Riddley Walker | Techniques

Riddley Walker Techniques

Riddley Walker is a remarkable literary achievement which took more than five years to write. Hoban has commented that he had to revise the first page of the novel at least fourteen times. The brilliance of Riddley Walker's creation rests on the combination of three narrative techniques.

Foremost among the novel's techniques is Hoban's experimentation with language. Riddley, one of the few literate men of his age, spells phonetically.

Embedded in the very language he uses, however, are remnants of the culture that Goodparley is trying to resurrect. For example, computer technology has contributed words (printout, data, and the like) that Riddley uses to describe processes of thought, and Hoban frequently puns on many levels when he combines phonetic spelling, rhyming slang, and forgotten technological terminology into statements which invite the reader to go beyond Riddley's awareness of what has occurred. Although Riddley does not fully...
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