarbeit hergestellt.

    Kirche und Staat haben sich in eine Regierung vermischt, dessen Gesetze und Mythologie auf teilweise vagen oder missverstandenen Geschichten aus dem "Bad Time" basieren und sie, da fast keiner Lesen oder schreiben kann, in Form von Puppenspiele aufführt und bekannt gibt.

    Das Buch fängt an als Riddley Walker auf die Versuche der Regierung stößt, eine Waffe der alten Welt wiederzuerwecken.
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