Walk, James Rice
Walk, James Rice
List: $27.99 | Sale: $19.59
Club: $13.99

Walk
A Novel

Author: James Rice

Narrator: Luke Francis

Unabridged: 13 hr 17 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/18/2022


Synopsis

Unfolding over the course of four days and culminating in a shocking twist, Walk is a haunting, visceral and unique novel about the acts that ordinary people are prepared to commit when pushed to the very limits of what we are able to endure.

****

Stephen had seemed enthusiastic about the walk, when Benny first invited him. He kept going on about how amazing it'd be, the two of them out in the wilderness - the landscape shots, the pubs, etc., etc.

Benny didn't interrupt this stream of enthusiasm. They were in the car park of the Miners, and Benny was too busy concentrating on his own stream of piss. He didn't think about it at all until the next morning.

When he remembered inviting Stephen, Benny laughed out loud - a single ha - then spent three minutes silent-screaming into his pillow.

****

Benny thought that it would be him and his dad doing the walk. Just him and his father, hiking through the Welsh countryside, like they used to.

Only, when his dad got ill, it became obvious that this would never happen. So Benny was forced to consider other options.

If Benny is honest, him and Stephen haven't been close since school, but once Benny had drunkenly blurted out the invitation, he couldn't take it back.

Now Benny and Stephen are on the walk. A walk Benny has vowed to finish, no matter how hard it is. But as food runs low and money runs out, Stephen and Benny find themselves stranded on the edge of the world, far from home, where the possibility of return is becoming increasingly distant...

(P) 2022 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Reviews

Goodreads review by Zuky

I’m a mess. There was something so intrinsically human about this book, I couldn’t look away. Who knew a book about two unlikeable characters going on a long walk would end up being so profound? This is a really slow moving book where so much and yet so little happens. Something I really loved is how......more

Goodreads review by Helen

What a journey. I had the privilege of meeting James Rice at an audience with Douglas Stuart, that’s where I bought this book. He was very unassuming and little did I know of the powerful journey this novel would take me on. The structure of the narrative gives this book a unique rhythm and keeps you......more

Goodreads review by Yvonne

The synopsis for this book intrigued me it was a book that sounded quiet, I do like a quiet book it can be one that makes you think. The book is essentially two guys walking along Offas Dyke, a route through the Welsh countryside that takes the walkers through the forest, mountain, marshy, and at ti......more

Goodreads review by Amelia

(more like 3.5/5) Such an interesting read. the format is so unusual, the separation of dialogue from thoughts and motion, the footnotes, the fascinating and distinct vocabularies of the characters, THE FOOTNOTES. Its so tense, you can really feel a sword (sometimes more like a wrecking ball) hanging......more


Quotes

A modern picaresque that will grab and guide you through some of Britain's last remaining wildernesses, both inner and outer: the Wales/England border, the ransacked sociopolitical contract, the crisis of contemporary masculinity and its effect on all kinds of interpersonal relationships, the crags and quicksands of the soul. It is compelling and propulsive from the serene and optimistic beginning all the way to the stricken end. Fantastic.

A mad picaresque across Wales which is promising a twist that I know is coming but just can't guess from which direction. I'm half way through it and enjoying every step of the journey. Wales Art Review

This one's special. Bold, unapologetic, superbly written. 'Walk' offers a masterclass in how to write lean prose that's visually stunning and dialogue that's entirely real.