Geomythology/Green Language in Russell Hoban's "Riddley Walker"

[Approaching Infinity]

I read this book a few years ago, and am currently reading the same author's "Pilgermann." Riddley Walker is set in a post-nuclear war Britain and written in the first person. Let me just say the language is "green." Read some of the reviews at amazon (http://tinyurl.com/l6kkd). It is full of hilarious and meaningful puns as the characters work on discovering the "ancient science" through their analysis of mythology and cryptic traditions. The book's only 200 pages, but it takes a while to get used to the language.

Pilgermann is just as strange and beautiful. It's about "Pilgermann" an 11th century Jew who is now "waves and particles" (i.e. dead). He recounts his life as a Jew, interspersing the narrative with bits of metaphysics touching on polarity, reincarnation, FRV (not necessarily using those terms). It's funny, graphic, and while it deals a lot with religion (judaism, christianity) the worldview he presents is much broader.

Anyone read this two?

 

[Azur]

Harrison,

Thanks for the reference to these two.

I just finished Riddley Walker, and loved it. The language is definately green, but not complicated. The slang/phonetic device used is important: it slows your mind to actualy read what's there, as opposed to automatically "filling in" what you *think* you are reading. Some of the exchanges are truly subtle, and important in understanding just how deep you can read into something, that you could easily have ended up just skimming over, if you weren't paying attention.

I ended up with the expanded edition, with notes included. These are notes about character development, as he was writing the story. One of the notes, under a section titled "Connexion Man", written on 3 June, 1974 has as it's final paragraph (and it's the final note included in the book, emphasis is author's):

"There's a shame I feel. Draw a picture of that, hey? We live in huts and holes in the ground and our minds are slow. People know there was more but they're ashamed and they say we're just different from the people long ago. The gulls on the beach, I think a long time ago those were flying birds, not just walking ones like now. I'm sure of it although I don't know how I'm sure. They must feel something like the way I do."

Indeed.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull would have a few things to say about that, I'm sure.

You know it's one thing to finally see the reality about you, to accurately see the hole that's being dug around us (the hole metaphorically being a slowing of vibrational frequency), but this realization is only the first step: we must fly! It is imperative, or else we'll just be standing around accurately seeing the hole we're in. And sinking, while we have wings.


Thanks again.

 

[Guest]

Good to see the genius of Riddley Walker is showing no signs of fading. I'd confidently predict that should civilisation meaningfully evolve, this book will become one of the great stories of the age. Re-read it a couple of months back and every bit as rewarding, mysterious, unsettling, etc as remembered. Found Pilgermann to be very good but not quite in the same league. Will re-read pretty soon.
Would like to recommend the contemporary Russian writer Victor Pelevin. Clay Machine Gun a work of genuine genius..........Buddha's Little Finger in America I think. "Insects" also great by him. And "Blue Lantern" and "A Werewolf Problem in Central Russia", 2 collections of short stories contain some great stuff.