Monday Maps and Diagrams 12/17/18
A map from one of the better known dystopias by one of my favorite authors… Russell Hoban’s Riddley Walker (1980). I have not read it, yet. I know, I know, I should. I have opened its pages and savored a passage or two–“Eusa sed, This is a dream. He opent up his iys but that ben open aul redde (34).”
The Map:
Citation: Map from the 1998 Indiana University Press Expanded edition of Russell Hoban’s Riddley Walker (1980). [click to enlarge]
Series blurb: In my informal Monday Maps and Diagrams series, I showcase scans of SF maps and diagrams from my personal collection. As a kid I was primarily a fantasy reader and I judged books on the quality of their maps. When my reading interests shifted to science fiction, for years I still excitedly peaked at the first few pages… there could be a map!
Related Links:
Monday Maps and Diagrams 2/22/21: Cordwainer Smith’s Instrumentality of Mankind Timeline
Monday Maps and Diagrams 7/25/19: Greg Bear’s Hegira (1979)
Monday Maps and Diagrams 2/18/19: David Brin’s Sundiver (1980)
Monday Maps and Diagrams 1/21/19: Larry Niven’s The Integral Trees (1984)
Monday Maps and Diagrams 1/14/19: Alan Dean Foster’s Voyage to the City of the Dead (1984)
Monday Maps and Diagrams 12/24/18: C. J. Cherryh’s Forty Thousand in Gehenna (1983)
Monday Maps and Diagrams 12/17/18: Russell Hoban’s Riddley Walker (1980)
Monday Maps and Diagrams 12/10/18: Suzy McKee Charnas’ Walk to the End of the World (1974)
Monday Maps and Diagrams 11/26/18: Mark S. Geston’s The Lords of the Starship (1967)
Monday Maps and Diagrams 12/3/18: Jack Vance’s Trullion: Alastor 2262 (1973)
For a more detailed article on the visual and graphic elements of SF consult Charts, Diagrams, and Tables in Science Fiction.
For book reviews consult the INDEX
For cover art posts consult the INDEX
For additional articles consult the INDEX
Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations 
Hi Joachim
Your description of Jack Vance’s Emphyrio, which I have not read, did make me wonder about any similarities to Riddley Walker. I am really looking forward to your comments once you have read it.
All the best
Guy
Have you read Riddley Walker? As a fan of Middle English (I even took courses in grad school), I am incredibly excited to parse the language of the text (I make the comparison as in Middle English you often have to read it out loud to decipher the words — although ME is far harder than what I’ve seen in Hoban’s novel).
Hi Joachim
I read it many years ago, it is on my reread list. I found you could get the rhythm? is that the right word, after a while. I will try it again over Christmas. I did take a number of English courses as well and occasionally try to struggle through parts of the Canterbury Tales with Modern English on one page and Middle English on the facing page when I feel particularly masochistic. I don’t make much progress but I like that connection with the past now and then.
Happy Reading
Guy
Yeah, it’s a testament to Hoban’s literary prowess that he can make a book with the English language modified to such an extent yet still remains readable and gorgeous….
(Of course, my Hoban’s one of my favorite authors comment relates to my love of his novel The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz)