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Fiction

Riding to hell on Tim’s back

by Nigel Krauth
September 1994, no. 164

The Riders by Tim Winton

Macmillan, $35 hb

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Okay I’ve just finished reading Tim Winton’s The Riders. I’ve scribbled notes on pages all the way through, but I don’t want to go back and consult them. Who wants to return to hell?

The Riders is a novel to read legless, brainless, and heartless. I recommend litres of Irish whisky, ouzo, cheap French wine, Dutch beer, or anything that stops you from feeling. The Riders is your wildest nightmare, the worst part of you, the world you wish you’d never constructed within you – provided, of course, that you are male.

 


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The Riders by Tim Winton

Macmillan, $35 hb

ABR receives a commission on items purchased through this link. All ABR reviews are fully independent.


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Comments

Patrick Hockey
Monday, 26 August 2024 09:24
I read this contemporaneous review with some relief. Seen through the lens of this review it makes sense as a commentary. Read as a mere thriller it is bizarre. The many chapters of the Tough Guys Book Club is reading this for August 2024 and will come together around the world to discuss it on the 1st Wednesday of September. It will be so interesting to see where the discussion goes some thirty years later.

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