Book Review
Jun. 6th, 2007 08:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariThe Riders
by Tim Winton
While reading this book was a good experience, I'm not sure what I think of it overall. It's the story of Scully, an affable blue-collar bloke who starts a new life in rural Ireland. When he goes to meet the plane bringing his wife and seven year old daughter, only the daughter emerges. Scully's wife has vanished, without warning or explanation and his daughter is unable to speak about it. He takes his daughter on a haphazard trip through Europe to the places he had last been with his wife, searching for answers as to what happened to her and why. Scully finds no answers, only emotional dissolution. The book never provides answers or explanations for the disappearance, only speculation and fleeting enigmatic hints. Winton is telling the story not of a mystery unravelled, but of its effect on Scully and Billie. It's a very challenging book, and I'm not sure I entirely grasp its points.
One cool thing about the book, though. Scully's journey in search of his wife is framed by the appearance of a mysterious and perhaps otherworldy band of men on horseback bearing torches and dressed archaicly. They show up in the little valley behind Scully's Irish cottage, waiting expectantly below the nearby castle ruins. It's obvious to me that they are a reference to the Wild Hunt of Celtic legend (and a very well done reference, too). There are fifty user reviews for this book on Amazon, and while many of them talk about the riders, not one makes the connection with the Wild Hunt. I didn't think it was that obscure a thing.
by Tim Winton
While reading this book was a good experience, I'm not sure what I think of it overall. It's the story of Scully, an affable blue-collar bloke who starts a new life in rural Ireland. When he goes to meet the plane bringing his wife and seven year old daughter, only the daughter emerges. Scully's wife has vanished, without warning or explanation and his daughter is unable to speak about it. He takes his daughter on a haphazard trip through Europe to the places he had last been with his wife, searching for answers as to what happened to her and why. Scully finds no answers, only emotional dissolution. The book never provides answers or explanations for the disappearance, only speculation and fleeting enigmatic hints. Winton is telling the story not of a mystery unravelled, but of its effect on Scully and Billie. It's a very challenging book, and I'm not sure I entirely grasp its points.
One cool thing about the book, though. Scully's journey in search of his wife is framed by the appearance of a mysterious and perhaps otherworldy band of men on horseback bearing torches and dressed archaicly. They show up in the little valley behind Scully's Irish cottage, waiting expectantly below the nearby castle ruins. It's obvious to me that they are a reference to the Wild Hunt of Celtic legend (and a very well done reference, too). There are fifty user reviews for this book on Amazon, and while many of them talk about the riders, not one makes the connection with the Wild Hunt. I didn't think it was that obscure a thing.
