First published in 1989,
Climbersis perhaps M. John Harrison’s most famous novel and, on the surface at least, an outlier in his career. It is ostensibly a novel about nature, sport and personal turmoil, and mostly plays out in the rainy setting of the 1980s northern English countryside, with occasional detours into provincial leisure centres, bookshops and rented rooms. In contrast, the bulk of Harrison’s work, particularly prior to the publication of
The Sunken Land Begins To Rise Againin 2020, may be described as science fiction. As a winner of the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke and Philip K. Dick awards and an influence on such internationally-renowned sci-fi writers as William Gibson, Iain M. Banks and China Miéville, Harrison is best-known among both critics and the general…
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Citation: Cartledge, Luke. "Climbers". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 September 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5976, accessed 24 November 2024.]
