Riddley Walker by Hoban, Anthony - 1982

Picador Pan, 1982. review >>>> Not being your average dystopian tale, this book is about community and tells us the importance of myth not just in terms of explaining the past, but the potential present and future also. Riddley Walker forces you to slow down by being written in a form of English conceived of as being a future version, one developed and changed through years of oral history tradition. After thousands of years of human development following a catastrophic nuclear war which has effectively sent the race back in time, this development has progressed from the darkest days of nuclear darkness, a time of foraging, through to hunter gatherers. Now the history of this race is mangled, handed down through oral histories which flex according to the morality of the time. 214pp of writing-imagination par excellence! Less than 500g to post.. Paperback. Very Good/None issued. 20cm.