Readin

Riddley Walker - Russell Hoban (1980)

p.a. and Rob were quite right to mention Riddley Walker in the comments to my thing about The Wake. Riddley Walker is, almost certainly, an inspiration for The Wake. They're both set in very small parts of post-apocalyptic England (post-nuclear war for the former, post Norman Invasion for the latter), and most importantly, they're both written in an imagined version of English. Maybe that doesn't sound like much. But in each book, the language used by the characters is a character itself. In each, but in Walker especially, the language tells us almost as much about the world the characters live in as the characters themselves do. It's a much degraded version of modern English, where phrases and words that are familiar to us have been chopped and twisted and re-interpreted to connect with the mythology and politics of their time. To us, because we know their 'original' meanings and can piece together what they mean to the characters in the story, it looks like they're speaking in puns, or something like Cockney rhyming slang, with double or triple meanings twisted up across centuries; to them it's just their language.

Their religion is centered on the story of a man named "Eusa" who, according to myth, is the person who learned who to split the atom and make nuclear bombs with his "clevverness", but who was tricked by the Devil (known there as "Mr Clevver") into blowing up the world. Because of this, clevverness, knowledge-seeking, even interpreting events for anything beyond superficial meaning is seen as something to be wary of, something that should be done only be a select few. And so, it's a dark age. People don't question much, and are a bit afraid of those who do. Science doesn't exist. There's a bit of alchemy and a lot of animism and general superstition. The story takes place around the partially-preserved ruins of Canterbury cathedral, and so their mythology is full of misinterpretations of Christian symbolism - the atom who is split is "Addom" obvs Adam, aka the "little shyning man" (from a picture of Jesus). Eusa's background story comes from a painting of St Eustace in the cathedral and from a scrap from a book that was found there; not knowing anything about Christianity, they make up their own stories about St Eustace and eventually turn him into a nuclear scientist and computer programmer and any other role they need him to fill. Everybody knows the Eusa stories, which are Gospel, and citing them by verse number is adequate.

Here are the first five verses of the Eusa story, in which Mr Clevver tells Eusa that he needs to figure out how to build the "1 Big 1" (nuclear weapons) to have a war to end all wars. So, Eusa learns particle physics, builds particle accelerators, learns about radioactivity in rocks, etc..

The Eusa Story
1. Wen Mr Clevver wuz Big Man uv Inland thay had evere thing clevver. Thay had boats in the ayr & picters on the win & evere thing lyk that. Eusa wuz a noing man vere qwik he cud tern his han tu enne thing. He wuz werkin for Mr Clevver wen thayr cum enemes aul roun & maykin Warr. Eusa sed tu Mr Clevver, Now wewl nead masheans uv Warr. Wewl nead boats that go on the water & boats that go in the ayr as wel & wewl nead Berstin Fyr.

2. Mr Clevver sed tu Eusa, Thayr ar tu menne agenst us this tym we mus du betteren that. We keap fytin aul thees Warrs wy doan we jus du 1 Big 1. Eusa sed, Wayr du I fyn that No.? Wayr du I fyn that 1 Big 1? Mr Clevver sed, Yu mus fyn the Littl Shynin Man the Addom he runs in the wud.

3. Eusa sed, Thayr int aul that much wud roun hear its mosly iyrn its mosly stoan. Mr Clevver sed, Yu mus fyn the wud in the hart uv the stoan & yu wil fyn it by the dansing in the stoan & thay partickler traks.

4. Eusa wuz a noing man he noet how tu bigger the smaul & he noet how tu smauler the big. He noet the doar uv the stoan & thay partickler traks. He smaulert his self down tu it he gon in tu particklers uv it. He tuk 2 grayt dogs with him thear nayms wer Folleree & Folleroo. Eusa ternt them luce he put them tu the stoan & castin for partickler traks & tu the dansing.

5. Foun the syn uv dansing on partickler traks thay dogs & follert harkin 1 tu the uther hot & clikkin & countin thay gygers & thay menne cools uv stoan. Smauler & smauler thay groan with Eusa in tu the hart uv the stoan hart uv the dans. Evere thing blippin & bleapin & movin in the shiftin uv thay Nos. Sum tyms bytin sum tyms bit.

Numbers are never spelled out and seem to have mystical power. Even referring to them is important - see "No." verses 2 & 5.

"Sum tyms bytin sum tyms bit." The people don't actually know what bits and bytes are, but the words have been passed down in that bit of scripture and reinterpreted as special forms of "bite". Likewise, the jargon of nuclear physics has remained in the language and become part of the Eusa myths, but it's all been reinterpreted into meanings that make sense to people who don't even know what an atom is. "countin thay gygers." What's a gyger? They never say, but clearly they must be important if you need to count them (with, say, a "Geiger counter").

The story follows the main character, a rather clevver curious boy of 12, as he becomes, officially, a man and goes on a road trip through the region, walking of course, trying to figure out the world and its riddles, and trying to learn what he's going to do with his life. He meets people, has adventures, learns about things, etc.. The story is fine. But to me, the language, the myths and the settings - the world-building - are the most interesting parts of the book. I just love a good fleshed-out world.

Highly recommended. Though, it's not an easy read.

I got mine on Kindle. But you can read it for free, here.

3 thoughts on “Readin

  1. p.a.

    Since my religious education stopped as soon as I cashed my confirmation checks, I didn’t know St. Eustace from Adam. I (mis)interpreted Eusa as an Inland misinterpretation of USA; the bomb inventor.

    1. cleek Post author

      yeah, me too. i assumed Eusa was “USA” mixed in with ideas from the St Eustace materials they see in the cathedral. that makes perfect sense in the story, IMO. but the author denies this and says it’s all about St Eustace. i don’t quite believe him.

      maybe he’s trying to avoid political controversy?

  2. p.a.

    ‘Back in the day’ possibly. Now, a post-apocalypse novel implying some blame on the US takes a backseat to The War on Christmas, The Oppression of Christians, and The Horror of Almost Universal Health Care. Oh yeah, Benghaaaazzzziiii.

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