The Rider
(Paperback)
Available Formats
Publishing Details
The Rider
By (Author) Tim Krabb
Translated by Sam Garrett
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
12th June 2003
United States
Classifications
General
Fiction
Sport: general
Cycling: general and touring
Cycle racing
Modern and contemporary fiction: general and literary
FIC
Physical Properties
Paperback
160
Width 129mm, Height 197mm, Spine 10mm
150g
Description
The instant cult classic about biking, road racing, and the bicyclists who love their sport. Originally published in Holland in 1978, The Rider went on to sell more than 100,000 copies. Brilliantly conceived and written at a break-neck pace, it is a loving, imaginative, and, above all, passionate tribute to the art of bicycle road racing. Tim Krabb begins this story at the very start of the Tour de Mont Aigoual, ready to race his rivals through the mountains of Central France. Over the course of the 150 pages that follows, Krabb takes his bike 150 kilometers, and pulls his readers into the life of the sport he loves. The Rider is beloved as a bicycle odyssey, a literary masterpiece, and the ultimate book for bike lovers as well as the arm-chair sports enthusiast.
Reviews
'...there's something about Krabbe's spare writing style that lulls even uninitiated readers into a sort of trance--presumably not unlike that of the long-distance racer moving ever closer to the finishing line.'
'The Rider is a great read and a great ride. Krabbe's half-day race, delivered kilometer by kilometer onto the page, shows the sport for what it is: painful, exhilarating, tactical, relational, fast, slow, dangerous, consuming, prone to mechanical failure, heroic, futile...'
'A complex meditation on the nature of extreme physical and mental exertion, wrapped in the guise of a simple account of one bicycle race. It will leave you wrung out, exhilarated, and relieved that you didn't break any bones while experiencing it.'
'Compelling...irradiated by an intense love of cycling and a fascination with the nature of the racing experience...[Krabbe] captures the rhythm of the race.'
'The Rider is a great read and a great ride.'
Author Bio
Tim Krabb is one of Holland's leading writers, and his novels are published all over the world. His many books include The Vanishing, which was made into a successful film, and The Cave. He lives in Amsterdam.
