Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.PCS 1/10/84; site hocsj.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxj!houxm!hogpc!pegasus!hocsj!ecl From: ecl@hocsj.UUCP Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers Subject: re: Re: Looking for a SF book (Russell Hoban) Message-ID: <130@hocsj.UUCP> Date: Fri, 21-Sep-84 08:38:54 EDT Article-I.D.: hocsj.130 Posted: Fri Sep 21 08:38:54 1984 Date-Received: Tue, 25-Sep-84 20:46:51 EDT Organization: AT&T Information Systems Labs, Holmdel NJ Lines: 36 > This sounds like "Riddley Walker". I forget the author's name. > He doesn't normally write science fiction. In fact, his next > book was about a jewish eunuch who gets caught up in one of > the crusades. (Perhaps his name is Hoban? or something like it) The author of RIDDLEY WALKER is indeed Russell Hoban; his latest (refered to above) is PILGERMANN, in which the main character is castrated at the beginning of the book by a Christian mob in Germany during one of the Crusades. It is *very* good. A couple of samples: ...the fundamental flaw in God is that He will say that He requires the sacrifice of Isaac/Isma'il; the fundamental flaw in man is that he takes his knife in hand to do God's bidding. and Time after time had violent men sharpened the cross into a sword and made their silken vestments into banners; time after time had they spat out the wafer and the wine and shouted for real blood and real bodies. Hoban started out writing children's books (THE MOUSE AND HIS CHILD, among others) but has recently switched to adult fiction, generally with some sort of fantastic (in the sense of fantasy/SF) theme. His first along these lines was THE LION OF BOAZ-JACHIN AND JACHIN-BOAZ--not a great novel, but interesting. He has also written KLEINZEIT and THE TURTLE DIARY, which I haven't read yet (they're on my shelf). I would recommend starting with PILGERMANN. RIDDLEY WALKER is written in first-person dialect which some may find off-putting, but if you're up to it, go for it. Evelyn C. Leeper ...ihnp4!hocsj!ecl