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The Riders
Fred Scully waits at the arrival gate of an international airport, anxious to see his wife and seven-year-old daughter. After two years in Europe they are finally settling down. He sees a new life before them, a stable outlook, and a cottage in the Irish countryside that he's renovated by hand. He's waited, sweated on this reunion. He does not like to be alone - he's that kind of man. The flight lands, the glass doors hiss open, and Scully's life begins to go down in flames.
377 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
168 people are currently reading
3,381 people want to read
About the author
Tim Winton
77books2,227followersTim Winton was born in Perth, Western Australia, but moved at a young age to the small country town of Albany.
While a student at Curtin University of Technology, Winton wrote his first novel, An Open Swimmer. It went on to win The Australian/Vogel Literary Award in 1981, and launched his writing career. In fact, he wrote "the best part of three books while at university". His second book, Shallows, won the Miles Franklin Award in 1984. It wasn't until Cloudstreet was published in 1991, however, that his career and economic future were cemented.
In 1995 Winton’s novel, The Riders, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, as was his 2002 book, Dirt Music. Both are currently being adapted for film. He has won many other prizes, including the Miles Franklin Award three times: for Shallows (1984), Cloudstreet (1992) and Dirt Music (2002). Cloudstreet is arguably his best-known work, regularly appearing in lists of Australia’s best-loved novels. His latest novel, released in 2013, is called Eyrie.
He is now one of Australia's most esteemed novelists, writing for both adults and children. All his books are still in print and have been published in eighteen different languages. His work has also been successfully adapted for stage, screen and radio. On the publication of his novel, Dirt Music, he collaborated with broadcaster, Lucky Oceans, to produce a compilation CD, Dirt Music � Music for a Novel.
He has lived in Italy, France, Ireland and Greece but currently lives in Western Australia with his wife and three children.
While a student at Curtin University of Technology, Winton wrote his first novel, An Open Swimmer. It went on to win The Australian/Vogel Literary Award in 1981, and launched his writing career. In fact, he wrote "the best part of three books while at university". His second book, Shallows, won the Miles Franklin Award in 1984. It wasn't until Cloudstreet was published in 1991, however, that his career and economic future were cemented.
In 1995 Winton’s novel, The Riders, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, as was his 2002 book, Dirt Music. Both are currently being adapted for film. He has won many other prizes, including the Miles Franklin Award three times: for Shallows (1984), Cloudstreet (1992) and Dirt Music (2002). Cloudstreet is arguably his best-known work, regularly appearing in lists of Australia’s best-loved novels. His latest novel, released in 2013, is called Eyrie.
He is now one of Australia's most esteemed novelists, writing for both adults and children. All his books are still in print and have been published in eighteen different languages. His work has also been successfully adapted for stage, screen and radio. On the publication of his novel, Dirt Music, he collaborated with broadcaster, Lucky Oceans, to produce a compilation CD, Dirt Music � Music for a Novel.
He has lived in Italy, France, Ireland and Greece but currently lives in Western Australia with his wife and three children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 607 reviews
September 11, 2017
At first I wasn't sure how to feel about this book...on one hand, it's got wonderful, fluid prose. On the other hand, the main character (Scully) was frustrating beyond words, especially as the book progressed. The sole reason for this is because the synopsis leads one to believe that the book is going in an entirely different direction with its intentions.
The synopsis isn't exactly misleading per se, but it does give the impression that the novel will move along at either a regular- or fast-paced speed. This is not true. In fact, Scully doesn't go to the airport to pick up his wife and daughter until page 90-91 or so.
The book is essentially about a man's withdrawal from sanity or at least an emotionally healthy state, as he searches nonstop for his missing wife. She's not missing as in "someone took her" but as in "why didn't you come home with our daughter?" kind of way. <--this is not a spoiler, don't worry.
In essence, this novel is not really about Scully's search for his missing wife. It's truly about Scully himself, and how he reacts to situations he puts both himself and his daughter Billie in. The story takes the reader through Scully's journey of madness, and his spiral into the abyss of illogical behavior and a severely emotional reaction to his wife's choice not to come home.
One of the best part of the books is the character development of the 7 year old daughter, Billie. She's a special little girl, and it was almost breathtaking to see how the author let this character bloom into herself naturally, and let the chips fall where they may in regards to her reaction to events she finds herself being involved in.
Very few authors can write children with such razor-sharp intuition, especially when the child character experiences stressful and/or painful events. In real life, these types of things would alter not just how a child behaves, but how they view the world and react to future events. In a sense, we're seeing Billie's evolution in this book; it's of a little girl who deals head-on not just with her father and his behavior, but with her mother as well.
The writing here is stunning, and the journey that the story will take you on is unique, and not just because it involves delving into a broken man's psyche, but in the way it gives the other characters the respect they deserve to be well-developed.
I've noticed that the lower ratings from this book mostly have to do with the reader not being prepared for the type of story they find themselves reading, and that is entirely the fault of the synopsis. I found myself getting frustrated as well, but that was due to my own expectations. Once I accepted the fact that this story is a sprawling coming-into-madness-from-a-broken-heart story, I accepted the story for what it is: an undoubtedly beautiful piece of art.
The synopsis isn't exactly misleading per se, but it does give the impression that the novel will move along at either a regular- or fast-paced speed. This is not true. In fact, Scully doesn't go to the airport to pick up his wife and daughter until page 90-91 or so.
The book is essentially about a man's withdrawal from sanity or at least an emotionally healthy state, as he searches nonstop for his missing wife. She's not missing as in "someone took her" but as in "why didn't you come home with our daughter?" kind of way. <--this is not a spoiler, don't worry.
In essence, this novel is not really about Scully's search for his missing wife. It's truly about Scully himself, and how he reacts to situations he puts both himself and his daughter Billie in. The story takes the reader through Scully's journey of madness, and his spiral into the abyss of illogical behavior and a severely emotional reaction to his wife's choice not to come home.
One of the best part of the books is the character development of the 7 year old daughter, Billie. She's a special little girl, and it was almost breathtaking to see how the author let this character bloom into herself naturally, and let the chips fall where they may in regards to her reaction to events she finds herself being involved in.
Very few authors can write children with such razor-sharp intuition, especially when the child character experiences stressful and/or painful events. In real life, these types of things would alter not just how a child behaves, but how they view the world and react to future events. In a sense, we're seeing Billie's evolution in this book; it's of a little girl who deals head-on not just with her father and his behavior, but with her mother as well.
The writing here is stunning, and the journey that the story will take you on is unique, and not just because it involves delving into a broken man's psyche, but in the way it gives the other characters the respect they deserve to be well-developed.
I've noticed that the lower ratings from this book mostly have to do with the reader not being prepared for the type of story they find themselves reading, and that is entirely the fault of the synopsis. I found myself getting frustrated as well, but that was due to my own expectations. Once I accepted the fact that this story is a sprawling coming-into-madness-from-a-broken-heart story, I accepted the story for what it is: an undoubtedly beautiful piece of art.
August 12, 2016
I first read The Riders in 1996, shortly after its publication. Tim Winton had been shortlisted for the Booker Prize and I was anxious to try a new author. At the time, when I finished the book, I was disappointed in the story, frustrated by the ending and found Schully’s search for his wife tedious. The writing left me cold. I shelved the volume and forgot about Winton.
At least I thought I had forgotten about him. Actually, the story and Winton’s writing stayed not on the shelf but in the back of my mind, playing out at unexpected times. In 2009, with The Riders yet rambling in my mind, I picked up Breath, Winton’s then new publication and became hooked. After completing Breath and then Dirt Music, I decided to re-read The Riders.
My second reading of The Riders some 15 years later opened up an entirely new appreciation of the work both in terms of its language and Fred Scully’s world. One reviewer labeled it as a modern masterpiece and I agree. Winton needs to be read carefully and with reflection. His words move poetically and dynamically across the page, creating images and visions that weave themselves into your soul and mind. And the story after 15 years of quiet reflection and a second reading is clearly more than a journey in search of a disappeared wife. It’s a study of obsessions, personal relationships, the complexities of commitment—rich explorations of the human condition.
Tim Winton has emerged for me as one of my favorite writers.
At least I thought I had forgotten about him. Actually, the story and Winton’s writing stayed not on the shelf but in the back of my mind, playing out at unexpected times. In 2009, with The Riders yet rambling in my mind, I picked up Breath, Winton’s then new publication and became hooked. After completing Breath and then Dirt Music, I decided to re-read The Riders.
My second reading of The Riders some 15 years later opened up an entirely new appreciation of the work both in terms of its language and Fred Scully’s world. One reviewer labeled it as a modern masterpiece and I agree. Winton needs to be read carefully and with reflection. His words move poetically and dynamically across the page, creating images and visions that weave themselves into your soul and mind. And the story after 15 years of quiet reflection and a second reading is clearly more than a journey in search of a disappeared wife. It’s a study of obsessions, personal relationships, the complexities of commitment—rich explorations of the human condition.
Tim Winton has emerged for me as one of my favorite writers.
December 14, 2013
It’s December 1987. Fred Scully � known simply as Scully � is renovating the dilapidated cottage in rural Ireland he and his wife Jennifer have bought on a whim at what was supposed to be the end of two years of living in Europe. Jennifer and their seven-year-old daughter Billie have returned to Australia to sell the family home so that the family can settle permanently in Ireland. Ten days before Christmas, Scully goes to the airport to collect Jennifer and Billie, but Billie arrives alone, too traumatised to tell her father what has happened to Jennifer. Devastated and increasingly out of control, Scully takes Billie with him to Greece, then to Paris and to Amsterdam, desperate to find his wife and to understand what has happened.
In the hands of another novelist, this would have been a thriller involving international intrigue, espionage and abduction. The hero would have performed super-human feats of strength and daring and all would have been tied up in a neat bow of explanation at the end. But Winton’s not that kind of writer. Instead, this is an intelligent and thoughtful character study of a good man coming undone, of a man who loved too much and didn’t really know the object of his love. The ending does not answer all of the questions raised in the narrative, although I still found it very satisfying.
Early in the novel, Scully is abundantly happy. He adores Jennifer and Billie and while the idea of buying the cottage and living in Ireland has been Jennifer’s idea, he’s happy to go along with it. Scully is an unattractive, but intelligent and caring man who worked as a labourer in London, Paris and Greece so that Jennifer could pursue her dream of becoming an artist or writer. Then one cold night, in the ruins of a castle near his cottage, Scully sees a group of strange people and horses. The people are dressed and armed for hunting and they apparently don’t see him. These people are “the Riders� of the title and this is the of European mythology. Seeing the Wild Hunt means that disaster will follow. Knowing something about the myth makes what Winton is getting at easier to understand. It’s also what makes the ending of the work � for me, at least � entirely right.
That Scully (and the reluctant Billie) are drawn into the Wild Hunt is made clear from other references in the text � the sight of “gypsy� boys riding horses bareback seen through the window of a train, the sound of horses� hooves on a street in Amsterdam when Scully is at his most unraveled. Having seen the Wild Hunt in Ireland, Scully is drawn into it and becomes one of the Riders in his mad trek across Europe trying to find Jennifer.
This work is less tied to landscape than much of Winton’s other writing, although his descriptions of Ireland, of the Greek island of Hydra, of Paris and Amsterdam are important parts of the narrative. What stands out for me in Winton’s writing is his sensory imagery: things aren’t just seen, they’re felt, heard, smelt, tasted. There’s a solidity and a corporality in these images that is in sharp juxtaposition to the mystical element of the Wild Hunt. What also stands out is Winton’s exploration of the novel’s themes: love, obsession, what it feels like to be a stranger in strange lands and the fact that people, no matter how much we love them and how well we think we know them, are essentially unknowable. This is a novel which moved me deeply and which has stayed with me since I finished it. Leaving Scully and Billie at the end was a wrench.
I listened to the audiobook edition narrated by actor Stanley McGeagh, who apparently started his career in Ireland. McGeach’s Irish, Greek and French accents were pretty good, although a Dutch accent proved beyond his skill set and Scully’s Australian accent was hit and miss. McGeagh was generally able to reproduce our flattened vowels, but from time to time his dipthongs became a little confused and Scully started sounding South African. It’s a minor issue that wouldn’t be noticed by anyone unfamiliar with the differences between Australian and South African accents. Overall, listening was a pleasure.
July 18, 2009
I hated this book so much that I threw it across the room immediately after reading the last sentence, and then picked it up and shoved it deep into the garbage, covered in filth.
Fred it such an awful, unlikeable loser, I hated him the entire book and secretly wished someone would do him in at every turn. I found the story overly drawn out and the plot was ham-fisted and awful.
There is nothing redeeming about this book and I warn everyone who values the short time they have on this earth to avoid it.
Fred it such an awful, unlikeable loser, I hated him the entire book and secretly wished someone would do him in at every turn. I found the story overly drawn out and the plot was ham-fisted and awful.
There is nothing redeeming about this book and I warn everyone who values the short time they have on this earth to avoid it.
June 7, 2021
The content and title of by the contemporary Australian author refer to and build upon the European folklore tales of the Wild Hunt—see for example Wiki’s article . Both the mythical hunters and Winton’s characters are involved in soul searching pursuits. The mythology is mirrored in Winton’s contemporary tale. The “riders� in Winton’s book correspond to the hunters in the mythical tales. When hunters or “riders� appear, danger is imminent.
Winton draws a contemporary story using themes of the folkloric hunt tales. The two central protagonists are Fred Sully, an Australian father in his thirties, and his beloved seven-year-old daughter, Billie. His wife, Jennifer, has returned to Australia to sell their home. They have on an impulse purchased a cottage in remote Ireland. Scully is renovating it, so the family can move in. For the last two years the three had been travelling in Europe—France, Greece, Holland, Italy and Ireland. All places the author has himself lived! He captures the ambiance of each place marvelously!
Scully’s wife, Jennifer, is caught up in a pursuit of her own. Artistry, writing, being a fulltime mother—how does she see her future life? Their travels together were in search of answers. She is pregnant. As agreed, she has sold their house, but the day she and her daughter are to arrive at the Shannon airport only the distressed Billie turns up! Scully and Billie go in search of Jennifer—revisiting the places their travels had taken them.
The book is a hunt, the pursuit of people and answers to how life is to be lived.
Questions abound. The reader must draw their own conclusions. Little is spelled out clearly. I would have appreciated more clarity. However, this does force the reader to figure out things themselves, which keeps your mind busy.
We observe the choices made by the good natured optimist, Scully, and his ever so resilient and loving daughter. Some incidents are extreme and difficult to read--.
This is a book of character portrayal. It keeps you thinking. For those who know Europe, it is a delight to experience how people behave in different countries.
Stanley McGeagh narrates the audiobook. He captures the different national accents well. The Irish isn’t always easy to follow. I very much like his slow pace—you have time to think! I do not like the extremely soft intonation used for Billie and other adult females. The audio narration I have given three stars.
**''
* 3 stars
* 3 stars
* TBR
*TBR
Winton draws a contemporary story using themes of the folkloric hunt tales. The two central protagonists are Fred Sully, an Australian father in his thirties, and his beloved seven-year-old daughter, Billie. His wife, Jennifer, has returned to Australia to sell their home. They have on an impulse purchased a cottage in remote Ireland. Scully is renovating it, so the family can move in. For the last two years the three had been travelling in Europe—France, Greece, Holland, Italy and Ireland. All places the author has himself lived! He captures the ambiance of each place marvelously!
Scully’s wife, Jennifer, is caught up in a pursuit of her own. Artistry, writing, being a fulltime mother—how does she see her future life? Their travels together were in search of answers. She is pregnant. As agreed, she has sold their house, but the day she and her daughter are to arrive at the Shannon airport only the distressed Billie turns up! Scully and Billie go in search of Jennifer—revisiting the places their travels had taken them.
The book is a hunt, the pursuit of people and answers to how life is to be lived.
Questions abound. The reader must draw their own conclusions. Little is spelled out clearly. I would have appreciated more clarity. However, this does force the reader to figure out things themselves, which keeps your mind busy.
We observe the choices made by the good natured optimist, Scully, and his ever so resilient and loving daughter. Some incidents are extreme and difficult to read--.
This is a book of character portrayal. It keeps you thinking. For those who know Europe, it is a delight to experience how people behave in different countries.
Stanley McGeagh narrates the audiobook. He captures the different national accents well. The Irish isn’t always easy to follow. I very much like his slow pace—you have time to think! I do not like the extremely soft intonation used for Billie and other adult females. The audio narration I have given three stars.
**''
* 3 stars
* 3 stars
* TBR
*TBR
July 28, 2018
This was an incandescently beautiful book!
The prose is absolutely lovely and that is the primary strength of the novel, every paragraph is a pleasure to read due to the writing.
The plot was a bit of a surprise because the blurb on the back says " Fred Scully waits at the arrival gate of an international airport, anxious to see his wife and seven-year-old daughter. After two years in Europe they are finally settling down. He sees a new life before them, a stable outlook, and a cottage in the Irish countryside that he's renovated by hand. He's waited, sweated on this reunion. He does not like to be alone - he's that kind of man. The flight lands, the glass doors hiss open, and Scully's life begins to go down in flames.
In fact, this even occurs a good way into the book. The start of the book is about how Scully sets to, renovating a semi ruined croft in Ireland while his wife goes back to Australia to sell off their house and pack up their possessions. As a person interested in home renovation, this part was quite fascinating, also, I had never read Winton write about anywhere but Australia before and I was fascinated how lyrical he was about other countires.
Yes, countries, because after the even at the airport, Scully starts roaming Europe, looking for his wife so Winton takes us to quite a few other countries. The writing stayed wonderful thought and somehow Winton manages to make Scully sympathetic and relateable even when he does quite idiotic things, things any other character doing would probably make me stop reading....
Anyway, loved the book, written in 94, it has not aged to badly either.
The prose is absolutely lovely and that is the primary strength of the novel, every paragraph is a pleasure to read due to the writing.
The plot was a bit of a surprise because the blurb on the back says " Fred Scully waits at the arrival gate of an international airport, anxious to see his wife and seven-year-old daughter. After two years in Europe they are finally settling down. He sees a new life before them, a stable outlook, and a cottage in the Irish countryside that he's renovated by hand. He's waited, sweated on this reunion. He does not like to be alone - he's that kind of man. The flight lands, the glass doors hiss open, and Scully's life begins to go down in flames.
In fact, this even occurs a good way into the book. The start of the book is about how Scully sets to, renovating a semi ruined croft in Ireland while his wife goes back to Australia to sell off their house and pack up their possessions. As a person interested in home renovation, this part was quite fascinating, also, I had never read Winton write about anywhere but Australia before and I was fascinated how lyrical he was about other countires.
Yes, countries, because after the even at the airport, Scully starts roaming Europe, looking for his wife so Winton takes us to quite a few other countries. The writing stayed wonderful thought and somehow Winton manages to make Scully sympathetic and relateable even when he does quite idiotic things, things any other character doing would probably make me stop reading....
Anyway, loved the book, written in 94, it has not aged to badly either.
November 14, 2010
I will remember this book for its prose. Tim Winton's writing is at times astoundingly gorgeous. I enjoyed some of the characters, and the story in its pieces was worth reading. As a whole, however, the plot suffers from a lack of polish and planning. The entire book is ONE...BIG...TEASE!!!
The Riders is at times dolorous, at times comic, and sometimes both simultaneously. The scene in the Amsterdam sex toy shop made me laugh so hard I had to put the book aside."People began to scramble across a drift of plastic penises." I could just picture the whole thing so vividly. And yet, it was really sad and pathetic that Scully had sunk low enough to have created that mess. By that point in the book I felt like he deserved the beating across the face with a dildo. A fitting punishment for a bonehead! ;-)
I grew increasingly exasperated with this book the deeper I got into it. Tim Winton plants seeds of mystery and spookiness and never brings any of them to fruition. Even the title is a tease. He makes such a big deal about Scully's vision of "the riders" early in the book. It's spooky and exciting, and makes you think they'll be a significant part of the mystery. He mentions them again a time or two, but they're just another dropped thread. Why name the book for them?
I was most fond of the Pete-the-Post character. I loved his Irish charm and humor, and his reliability. He barely knows Scully, but is always there willing to help. We all need a friend like that who will say "I've got your back" when we have nowhere else to turn.
The Riders is at times dolorous, at times comic, and sometimes both simultaneously. The scene in the Amsterdam sex toy shop made me laugh so hard I had to put the book aside."People began to scramble across a drift of plastic penises." I could just picture the whole thing so vividly. And yet, it was really sad and pathetic that Scully had sunk low enough to have created that mess. By that point in the book I felt like he deserved the beating across the face with a dildo. A fitting punishment for a bonehead! ;-)
I grew increasingly exasperated with this book the deeper I got into it. Tim Winton plants seeds of mystery and spookiness and never brings any of them to fruition. Even the title is a tease. He makes such a big deal about Scully's vision of "the riders" early in the book. It's spooky and exciting, and makes you think they'll be a significant part of the mystery. He mentions them again a time or two, but they're just another dropped thread. Why name the book for them?
I was most fond of the Pete-the-Post character. I loved his Irish charm and humor, and his reliability. He barely knows Scully, but is always there willing to help. We all need a friend like that who will say "I've got your back" when we have nowhere else to turn.
January 26, 2013
The Riders, by Tim Winton
I gave this book 2 stars because Mr Winton is a skillful writer, BUT the story left me completely unsatisfied.
The premise is about a man, who considers himself Quasimoto-ish, and who is refurbishing a house in Ireland for his beloved wife and daughter.
When he arrives at the airport only the daughter arrives. Where is his wife? What has happened to her? We don't know, he doesn't know, and for reasons not ever explained, the daughter won't tell.
The balance of the book drones on as he tries to figure out where his wife is. He never bothers to insist that his daughter tell him, rather traipses around Europe looking for her. His daughter is cold, dirty, gets attacked by a dog and still he never asks her where her mother is?
By the end of the book, I was tired of reading his overly wordy descriptions and began skimming.
The book ends without answering the question of where the mother is, or making any apologies to his daughter. Thinking it over I might try and give it only 1-1/2 stars, but that's not possible
I gave this book 2 stars because Mr Winton is a skillful writer, BUT the story left me completely unsatisfied.
The premise is about a man, who considers himself Quasimoto-ish, and who is refurbishing a house in Ireland for his beloved wife and daughter.
When he arrives at the airport only the daughter arrives. Where is his wife? What has happened to her? We don't know, he doesn't know, and for reasons not ever explained, the daughter won't tell.
The balance of the book drones on as he tries to figure out where his wife is. He never bothers to insist that his daughter tell him, rather traipses around Europe looking for her. His daughter is cold, dirty, gets attacked by a dog and still he never asks her where her mother is?
By the end of the book, I was tired of reading his overly wordy descriptions and began skimming.
The book ends without answering the question of where the mother is, or making any apologies to his daughter. Thinking it over I might try and give it only 1-1/2 stars, but that's not possible
January 22, 2009
The Riders were "unseen, patient, dogged faithful in all weathers and all worlds, waiting for something promised, something that was plainly their due..."
When Fred Scully started out his new life in Ireland he was a rider. Scully, his wife Jennifer and their daughter Billie, all from Australia, traveled throughout Europe, where he would take on the grunt jobs to keep them alive while Jennifer explored herself, painting, writing, going to parties with her artsy friends. In one of their travels, they ended up in Ireland, where out exploring, they found a small house which used to belong to the caretaker of an old castle. Jennifer knew immediately that she had to have this place, so they bought it. All that was left to do was to go back to Australia, sell their current place, tidy up some loose ends & then she & Billie would be back while Scully got the place ready for their arrival.
On the day that Jennifer and Billie were to arrive at the airport in Shannon, Scully goes to meet them. However, there's a problem...only Billie gets off the plane from Heathrow, where the Qantas plane from Australia landed before she switched planes to go to Ireland. Billie won't say a word; obviously she is traumatized by something. At his wits end, Scully tries to figure out where Jennifer might be and sets off traveling throughout Europe to find her. But the question is, does Jennifer want to be found?
This novel was incredible. It has been criticized for not tidying things up at the end, not putting together the loose ends that dangle waiting for answers. However, as we all know, many times some of the most pressing questions in life go unanswered. Personally, I don't think those questions needed to be answered because all in all, if you read it carefully, you'll realize that those points are irrelevant...redemption for Scully & for Billie come in the realization that all that really matters is having the strength to go on. I very highly recommend this book. It is not a book full of warm fuzzies, indeed it is very dark and disturbing.
The writing is most excellent and the characterization is perfect. Highly, highly recommended.
When Fred Scully started out his new life in Ireland he was a rider. Scully, his wife Jennifer and their daughter Billie, all from Australia, traveled throughout Europe, where he would take on the grunt jobs to keep them alive while Jennifer explored herself, painting, writing, going to parties with her artsy friends. In one of their travels, they ended up in Ireland, where out exploring, they found a small house which used to belong to the caretaker of an old castle. Jennifer knew immediately that she had to have this place, so they bought it. All that was left to do was to go back to Australia, sell their current place, tidy up some loose ends & then she & Billie would be back while Scully got the place ready for their arrival.
On the day that Jennifer and Billie were to arrive at the airport in Shannon, Scully goes to meet them. However, there's a problem...only Billie gets off the plane from Heathrow, where the Qantas plane from Australia landed before she switched planes to go to Ireland. Billie won't say a word; obviously she is traumatized by something. At his wits end, Scully tries to figure out where Jennifer might be and sets off traveling throughout Europe to find her. But the question is, does Jennifer want to be found?
This novel was incredible. It has been criticized for not tidying things up at the end, not putting together the loose ends that dangle waiting for answers. However, as we all know, many times some of the most pressing questions in life go unanswered. Personally, I don't think those questions needed to be answered because all in all, if you read it carefully, you'll realize that those points are irrelevant...redemption for Scully & for Billie come in the realization that all that really matters is having the strength to go on. I very highly recommend this book. It is not a book full of warm fuzzies, indeed it is very dark and disturbing.
The writing is most excellent and the characterization is perfect. Highly, highly recommended.
May 20, 2014
Tim Winton is an excellent writer, and The Riders contains some wonderful prose. It's a hard book to rate, because on the one hand it's riveting, and on the other hand it made me incredibly uncomfortable. Everything about this book was unsettling.
It begins with Scully, an Australian with the face of "an axe-murderer, a sniffer of bicycle seats", fixing up a cottage in the sticks in southern Ireland, waiting for his wife Jennifer and their 7-year old daughter Billie to join him. The cottage was bought on a whim, and sounds truly awful. That right there made me wonder. Who in their right mind would want to live in a primitive cottage with no electricity and an outhouse? How were they planning to make a living? The locals are as baffled as I. Since the story takes place in the eighties, Scully communicates with Jennifer through telegrams. She tells him their house in Australia has been sold, and that she and Billie will be arriving in three weeks time. When the plane lands, only Billie is on it, and she's not talking.
Through some very hazy reasoning, Scully decides against contacting the authorities and instead drags his traumatized daughter on a wild goose chase across Europe. For some reason the family has been living in Greece, Paris and London, and Scully the bicycle-seat-sniffer traces their steps expecting to find Jennifer simply by grabbing uncomprehending Greeks by the collar and yelling "where is she?!". Now, this made me think that the adoring husband and father was perhaps an unhinged, unreliable narrator, and that Jennifer was probably sleeping with the fishes. But noo, that would be too conventional.
From there on, the trip becomes a nightmarish odyssey through Europe. Scully makes one irrational decision after another, and the poor kid is mangled by a dog, accosted by a pedophile, pees herself in Paris, and is forced to save her deadbeat Dad from himself. Winton's Europe, by the way, consists of reeking alleyways, drunks and whores and malfunctioning toilets. With all the bowel action going on in this novel, this last part is extra painful to read about. At one Paris establishment, Billie finds a naked guy on the bathroom floor with a flower up his bum. Well done Billie, you don't find that in a Lonely Planet! And Amsterdam as we all know is the Sodom and Gomorra of the EU, so naturally Scully ends up dildo-whipped and jailed.
The ending was fitting I suppose, but unsatisfying. I'm a big girl and I've been around the literary block a few times, so I knew not to expect answers and a neatly wrapped ending from a book like this. But after all that filth and misery and child abuse and sex toy violence I felt I deserved a bigger payoff. Still, Winton is a fine writer so don't let my prissiness put you off.
It begins with Scully, an Australian with the face of "an axe-murderer, a sniffer of bicycle seats", fixing up a cottage in the sticks in southern Ireland, waiting for his wife Jennifer and their 7-year old daughter Billie to join him. The cottage was bought on a whim, and sounds truly awful. That right there made me wonder. Who in their right mind would want to live in a primitive cottage with no electricity and an outhouse? How were they planning to make a living? The locals are as baffled as I. Since the story takes place in the eighties, Scully communicates with Jennifer through telegrams. She tells him their house in Australia has been sold, and that she and Billie will be arriving in three weeks time. When the plane lands, only Billie is on it, and she's not talking.
Through some very hazy reasoning, Scully decides against contacting the authorities and instead drags his traumatized daughter on a wild goose chase across Europe. For some reason the family has been living in Greece, Paris and London, and Scully the bicycle-seat-sniffer traces their steps expecting to find Jennifer simply by grabbing uncomprehending Greeks by the collar and yelling "where is she?!". Now, this made me think that the adoring husband and father was perhaps an unhinged, unreliable narrator, and that Jennifer was probably sleeping with the fishes. But noo, that would be too conventional.
From there on, the trip becomes a nightmarish odyssey through Europe. Scully makes one irrational decision after another, and the poor kid is mangled by a dog, accosted by a pedophile, pees herself in Paris, and is forced to save her deadbeat Dad from himself. Winton's Europe, by the way, consists of reeking alleyways, drunks and whores and malfunctioning toilets. With all the bowel action going on in this novel, this last part is extra painful to read about. At one Paris establishment, Billie finds a naked guy on the bathroom floor with a flower up his bum. Well done Billie, you don't find that in a Lonely Planet! And Amsterdam as we all know is the Sodom and Gomorra of the EU, so naturally Scully ends up dildo-whipped and jailed.
The ending was fitting I suppose, but unsatisfying. I'm a big girl and I've been around the literary block a few times, so I knew not to expect answers and a neatly wrapped ending from a book like this. But after all that filth and misery and child abuse and sex toy violence I felt I deserved a bigger payoff. Still, Winton is a fine writer so don't let my prissiness put you off.
January 9, 2009
: I’ve liked what I’ve read of Winton (Cloudstreet and Dirt Music) and this one is no exception. The main character, Scully, is from Freemantle in Western Australia. He’s a big, unattractive guy, a laborer whose skills are currently put to use renovating an old Irish farmhouse which had taken his wife’s fancy on a visit to Ireland. His wife, Jennifer, who’s pregnant with their second child, is in Australia with their 7 year-old daughter, Billie, typing loose ends for their planned move to Ireland.
On the day—shortly before Christmas—when his family is supposed to arrive at Shannon, Billie is alone on the plane, scared enough that she can’t even talk to tell her father what happened to Jennifer. The airline shows Jennifer arrived at Heathrow but didn’t continue on to Shannon. Scully, panicked and not thinking clearly, takes off after her, Billie in tow, and they end up on a frantic trip to London, a Greek island where they’d lived happily before Ireland, Paris, and Amsterdam. The third person narrative shifts occasionally from Scully to Billie’s point of view, particularly as the former gets more and more out of control (he’s accused of murder (wrongly) in Greece but runs anyway and in Amsterdam he’s arrested, drunk and dirty. At one point—after he’s stolen money from Irma, a good-hearted but screwy woman who’s clearly attracted to him and wants to help, Billie practically takes control, appropriating the money. Scully gets more and more desperate, chasing women on the street who look like Jennifer, while Billie, devoted to her father, doesn’t particularly want her mother back.
Gradually, partly through Billie’s point of view, the reader gets a picture of Jennifer, as a woman, more educated than Scully, with a yen to be an artist, but evidently without the talent. Whether she ever loved Scully is unclear, but during what he sees as a romantic period of living in Europe, with Scully working on house renovations with other illegals to get them money, Jennifer’s been seeking out more sophisticated friends, artists and writers and wannabes like herself. The child she carries may not be Scully’s; in fact, there may not even be a child�.
Two somewhat blatant associations clarify the meaning of Scully’s desperation. The first is the poem, “On Raglan Road� by Australian Patrick Kavanagh which is quoted in the text. The poem is about a man who “loved too much� and “wooed not as I should a creature made of clay�. An angel who loved like that would lose his wings, concludes the poem. The second reference is to “the riders�, a group of gypsies in Ireland—travelers, that Scully sees and is attracted by early in the novel and then again at the very end when, on New Year’s night he follows Billie out into the snow to the ruined castle near their Irish farmhouse. There some riders have paused, but this time Scully rejects the itinerate life they lead—and presumably the traveling he’s been doing himself.
On the day—shortly before Christmas—when his family is supposed to arrive at Shannon, Billie is alone on the plane, scared enough that she can’t even talk to tell her father what happened to Jennifer. The airline shows Jennifer arrived at Heathrow but didn’t continue on to Shannon. Scully, panicked and not thinking clearly, takes off after her, Billie in tow, and they end up on a frantic trip to London, a Greek island where they’d lived happily before Ireland, Paris, and Amsterdam. The third person narrative shifts occasionally from Scully to Billie’s point of view, particularly as the former gets more and more out of control (he’s accused of murder (wrongly) in Greece but runs anyway and in Amsterdam he’s arrested, drunk and dirty. At one point—after he’s stolen money from Irma, a good-hearted but screwy woman who’s clearly attracted to him and wants to help, Billie practically takes control, appropriating the money. Scully gets more and more desperate, chasing women on the street who look like Jennifer, while Billie, devoted to her father, doesn’t particularly want her mother back.
Gradually, partly through Billie’s point of view, the reader gets a picture of Jennifer, as a woman, more educated than Scully, with a yen to be an artist, but evidently without the talent. Whether she ever loved Scully is unclear, but during what he sees as a romantic period of living in Europe, with Scully working on house renovations with other illegals to get them money, Jennifer’s been seeking out more sophisticated friends, artists and writers and wannabes like herself. The child she carries may not be Scully’s; in fact, there may not even be a child�.
Two somewhat blatant associations clarify the meaning of Scully’s desperation. The first is the poem, “On Raglan Road� by Australian Patrick Kavanagh which is quoted in the text. The poem is about a man who “loved too much� and “wooed not as I should a creature made of clay�. An angel who loved like that would lose his wings, concludes the poem. The second reference is to “the riders�, a group of gypsies in Ireland—travelers, that Scully sees and is attracted by early in the novel and then again at the very end when, on New Year’s night he follows Billie out into the snow to the ruined castle near their Irish farmhouse. There some riders have paused, but this time Scully rejects the itinerate life they lead—and presumably the traveling he’s been doing himself.
March 26, 2021
After being hugely entertained by the first two Tim Winton books I read, this one just didn't click with me. We meet the Scully family in Ireland; first just the father, preparing an old cottage for his wife and daughter to share with him. The wife and daughter have stayed behind in Australia to sell the house, pack their things and prepare for a new life on the other side of the world.
These early scenes are the best in the book. Scully makes a friend, works his tail off, and transforms a rundown wreck of a fungal heap into an actual home. There are little hints that all is not well in the Scully kingdom, though, and this segment ends in a beautifully-written scene of magic realism.
Beautifully written, yes; but for me, jarring and completely out of place. But Winton is a fleet writer, so I pressed on, curious how this element would develop throughout the story. There is then a long, sad search from one extreme of Western Europe to the other. We are reminded that Winton is a peerless observer of people stuck in situations well beyond their ability to manage.
There are, of course, two journeys being described here -- the physical journey north by northwest, and the interior journey of family members' minds, and their responses to stress. Ultimately, three things worked against the story here: First, the magic realism portion cropped up a few more times, but never really led anywhere satisfactory; second, the characters seemed to be driven by the demands of the plot rather than from a realistic unfolding of their personalities; and finally, this part of the book was just too long and repetitive. There were magically-written scenes, but they were widely separated, nearly lost within the reader's sense of deja vu. The latter two-thirds of the book came to feel like a long, cold wet march in the rain.
This was only Winton's third published book, and I cannot hold it against him that he wanted to try something different. The other, later books of his that I've read were tougher, leaner, and more affecting as a result.
These early scenes are the best in the book. Scully makes a friend, works his tail off, and transforms a rundown wreck of a fungal heap into an actual home. There are little hints that all is not well in the Scully kingdom, though, and this segment ends in a beautifully-written scene of magic realism.
Beautifully written, yes; but for me, jarring and completely out of place. But Winton is a fleet writer, so I pressed on, curious how this element would develop throughout the story. There is then a long, sad search from one extreme of Western Europe to the other. We are reminded that Winton is a peerless observer of people stuck in situations well beyond their ability to manage.
There are, of course, two journeys being described here -- the physical journey north by northwest, and the interior journey of family members' minds, and their responses to stress. Ultimately, three things worked against the story here: First, the magic realism portion cropped up a few more times, but never really led anywhere satisfactory; second, the characters seemed to be driven by the demands of the plot rather than from a realistic unfolding of their personalities; and finally, this part of the book was just too long and repetitive. There were magically-written scenes, but they were widely separated, nearly lost within the reader's sense of deja vu. The latter two-thirds of the book came to feel like a long, cold wet march in the rain.
This was only Winton's third published book, and I cannot hold it against him that he wanted to try something different. The other, later books of his that I've read were tougher, leaner, and more affecting as a result.
June 22, 2016
The first Winton book I have read and I have come out of it massively impressed.
We are told the bitter tale of a man called Scully and his daughter Billie. Scully is desperately in love with his wife who, seemingly out of the blue, deserts him. With that event we eventually learn Scully and his wife are different. Scully is not that attractive. Hard worker that he is, Scully, is basically rustic. Unbeknownst to himself he is not part of the intellectual expatriate art set his wife is attracted to and seemingly part of. With that we get a portrait of a man out of his depth as he chases his heart and loses his mind. All this with a wise beyond her years daughter Billie in tow. Six year old Billie is seemingly unable to tell her father what happened when the mother put her on a plane and sent her to oblivion. But she has a love for her father that allows her to be dragged into his mental carnage and take him to the bitter ending that was always the only end.
The brilliance of this book is the way that the author has articulated how the mind of Scully broke down as he realised he was betrayed by what he held dear, that those he trusted where never trustworthy. The growing realisation that life can be bitter.
And The Riders? As the reader I was drawn to these ghostly characters that appear at the start and the end of Scully's journey. To me they were a metaphor for the chasers that never finds the answer.
Superb read for me personally.
We are told the bitter tale of a man called Scully and his daughter Billie. Scully is desperately in love with his wife who, seemingly out of the blue, deserts him. With that event we eventually learn Scully and his wife are different. Scully is not that attractive. Hard worker that he is, Scully, is basically rustic. Unbeknownst to himself he is not part of the intellectual expatriate art set his wife is attracted to and seemingly part of. With that we get a portrait of a man out of his depth as he chases his heart and loses his mind. All this with a wise beyond her years daughter Billie in tow. Six year old Billie is seemingly unable to tell her father what happened when the mother put her on a plane and sent her to oblivion. But she has a love for her father that allows her to be dragged into his mental carnage and take him to the bitter ending that was always the only end.
The brilliance of this book is the way that the author has articulated how the mind of Scully broke down as he realised he was betrayed by what he held dear, that those he trusted where never trustworthy. The growing realisation that life can be bitter.
And The Riders? As the reader I was drawn to these ghostly characters that appear at the start and the end of Scully's journey. To me they were a metaphor for the chasers that never finds the answer.
Superb read for me personally.
June 10, 2013
It's hard to describe a book that is in itself an epitome of description. Raw and beautiful, each sentence deserves to be read, reread and internalized.
But that may not really be the case with The Riders. You feel you just want to read the next sentence, and the next. Before you know it you are drawn into its world and Scully's journey through Europe, his little daughter tagging at hand, through the extremes of anticipation, search and heartbreak.
Scully is man that has been preparing a house for his wife and daughter to come home to. However, on the day that he awaits them to come, only his little daughter arrives. His search through every possible place he knows his wife could be takes him not only through Europe, but also through an inner journey the reader will identify with, and feel its heartbreak, the falsity of illusions.
Since its a very readable, very engaging book, the risk is that you read it too fast, and miss out on some of its beauty.But then you can always go back to page one, and in no time you'll have experienced the journey afresh. And it will speak to you just as though you are reading it for the first time, though with a better understanding now.
But that may not really be the case with The Riders. You feel you just want to read the next sentence, and the next. Before you know it you are drawn into its world and Scully's journey through Europe, his little daughter tagging at hand, through the extremes of anticipation, search and heartbreak.
Scully is man that has been preparing a house for his wife and daughter to come home to. However, on the day that he awaits them to come, only his little daughter arrives. His search through every possible place he knows his wife could be takes him not only through Europe, but also through an inner journey the reader will identify with, and feel its heartbreak, the falsity of illusions.
Since its a very readable, very engaging book, the risk is that you read it too fast, and miss out on some of its beauty.But then you can always go back to page one, and in no time you'll have experienced the journey afresh. And it will speak to you just as though you are reading it for the first time, though with a better understanding now.
October 26, 2015
After a friend read this I felt that I needed to reread it as other than remembering having enjoyed it I couldn't really recall very much about it. I did find that a lot came back to me but I think a few things may have impacted more this time round than they did the first time. I found that I was not as sympathetic towards Scully and his almost insane obsession with finding his wife. What he did to his 7 year old daughter Billie in the process almost bordered on abuse. This was very much a book about the journey rather than the destination and Winton, with his wonderful knack for language, kept me riveted the whole time. It was a very compelling read that leads you to a deeper understanding of human nature and the extremes we are capable of. As is always the case with Winton there was also a bit of the mystical about this book too, which only added to the intrigue. This, like ,may not be everyone's cup of tea but if you are a fan I highly recommend as long as you're willing to keep an open mind.
September 14, 2008
A disturbing, frustrating and beautiful book. It is about the power and hopelessness of passion and the reckless way some people enter marriage and parenthood. It is also about the power of love when it works the way it is supposed to. Although parts of the story are nearly gruesome with suffering, there is something so beautiful about Scully's pigheaded determination to do right by Billie and her determination to believe in him. This pair captured my heart even as I willed them to give up the search. And there is a mysticism that gently and oddly reminds us that we never act alone...
April 14, 2009
Although this story captivated me and drew me along with the story, I did not like it. When I finished it I was left feeling frustrated and angry with the characters. It is said to be a book about the love of a father for his child and all I saw was a man willing to leave his child in the most dangerous of places to search for his wife who had obviously left him. His total obsession with this women who has most definatley done the dirty on him was tiring to say the least.
A few memorable moments but far two few for me.
A few memorable moments but far two few for me.
August 13, 2012
when i was 12 i moved to bendigo; when tim winton was 12 he moved to albany in western australia. i think those years highly influence the rest of your life...i became a dummy, and tim winton became a writer. i visited the wa south coast four years ago, already a winton fan, but not knowing he hailed from there. albany reflects the provincial, harsh, devastatingly masculine language of winton. he drags his sentences from the massive boulders, from the depths of the sounds, from the sweat and the stench of it's whaling stations. i can't imagine the perfection of his language coming totally naturally...i think he only releases a novel every four or five years because of the time and effort involved in their creation. (i hope this is true, not that he is just bone lazy) the riders was the first of his books that i read, and fortunately there were others in existence; for a few years i was able to read a new one every year of so. but it's been four years now since "breath", and we're all getting itchy tim..
i was stunned by the riders. i'm usually more of a story person, and tim winton is not really for story people. just the way he strings together otherwise mis-matched words and hits you and hits you...he carries you along within his thoughts. does he know where his stories are going? does he have a plan before he starts? he just takes you drifting along in scully's almost-real world, in his haunting/haunted search; but does winton know any better than you where we are going? perhaps he is better organised than i suspect, and that is why he is able to take me along this rambling, ethereal path that no other writer can. it's been eight years but i can still recall the feeling of dread, the hollow fear that scully's courage would lead him and billie to disaster...
i was stunned by the riders. i'm usually more of a story person, and tim winton is not really for story people. just the way he strings together otherwise mis-matched words and hits you and hits you...he carries you along within his thoughts. does he know where his stories are going? does he have a plan before he starts? he just takes you drifting along in scully's almost-real world, in his haunting/haunted search; but does winton know any better than you where we are going? perhaps he is better organised than i suspect, and that is why he is able to take me along this rambling, ethereal path that no other writer can. it's been eight years but i can still recall the feeling of dread, the hollow fear that scully's courage would lead him and billie to disaster...
August 2, 2013
It's tempting to be infuriated by the lack of resolution around Jennifer's actions and motivations, but I think that's to miss the point of the book. The point is, Jennifer is not the point! It doesn't matter what she has done or why. The story is about the journey through obsession (and finally, thankfully, out of it) and what that does to you and the loved ones you drag along the way with you. Adding the backstory of Jennifer's disappearance into the story wouldn't have added any depth to that central truth - that's my take on it, anyway.
The whole time I was reading it, I was wincing over the way Scully refused to protect his daughter, or put her first. Of course, she's a plot device just like Jennifer is, illustrating the depths and breadths of Scully's obsession, but despite knowing that I felt a lot of sympathy for poor Billie. I guess I've become very sensitive to the plight of children, even fictional ones, since my own came along!
X 2 to the reviewer who identified the Riders as the Celtic Hunt. Good pickup and I agree.
The whole time I was reading it, I was wincing over the way Scully refused to protect his daughter, or put her first. Of course, she's a plot device just like Jennifer is, illustrating the depths and breadths of Scully's obsession, but despite knowing that I felt a lot of sympathy for poor Billie. I guess I've become very sensitive to the plight of children, even fictional ones, since my own came along!
X 2 to the reviewer who identified the Riders as the Celtic Hunt. Good pickup and I agree.
September 11, 2013
I've just re-read The Riders - 18 or 19 years after my first reading, and now in possession of my own family. The first time around, I got it less than I got Tim Winton's other books, which I loved. I couldn't fully understand its frenzy, or its panic. Reading it again all these years later, I relished it, and it read (as I just wrote in a review of another book for another place) as a masterclass in "ferocious love, human bafflement, and awful, indomitable pain". Proof, if proof was ever needed, that we can read the same book at different times and find it a different thing altogether. And proof, too, if proof was needed, of Tim Winton's brilliance with stories and with words. Looking forward to the release of "Eyrie" - and glad I revisited this one, all this time on.
June 26, 2007
I loved it while I was reading it, HATED it when I finished it, but now with a bit of perspective, I think I'd recommend it. It made me want to move to Ireland, abandon my career, and buy a little house in the countryside to fix up. I mean, it really made me want to do these things. I thought about it quite seriously.
December 9, 2022
I felt anxious the entire time I read this book, sometimes in a pleasant way, but usually in a more visceral stomachache way. It isn’t my favorite book by him, but that’s a small slight because I think everything he writes is great. I really enjoyed experiencing Europe through the Australian protagonist Scully, whose hellish predicament sent him crazily caroming around Ireland, Greece, Italy, Amsterdam. I don’t think this author gets the recognition or respect he deserves, at least here in the US. He has never been anything less than great.
September 25, 2017
Since it was up for the Booker Prize I was expecting a lot more. It took a quarter of the book to reach a conflict which was interesting. Then it meandered around from one confusing topic to the next. It appeared to have no direction and was mixed with a surreal and convoluted flashback. Just kind of boring for the most part with nothing being resolved.
November 25, 2018
I enjoyed the writing in this book, and often found myself wanting to get back to the story. However, I came away from the book wondering what was the point. And I couldn't grasp the significance of the riders. This would probably make a good discussion book, because I certainly missed something reading it alone.
September 10, 2024
I've softened my stance on this book and revised my rating from 2 up to 4, as I have learned more about 'discard' in relationships and the effects that it has on the discarded. I began reading The Riders years ago and threw it away in disgust after the dog bite, as I felt like I was participating in the mistreatment of a child by reading the book. I found the scenario of Jennifer not showing up with Billie to be implausible, and I couldn't imagine why Scully would become so 'unhinged'. It seemed to be a pointless, grotesque story of misery, madness, self-loathing and child abuse. Recently I reluctantly picked up the book again when it was set in my book club. I initially reviewed the book harshly, until prompted by club discussion on questions such as, 'Why did Jennifer do this?' and 'What happened to Jennifer?' and 'What was Winton thinking?', with no answers forthcoming. Then, thinking about 'discard' provided an hypothesis. Discard is commonly done by avoidants and narcissists, with devastating and long-lasting effects on their unsuspecting partners, who flail around trying to understand what happened and how to get their partner back, often never getting satisfactory answers. Was Jennifer a narcissist who had gaslit Scully into following her every whim in the belief only she would love him? Had Jennifer chosen to go off with Dominique when she got tired of Scully, and tried to persuade Billie to go with her, and she refused and was shocked by her mother's betrayal? Was Winton exploring a similar discard in his life? I dunno - I'll have to ask Tim, if I ever meet him. It appears to be far more common than one thinks, it hangs together and it answers the questions. I just wish he hadn't involved Billie, as it made me extremely uncomfortable. And I found the device of 'the riders' to be confusing and unnecessary.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 30, 2017
Jaysus, can this dude write! The distressing travails of poor Scully shape a peripatetic tale unlike any other, but it's the language that I want to hoot about. Now I want to read everything Winton's done.
March 10, 2016
I have been a big fan of Tim Winton for some time, but had not got round to reading The Riders - possibly because unlike his other fiction it isn't set in Australia. But this is another superb novel from an incredibly talented writer.
Instead the opening chapters are set in Ireland, as Fred Scully renovates an old farm cottage in advance of the arrival of his pregnant wife Jennifer, and daughter Billie.
But when only Billie shows up at the airport, Scully ends up purusing the mystery of his wife's absence across Greece, France and the Netherlands.
The book starts gently with Scully dedicating himself assiduously to creating a new home alongside the local postman Pete. But that makes the gradual descent into Scully's mad, obsessive and dangerous pursuit of Jennifer more nightmarish.
Winton brings the same skill he uses to describe Australian settings to the European locations. His descriptions of dank Ireland and scorching Greece are equally effective and atmospheric.
But he is also a master of characterisation. We root for Scully - at the same time as wishing he would see sense and end his pursuit. His appearance is against him - there are some references to the Hunchback of Notre Dame - and at times that hinders him.
I felt tense for so much of the novel - as all Scully's assumptions about his relationship are undermined. It can be painful at times, but is never less than compelling and is immensely readable.
There are two possible quibbles. I loved Scully's daughter Billie - but when we are in her head there are moments when she feels a little older and more sophisticated than a seven-year-old might, but then she is increasingly having to be the adult in her relationship with her father.
There are also a procession of unsympathetic female characters - and I do wonder how Tim Winton was feeling about women at the time! There was perhaps room for a sympathetic character to counter any charge of misogyny - although I am glad the author didn't try and turn one particular encounter into an easy and lazy romance. Instead it just accelerates Scully's descent. I do not though think this is a book or author who hates women.
And in the end neither of those apparent weaknesses detracted seriously from a terrific book.
Instead the opening chapters are set in Ireland, as Fred Scully renovates an old farm cottage in advance of the arrival of his pregnant wife Jennifer, and daughter Billie.
But when only Billie shows up at the airport, Scully ends up purusing the mystery of his wife's absence across Greece, France and the Netherlands.
The book starts gently with Scully dedicating himself assiduously to creating a new home alongside the local postman Pete. But that makes the gradual descent into Scully's mad, obsessive and dangerous pursuit of Jennifer more nightmarish.
Winton brings the same skill he uses to describe Australian settings to the European locations. His descriptions of dank Ireland and scorching Greece are equally effective and atmospheric.
But he is also a master of characterisation. We root for Scully - at the same time as wishing he would see sense and end his pursuit. His appearance is against him - there are some references to the Hunchback of Notre Dame - and at times that hinders him.
I felt tense for so much of the novel - as all Scully's assumptions about his relationship are undermined. It can be painful at times, but is never less than compelling and is immensely readable.
There are two possible quibbles. I loved Scully's daughter Billie - but when we are in her head there are moments when she feels a little older and more sophisticated than a seven-year-old might, but then she is increasingly having to be the adult in her relationship with her father.
There are also a procession of unsympathetic female characters - and I do wonder how Tim Winton was feeling about women at the time! There was perhaps room for a sympathetic character to counter any charge of misogyny - although I am glad the author didn't try and turn one particular encounter into an easy and lazy romance. Instead it just accelerates Scully's descent. I do not though think this is a book or author who hates women.
And in the end neither of those apparent weaknesses detracted seriously from a terrific book.
December 19, 2010
A comparison comes to mind with Henry James- and his “portrait”of “old� Europe: sophisticated, elegant, blasé and rotten under its delicate skin, juxtaposed Australia- new, uncomplicated, unspoiled and sincere.
Fred Scully is an optimistic, “uncomplicated young Australian�, terribly in love with his much more pretentious wife and with his intelligent seven year old daughter. He is a man who likes to work with his hands with no hang-ups about any type of employment as long as it provides money for his family.
The book starts when he is renovating an old Irish farmhouse where his family has decided to move to and settle. He is alone and anxiously waiting for his wife and daughter. They are to come as soon as the house in Australia has been sold and all documents are in order. The day comes to pick them up from the airport and his daughter comes out. Alone. No sight of his wife, no note, no telegram, nothing. His traumatized daughter is of no help. Dropping everything, Scully frantically grabs his daughter and sets out to look for his wife in Europe.
I enjoyed this book on many levels: I really liked the “anti-hero� hero of this book, possibly misunderstood by many readers who, like his European friends, misunderstand and underestimate him, and call him “a working class hero�. In my opinion, Scully is and isn’t - he is by choice, but not by his background. He works with his hands, yes, but he has also had quite a bit of education- studied architecture, and has literary reading tastes- Slaughterhouse Five, The World According to Garp. He is more of a free man who provides a living the way he can. He is just gifted in what he does. It was also refreshing to see a really good daughter- father relationship in a book for a change. Scully and his daughter have an almost extrasensory understanding. The languge is very good too with the lyricism, especially in the descriptions of nature and landscape which appeal to all senses and are done wonderfully and with a type of sensitivity that is almost tangible.
4.5/5
Fred Scully is an optimistic, “uncomplicated young Australian�, terribly in love with his much more pretentious wife and with his intelligent seven year old daughter. He is a man who likes to work with his hands with no hang-ups about any type of employment as long as it provides money for his family.
The book starts when he is renovating an old Irish farmhouse where his family has decided to move to and settle. He is alone and anxiously waiting for his wife and daughter. They are to come as soon as the house in Australia has been sold and all documents are in order. The day comes to pick them up from the airport and his daughter comes out. Alone. No sight of his wife, no note, no telegram, nothing. His traumatized daughter is of no help. Dropping everything, Scully frantically grabs his daughter and sets out to look for his wife in Europe.
I enjoyed this book on many levels: I really liked the “anti-hero� hero of this book, possibly misunderstood by many readers who, like his European friends, misunderstand and underestimate him, and call him “a working class hero�. In my opinion, Scully is and isn’t - he is by choice, but not by his background. He works with his hands, yes, but he has also had quite a bit of education- studied architecture, and has literary reading tastes- Slaughterhouse Five, The World According to Garp. He is more of a free man who provides a living the way he can. He is just gifted in what he does. It was also refreshing to see a really good daughter- father relationship in a book for a change. Scully and his daughter have an almost extrasensory understanding. The languge is very good too with the lyricism, especially in the descriptions of nature and landscape which appeal to all senses and are done wonderfully and with a type of sensitivity that is almost tangible.
4.5/5
July 24, 2009
I have to agree with most others here and say that this was a) really disturbing, and b)executed beautifully. The storyline wasn't exactly uplifting (wife/mother inexplicably abandons her husband and daughter), but there were glimmers of light in the unconditional devotion between father and daughter, especially in the moments where the story is told from Billie's point of view and she seems to see something in Scully that others don't see...seems to understand the very essence of his being, and love him for it. I was in awe of the descriptive writing in this book - long, exquisite passages describing the cities they visited, the old, abandoned castle up the hill from their cottage in Ireland, etc. Scully's slow unravelling and his dogged, reeling pursuit of his wife through Europe was heartbreaking, and the comparison to "the riders" of European mythology's Wild Hunt was devastating apt (yes, I had to look this up on Wikipedia, and if I hadn't, I don't think I would have fully understood Winton's intent with the ghostly hunters: ). The brief, abstract chapters interspersed throughout the novel about the ghostly riders, the winds blowing change out to the sea, the Irish countryside...all added an ethereal quality to the book that made it seem something more than simply a story about a woman who abandons her family - like there was a larger commentary here about human nature, and love, and how well we can ever know each other. Excellent book - I can't wait to read more of Tim Winton.
August 23, 2019
Just finished this and my first thought on reading the last line was: what the hell??!! What was overall a well-written and absorbing tale petered out into a total non-event, leaving me feeling a bit cheated to find there was no outcome.
Having bought a semi-derelict farmhouse on the west coast of Ireland, with his wife Jennifer's blessing, Scully is settling in to renovate the farmhouse whilst his wife sells their house in Fremantle, Western Australia before flying back with their 6-year-old daughter, Billie, to start their new life. There is no hint that anything is wrong in the telegrams he receives from his wife but, when he goes to meet their flight from Heathrow, only his daughter, Billie, appears. His wife is nowhere to be seen and Billie appears too traumatised to speak of what happened - and, surprisingly, never does throughout the book, even to the reader. Scully then bizarrely launches off on a trek across Europe, to places where they've lived before (Greek islands, Paris, Amsterdam), in a despairing attempt to find his wife, but finds only hints that she has even been there or contacted former friends of theirs. Scully doesn't know why his wife has done what she has done - but is he delusional or even a reliable narrator? The reader gets no answers to these or any other questions! Scope for a follow-up novel, perhaps from Jennifer's point of view?! Disappointed to say the least - 6/10.
Having bought a semi-derelict farmhouse on the west coast of Ireland, with his wife Jennifer's blessing, Scully is settling in to renovate the farmhouse whilst his wife sells their house in Fremantle, Western Australia before flying back with their 6-year-old daughter, Billie, to start their new life. There is no hint that anything is wrong in the telegrams he receives from his wife but, when he goes to meet their flight from Heathrow, only his daughter, Billie, appears. His wife is nowhere to be seen and Billie appears too traumatised to speak of what happened - and, surprisingly, never does throughout the book, even to the reader. Scully then bizarrely launches off on a trek across Europe, to places where they've lived before (Greek islands, Paris, Amsterdam), in a despairing attempt to find his wife, but finds only hints that she has even been there or contacted former friends of theirs. Scully doesn't know why his wife has done what she has done - but is he delusional or even a reliable narrator? The reader gets no answers to these or any other questions! Scope for a follow-up novel, perhaps from Jennifer's point of view?! Disappointed to say the least - 6/10.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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