Riddley Walker
by Russell Hoban · first published 1980
73% recommend20% neutral7% critical
Why HN recommends it
Post-apocalyptic novel set in a devolved England, where folk myth echoes lost nuclear-age knowledge. Readers praise its haunting, poetic tone and invented language, ideal for those who enjoy slow, close reading.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Engrossing post apocalyptic book that told entirely in a vividly degenerated post-English that the reader is left to decipher as they find their way through the novel.
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Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban is not unknown but not hugely popular. Post apocalyptic novel written in a made up language (think Clockwork Orange). Poetic and deeply moving account of a boy's journey through a world…
on “Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?” ↗Top three: Mockingbird, by Walter Tevis; Riddley Walker, by Russell Hoban; Glimpses of the Moon, by Edith Wharton Some other favorites: The Dog Stars, by Peter Heller; To Reign In Hell, by Steven Brust; Machine Man, by Max Barry; The Dawn Patrol, by Don Winslow; The…
on “Ask HN: What is the best fiction book you've ever read? ” ↗…Noise, by Don Delillo. It's a great story in general and reading it helped me acknowledge my fear of death and how it affected me. Edit: oh, and since I don't think anyone else has mentioned them yet ... Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban, and Grendel by John Gardner. Their impact on me was less specific so harder to explain, but they're great books that get mentioned on HN now and then. Another one that kind of blew my…
on “Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?” ↗…any measure, Dau is a classic, Downbelow Station and most of the rest of Cherryh's catalog, Horatio Hornblower, The Book of the New Sun, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, A Canticle for Leibowitz, Hyperion, Riddley Walker, Blindsight... I could keep going all night. Listing these off, I realize that I forgot Dostoevsky in my list. Paulo Coelho should probably be there too.
on “Ask HN: I don't read fiction, how much am I missing out on?” ↗A very broad and versatile writer, Kleinzeit is nth level absurdist, Riddley Walker is a superb post apocalytic novel, The Mouse and His Child is a simple yet deep childrens book about windup toys on the hunt for secret of becoming self winding, and that's just a few off the top of my…
on “Worst Opening Sentences of 2022” ↗One of my favourite books, the haunting and poetic dystopian Riddley Walker has a particularly interesting relationship with its real-life Kent locations, as the (American) author Russell Hoban played in his beautiful language twisting with their names: Bollock Stoans - Bullockstone…
on “The Real-World Locations of 14 Sci-Fi Dystopias (2014)” ↗You might enjoy Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban, which is a post apocalyptic novel set in Kent. It's doesn't fit the definition of Ergodic but it's a cracking read anyway.
on “Ergodic Literature” ↗If one gets into the books that invent their own dialect, the most dense I found was "Riddley Walker" by Hoban Russel. As a non native English reader it was very difficult to make progress, but once the understanding settles in, it's a pretty nice story. Also of note is Anathem, even though Stephenson's…
on “Books I Loved Reading in 2024” ↗…that's literally about literary metaphors. As a native english reader, writer and speaker of some six decades I grasp the tension in the use of ' literally "airquoted" ' and embrace it. I also enjoy Riddley Walker, the first edition of Clockwork Orange (sans lexicographic annexure), and the outrageously provocative shock value of the opening sentence of Burgess's panoramic saga Earthly Powers. Your opinion is…
on “Lawrence of Arabia, Paul Atreides, and the roots of Frank Herbert's Dune (2021)” ↗…come back to and re-read. I guess the books which impact you the most aren't the ones you'd expect. Here are some that come to mind: *Novels in Three Lines* - Felix Feneon; like clever sarcastic haiku *Riddley Walker* - Russell Hoban; It's written in an imagined language making it completely and utterly immersive *Waiting for Nothing* - Tom Kromer; Great depression era destitution, and travel *Days of Life and Death…
on “Ask HN: What books have been worth your time?” ↗…Dick - VALIS (1981) Richard Brautigan - In Watermelon Sugar (1968). Robert Heinlein - Friday (1982). Robert Silverberg - Dying Inside (1972) Roger Zelazny - Lord of Light (1967) Russell Hoban - Riddley Walker (1980) Samuel R. Delany - Babel-17 (1966). Samuel R. Delany - Dhalgren (1975) Samuel R. Delany - Nova (1968) Samuel R. Delany - The Einstein Intersection (1967) Samuel R. Delany - Trouble on…
on “New Wave Sci-Fi: 75 Best Novels of 1964–1983” ↗Riddley Walker is a stunningly good novel. I've read it twice and I'd read it again. Many years ago there was a dramatisation of it at the Edinburgh Festival, very powerful. One bit that sticks in my memory is when…
on “Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?” ↗Check out "Riddley Walker." It takes place in a devolved post-apocalyptic England where the folk mythology is an echo of everything lost from the information and nuclear ages, and it's utterly haunting. (I'd recommend it to anyone…
on “Sci-Fi Novels You Should Read” ↗* Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban * Et Tu Babe by Mark Leyner * The Road to Reality by Roger Penrose * Visual Complex Analysis by Tristan Needham
on “Ask HN: What are you reading right now?” ↗Riddley Walker was probably also a big influence on Iain M. Banks' Feersum Endjinn [1]. Most of the chapters are narrated by Bascule, a simple-minded (but certainly not stupid) young man who writes phonetically:…
on “Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?” ↗