大象传媒

In a tank of golden-green water at London Zoo, three giant sea turtles swim in futile circles. They are born to navigate, by some mysterious instinct, across thousands of miles of ocean - but these turtles are going nowhere.

Two isolated single people in their early 40s are both beset by 鈥榯urtle thoughts鈥� and separately begin to conceive of a plan to return them to the sea.

William G is a divorced father, a junior assistant in a bookshop, he lives in a bedsit in Putney and has no idea where his two daughters are. Neaera H is a children's author and illustrator who has run out of ideas for her next book. Their diaries reveal the quiet sadnesses and dramas of their parallel lives and the shared enterprise that brings them together.

It's a story about hope and despair, loneliness and the heroic eccentricity of two individuals who feel compelled to act in a world which feels to both of them as if it is careering towards madness.

Turtle Diary is a modern classic, first published exactly 40 years ago. 2025 also marks the centenary of Russell Hoban's birth. One cover review calls Turtle Diary 鈥渓ife-saving鈥�; novelist Max Porter said that it 鈥渉as medicinal qualities. I only need to think about it and I鈥檓 in a better mood.鈥�

"This lovely human fable seems to me one of the best things of its kind - a fine and touching achievement." John Fowles

"Worth rejoicing in ... a banquet of whimsical delights. Each Russell Hoban book is surprising ... but you also know what you're getting, which is curiosity, wonder and a world-encompassing empathy." John Self, The Guardian

Russell Hoban was an American writer born in 1925. His works span many genres, including fantasy, science fiction, mainstream fiction, magical realism, poetry, and children's books. He lived in London from 1969 until his death in 2011.

Written by Russell Hoban
Read by Daniel Weyman and Katherine Parkinson
Abridged and produced by Jill Waters
The Waters Company for 大象传媒 Radio 4

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