Riddley Walker

Riddley Walker - Russell Walker

This is a ghost story, and we the readers are the ghosts.

When I heard that Russell Hoban has died, I felt that I had to do something to mark his passing. My nom de plume on readers site Shelfari is Riddley, a name lifted from this book. It is probably the book that has left the greatest impression on me over a lifetime of reading, and rereading it feels like going home.

So we are ghosts, and now Russell is a ghost. But why is this book so special?

The Road

Original Post - Saturday, June 19, 2010

I finally read Cormac McCarthy's The Road which has been sitting on my shelves for a couple of years (along with lots of good company as I find it a lot easier to find books to buy than find time to read them)

I did my best to avoid reviews for both book and film but was aware of the very positive reaction to it and the many people who considered it a 'masterpiece'. This is not always a good place to begin with a book as it can only meet expectations or dissappoint.

It was also in a genre which has provided some of my favourite novels/films (Riddley Walker; A Canticle for Liebovitz; Planet of the Apes; Mad Max)