Aggravatingly pretentious confession imminent: I got to the point in my German studies where I could tackle German literature in the original language. Trying to navigate that foreign language was an INTENSELY similar experience to navigating the language of Riddley Walker, wherein I had to pretty quickly give myself…

I think some of us have already made this point, so I may be redundant in positing this idea: While Riddley is involved, however unwillingly, in the rediscovery of gunpowder, a crucial step in Inland's return to the 1 Big 1 and the destructive technology that cast them back into the Dark Ages, Riddley consciously…

I'm going to piggyback on MikeStrange's insightful remark about the hunter-gatherer/agriculture ramifications of the Cain and Abel legend. Cain is the farmer, the steward of agriculture, though since Abel is a shepherd, his animal husbandry can be read as another manifestation of agriculture.

Brilliant work, WR, as always. I loved your point about tradition at once defining cultural practices but yet also inhibiting that culture's historical understanding. I thought the scene of Goodparley reading Riddley the St. Eustace legend and misinterpreting it line for line into the Eusa legend brilliant illustrated…

Wouldn't Riddley being allowed to perform the Punch show at all count as a sort of moral victory, though? At the very least, he's introducing "new" cultural concepts and ideas to his people, which, even if their initial reaction to it is hostile, must count as some sort of developmental milestone.

Ah, that one never occurred to me. I have the special Oxford University Press edition with the afterword and author's notes, one of which discussed how Russell Hoban deliberately used phrases and words that would carry multiple connotations. I can fully believe that the homophonic relationship between "Eusa" and "USA"…

Thanks, MS!

Death is a part of life. Your fish will die, your dad will die, you will die. The barbarians will inevitably storm the gates, your favorite band will someday break up, the sun will finally consume the Earth in the midst of its inescapable death throes.

You know, in reading this and the previous thread, Mike, where you talked about the 1 Little 1 leading into the 1 Big 1, "how patterns are established and inevitably followed to their extreme conclusions", I've been thinking of the cyclical nature of the changes portrayed/initiated in Riddley Walker. As you guys…

Oooh! "Flood Tablet"! I like that designation very much, Goodparley. It's highly appropriate, considering the in the book, the accompanying legend of the St. Eustace painting carries similarly towering importance for the book's characters in terms of how they come to grips with and interpret their ancestors' vanished…

So, from all this parental angst, am I to conjecture that when the 1 Big 1 drops, and the End Times approach, we young, swinging and unattached singles will be at a distinct advantage?

Yeah, I think Keith was right on when discussing "the stories at the core-the stories that humanity needs to tell and retell". One of the many, many themes running through this book is the power and necessity of myth/dramatic representation, that the need for story and narrative is an essential component of our…

@Mike: Ah, thanks dude! You, swibble, Rowan, in fact all of the WUiB regulars are so consistently challenging and insightful in your comments; it's a deep pleasure for me to read and process everyone's insights. Now let's get cracking…

You said it, gphatty: "dense" IS the right word for this book. It's a lot to process, a lot to discuss. I don't think I've ever read a book before that conveyed so much through what it purposefully COULD NOT convey. The self-imposed limitations inherent in Riddleyspeak were so key to this book's power and success.

She and Clooney are two of the only stars I can think of who'd fit in perfectly in 1940s Hollywood, especially since they essentially play themselves in every goddamn movie.

Judging by how much junk Angelina Jolie must do, I'd say she'll be damn lucky to look like a stained pillor that's gone through the wash in twenty years.

I think that if you're a mainstream Hollywood actress who can survive on the A-List past the age of 40, you are automatically deemed a "good" actress regardless of the actual quality of your work.

I think that's coming up for the running shoe commercial, PJ. After all, Elin did run down a MOVING CAR.

Geez, John Edwards, Tiger Woods, Jesse James, Tiki Barber, it's like pop culture has reached this Celebrity Pussy Hound Overload. It's not like this is a new phenomenon, but my god, the sheer density of it all!

Well, is it going to be a blind poll? Or will there simply be a comment page set up where we all post our votes and the reasons behind them? Perhaps keeping the poll open and public would prevent it from degenerating into a Neal Stephenson orgy.