The Riders - Tim Winton

The Riders by Tim Winton is potentially the shittest novel i have ever read. If anyone sees Mr Winton in the near future let him know that i will be suing him for the 5 hours he stole from me whilst i was reading his shit book.

I wasted a whole day of my life reading this useless piece of garbage, personally i find seal clubbing far more appealing than reading this useless piece of garbage. thanks for nothing.

No one made any of you read it. But in the unlikely circumstance that they did, you should be suing them instead of Tim Winton. I personally enjoyed it because of the many layers and different translations that people have gotten out of it. It is very reminiscent of the cult film Donny Darko in that way where everyone can have their own interpretation of the story and everyone can get something different out of it.

I found the novel mesmerising and engrossing.
You can't just read it, you have look further into its meaning and then suddenly you realise the wealth of knowledge Winton hands to you and the delicate, beautifully worded chapters, showing the lonely and wanting.
I'd recommend it as long as your willing to put in the effort to understand it and enjoy it.

Anyone enlighten me about the horsemen in the Riders. Sorry for being thick.

It is quite rare to find a book as thoroughly dreadful as The Riders. I wasted a day of my holiday reading this piece of 'shit lit'. The narrative is at about the level one can expect to be produced by a badly educated child with a drug addiction. Why why why...? In one sense, the book is a real page turner, because I couldn't wait to finish it and read something good. I have attempted to look further into the meaning of this story and arrived at the conclusion that there isn't one, it's basically the meaningless rantings of someone who has happened to spend a bit of time travelling around Europe and for some reason wanted to inflict his experience on people in the form of a novel. There should be laws against that kind of thing.

Clearly those that didn't like the book have never read any of Tim Winton's books before.

Maybe you are more comfortable with trashy crime novels than the beautiful writing of Tim Winton.

I've only just started reading the book, my first Winton novel in 6 years, and can't wait to get further into it!

Here's to a truly brilliant author!

Hi Audrey
I agree - Tim Winton is a brilliant author. However I didn't like The Riders but it's the only one of Tim Winton's novels that I haven't loved. It's the only one I've read not set in Western Australia, and I've always seen it as a bit of an experiment on the author's part; one which for whatever reason he's not repeated.
Mary

'The Riders' was a set part of the curriculum for year 11 advanced English. I read it and disliked it. The plot seemed non-existent, the characters vulgar and 'women are self absorbed' seemed to be the thematic throughout. As the story continues it seems that Scully becomes more disconnected from Billie, as though blaming her for the absence of his wife and as a result she is mauled by a dog and goes on to receive no proper medical care. Weather I am ignorant and have failed to read deep enough into the novel, I am unsure. Although I am sure of my feelings toward the novel-it was horrible.