Riddley Walker cover art

Riddley Walker

Penguin Modern Classics

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Riddley Walker

By: Russell Hoban
Narrated by: Richard Pearce
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

O what we ben! And what we come to....

Wandering a desolate post-apocalyptic landscape, speaking a broken-down English lost after the end of civilisation, Riddley Walker sets out to find out what brought humanity here. This is his story.

©2021 Russell Hoban (P)2021 Penguin Audio Dystopian Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction

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Critic reviews

"This is what literature is meant to be." (Anthony Burgess)

"Funny, terrible, haunting and unsettling, this book is a masterpiece." (Observer)

"A timeless portrayal of the human condition...frightening and uncanny." (Will Self)

All stars
Most relevant
I love this book, but it isn't the easiest read - I know a few people who have started it, loved it, but flagged part-way.
This audiobook makes the devolved language really accessible.

Great performance of a wonderful book

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What a fantastic narration! It’s like a radio play - so full of feeling and intelligence. It must have taken a lot of thought and preparation. This is my favourite book, I have read it many times, but this narration really does it justice and I know I will listen again.

Bravo Richard Pearce!

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This book is an exciting glimpse into a dystopian world. Ridley himself has to make a terrifying journey that narrates with honesty and humour.

The story telling.

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I have lost count of the years waiting for this to happen. I used to check pretty regularly but I guess I’d given up to the inevitability of this never happening then “bang” it arrives while I’m not even looking.
So happy. Such an excellent book and the narration is all I could have hoped for.

My one caveat is that maybe you should experience reading the book first before listening. The grammar and spelling has a poetry and richness that no one could ever hope to reproduce in an audiobook.

Wonderful

When did this happen? Why wasn’t I told?

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I’ve been reading and rereading this book for 30 odd years. My first thought was, that’s not Riddley. That’s not his voice. But it is. Within a half hour I was convinced; especially after other voices had emerged in the narrative. A wonderful reading by Richard Pearce. And listening to this book, with its broken, almost phonetic dialect allows you to go deep into it. A classic.

Utterly brilliant

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