The instant cult classic about biking, road racing, and the bicyclists who love their sport.
Tim Krabbe 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.
'...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.'
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