Status
Available
Call number
Series
Publication
Corgi Adult (1986), Paperback
Description
This steamy book blows the lid off international show jumping, a sport where the brave horses are almost human, and the humans behave like animals.
User reviews
LibraryThing member atreic
Oh, Jilly Cooper. Remembered so fondly from when I was a teenager. Big fat page turning books stuffed full of ponies and sex. And indeed, they are still big fat page turning books full of ponies and sex. But oh, I am older now, and read more critically, and they are not as comfortable as they once
It is a book with a host of colourful characters, but it is primarily about Rupert Campbell Black. Rupert Campbell Black is, by any objective standards, unbelievably awful in this book. He beats a man unconscious and leaves him tied up and naked, because he was letting down the tires on his car. It is hard to find a reading of the foursome scene that does not conclude it's rape - Helen says 'no' and is crying. He picks up teenage girls for one night stands knowing full well many of them are underage. He cheats on his wife, and when he gives her an STD, lies and says she must have given it to him. He bullies Jake outrageously, not just when they are school children, but also when he joins the team. He whips his horse to a pulp until the animal has to be sold because he doesn't win and is angry. He arranges to be away show jumping when his wife gives birth to their first child, and is a horrifically unfair father, showering attention on his youngest daughter and having no interest in his elder son. He drives a wedge between Helen and the only friend she has when she has her first child, and then sleeps with the friend just because he can. He beats Helen up when he finds out she has slept with Jake. And so it goes on.
But, oh! The mind bending, worrying and disturbing thing about this book is how much, in the skilful hands of Jilly Cooper, the reader ends up adoring Rupert. He does horrifically cruel things - but he's so beautiful! He's so rich! His stately home glows in the evening summer sun! He's so witty! He's kind to Billy and he loves his dogs! He couldn't really help it, and the person he was cruel to was annoying/stupid/frigid/had hairy legs, delete as appropriate. The story is about lots of people, but the Grand Finale is Rupert, his wife has run away, he's dislocated his shoulder, he is under impossible strain and pain, and he shows that Good English Stiff Upper Lip that built the Empire, and he rides out and wins the Olympic Gold Medal, for himself and for the Whole British Team. And the crowd goes wild, and everyone adores him. Including me.
Which is awful, if you think about it too much. Or at least a bit... complicated.
Interesting as a slice of another time as well. Lots of views on marriage which I think have subtly shifted now. Billy drops Fen like hot cakes to go and make things work when his wife comes back, even though it was her that cheated on him, and they get the baby and a happy ending. Helen runs off with Jake and it Doesn't Work, their fantasy romance doesn't survive the real world with no money and nowhere to live. Jake goes back to Tory and realises it was Her He Loved All Along.
(And they all seem so Young now! I am 33, when I first read it they were Impossibly Grown Up, and now they are my age or younger. Awfully young, Jilly writes sexually active teenagers in a way you could probably do more easily in the 70s than you can now)
Jilly definitely seems through my eyes to write with more sympathy for her male characters than her female characters. Yes, Helen is highly strung and needy, and incredibly stupid for her timing of telling Rupert about Jake. But Jake is a stupid idiot for drunkenly proposing to her and then leaving everything hanging. Yes, Janey is a bit of a slob, and not great at supporting Billy. But Billy is a bit of a slob and no more use at supporting Janey.
Still, everyone bounces around and shakes down into their happy ending. Jake gets his Olympic medal, Tory doesn't die and they live happily ever after with the kids. Fen gets the consolation prize of someone to who isn't Billy to love, who will put a wedding ring on her finger, as Billy and Janey have a baby and none of their problems are mentioned again. Helen gets a consolation prize of someone to love who is finally clever enough to understand her. And Rupert - Rupert gets his gold medal, the adoration of the entire country, a nomination for parliament, and to seduce both another attractive woman and their attractive teenage daughter. Ah, Rupert.
Lots of fun. Deeply problematic. But still a big fat page turner full of sex and horses
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were. Or that's a lie, they are _just_ as comfortable as they once were, but that causes its own guilt. All the debates around 50 Shades, of what it says that women are enjoying reading romance where the relationship is so clearly Evil Bad and Wrong could all have been had just as much with this book, if not more so.It is a book with a host of colourful characters, but it is primarily about Rupert Campbell Black. Rupert Campbell Black is, by any objective standards, unbelievably awful in this book. He beats a man unconscious and leaves him tied up and naked, because he was letting down the tires on his car. It is hard to find a reading of the foursome scene that does not conclude it's rape - Helen says 'no' and is crying. He picks up teenage girls for one night stands knowing full well many of them are underage. He cheats on his wife, and when he gives her an STD, lies and says she must have given it to him. He bullies Jake outrageously, not just when they are school children, but also when he joins the team. He whips his horse to a pulp until the animal has to be sold because he doesn't win and is angry. He arranges to be away show jumping when his wife gives birth to their first child, and is a horrifically unfair father, showering attention on his youngest daughter and having no interest in his elder son. He drives a wedge between Helen and the only friend she has when she has her first child, and then sleeps with the friend just because he can. He beats Helen up when he finds out she has slept with Jake. And so it goes on.
But, oh! The mind bending, worrying and disturbing thing about this book is how much, in the skilful hands of Jilly Cooper, the reader ends up adoring Rupert. He does horrifically cruel things - but he's so beautiful! He's so rich! His stately home glows in the evening summer sun! He's so witty! He's kind to Billy and he loves his dogs! He couldn't really help it, and the person he was cruel to was annoying/stupid/frigid/had hairy legs, delete as appropriate. The story is about lots of people, but the Grand Finale is Rupert, his wife has run away, he's dislocated his shoulder, he is under impossible strain and pain, and he shows that Good English Stiff Upper Lip that built the Empire, and he rides out and wins the Olympic Gold Medal, for himself and for the Whole British Team. And the crowd goes wild, and everyone adores him. Including me.
Which is awful, if you think about it too much. Or at least a bit... complicated.
Interesting as a slice of another time as well. Lots of views on marriage which I think have subtly shifted now. Billy drops Fen like hot cakes to go and make things work when his wife comes back, even though it was her that cheated on him, and they get the baby and a happy ending. Helen runs off with Jake and it Doesn't Work, their fantasy romance doesn't survive the real world with no money and nowhere to live. Jake goes back to Tory and realises it was Her He Loved All Along.
(And they all seem so Young now! I am 33, when I first read it they were Impossibly Grown Up, and now they are my age or younger. Awfully young, Jilly writes sexually active teenagers in a way you could probably do more easily in the 70s than you can now)
Jilly definitely seems through my eyes to write with more sympathy for her male characters than her female characters. Yes, Helen is highly strung and needy, and incredibly stupid for her timing of telling Rupert about Jake. But Jake is a stupid idiot for drunkenly proposing to her and then leaving everything hanging. Yes, Janey is a bit of a slob, and not great at supporting Billy. But Billy is a bit of a slob and no more use at supporting Janey.
Still, everyone bounces around and shakes down into their happy ending. Jake gets his Olympic medal, Tory doesn't die and they live happily ever after with the kids. Fen gets the consolation prize of someone to who isn't Billy to love, who will put a wedding ring on her finger, as Billy and Janey have a baby and none of their problems are mentioned again. Helen gets a consolation prize of someone to love who is finally clever enough to understand her. And Rupert - Rupert gets his gold medal, the adoration of the entire country, a nomination for parliament, and to seduce both another attractive woman and their attractive teenage daughter. Ah, Rupert.
Lots of fun. Deeply problematic. But still a big fat page turner full of sex and horses
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LibraryThing member lit_chick
Jilly Cooper’s Rutshire Chronicles may well become a new guilty pleasure. Magnificent horses, all of whom have considerably more personality than the novel’s shallow characters, engage in equestrian show jumping. Humans engage in deceit, disloyalty, debauchery, and sex. The most annoying of the
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characters is the neurotic Helen. Literary value is decidedly absent here, but the novel is certainly worth three stars for Pure.Brain.Candy. Show Less
LibraryThing member Helenliz
I would just like to point out that this came off his shelves - our owning this is nothing to do with me. Published in the mid 80s this is very much of its time. I felt my hair perming and my shoulder pads extending as I read this. In essence its a tale of two men who are very different and loathe
Many of whom seem to leap in and out of bed at a drop of the hat.
For reasons that escape me.
I'm not sure that the modern mind would read some of the relationships without censure that is markedly absent here. A girl not yet 17 has a relationship with a man easily old enough to be her father and no-one bats an eyelid. Even if it isn't presented negatively, it sits uncomfortably. It all ends in a bit of a tangle with desertion (of a wife and a team) at the Olympics in LA. From there is sort of tales off and you find yourself just wishing the last 30 odd pages to go by so you can put it down.
If I'm charitable, it hasn't aged well. If I'm being honest it probably never was great literature. The early 80s weren't a great era (I was there, I had spots, was overweight and tried to wear Lady Di colllars and ra-ra skirts. A time best forgotten). And while this smacks of the time, it feels stuck in that time and doesn't make you care for the characters involved. Do I care where they are now? no. They can stay between the sheets and keep out of the real world - I feel they'd not cope.
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each other. That they both follow the same career path - into show jumping - means they cannot avoid each other. And so they clash. Several times. Rupert Campbell-Black is the classic upper class cad about town, apparently irresistible to women (times have changed, I'd have slapped his face) who rides effortlessly and seduces women with the same ease. He seems to me very much a man of his time and to the modern mind comes across as a complete twat. His opposition is Jake Lovell, part gypsy, loner, dark and mysterious and poor. Unlike Rupert he does not charm women from the trees (although he does manage when he puts his mind to it). Mixed up in this tussle you have their wives, neither of whom are in what you might call a happy marriage, although I'd rather Tory's drudgery than Helen's neglect. Then there are the friends, family, grooms (almost exclusively female) the chef d'equipe, the other jockeys and the dogs. Many of whom seem to leap in and out of bed at a drop of the hat.
For reasons that escape me.
I'm not sure that the modern mind would read some of the relationships without censure that is markedly absent here. A girl not yet 17 has a relationship with a man easily old enough to be her father and no-one bats an eyelid. Even if it isn't presented negatively, it sits uncomfortably. It all ends in a bit of a tangle with desertion (of a wife and a team) at the Olympics in LA. From there is sort of tales off and you find yourself just wishing the last 30 odd pages to go by so you can put it down.
If I'm charitable, it hasn't aged well. If I'm being honest it probably never was great literature. The early 80s weren't a great era (I was there, I had spots, was overweight and tried to wear Lady Di colllars and ra-ra skirts. A time best forgotten). And while this smacks of the time, it feels stuck in that time and doesn't make you care for the characters involved. Do I care where they are now? no. They can stay between the sheets and keep out of the real world - I feel they'd not cope.
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LibraryThing member magemanda
Well, this is certainly no Pride and Prejudice! This is Cooper's debut book; a naughty romp through the elite world of show-jumping from local shows to the very top of the sport - the World Championships and the Olympics. Our main characters are Jake Lovell, a Gypsy underdog, and the first showing
There are masses of other characters that people the pages of this huge tome. Despite this, they are characterised simply and well, with distinctive traits and values. Unfortunately, it is hard to be sure who to root for! In the beginning we are firmly behind Jake - his tough start in the sport, his sympathetic treatment of horses, and his courageous win of the World Championship in the face of almost-impossible odds ensure that we feel certain he is the hero of the piece. We cheer when he finds Macauley, a horse that Rupert mistreats, and then uses this horse to beat Rupert in the Championship. We adore his family of Tory and Fen and his two adorable children. However, key events in the book lead us to firmly throw our weight behind Rupert - despite all his many, many faults. We find the behaviour of Jake and Helen - Rupert's wife - abominable.
My least favourite character is definitely Helen. I dislike her mismanagement of Rupert, her neurosis, her brittle perfection, her inability to stand up for herself. I think she is weak and end up believing she deserves everything she gets! I love Billy - he is one of the few characters who, despite flaws, is consistently a person to have sympathy for.
The book is long and rambling and could do with a little more structure, although Cooper's research is excellently done. It follows a now tried and tested formula of taking a gossipy approach to relationships and sex, but we should remember that Jilly was one of the first to tread this path. Riders was a genuinely naughty book when it was first released, with swear words and steamy sex scenes that are now included in books as a matter of course.
Certainly Jilly Cooper's writing is not to all tastes - her books are often considered lowbrow trash, only suitable for holiday reading. I, however, adore her books. I love the doorstop bulk of them, where you can really become invested in the characters and the story. I especially enjoy the fact that the horses and dogs are as big characters as the people themselves - in this book Sailor, Macauley, Revenge, Desdemona, Badger include some of those animals who simply leap from the page.
Altogether I would recommend this book to horse lovers who have no issues with a naughty slant; readers of "chick lit" and people who want a slyly funny and very good-natured read. Extremely enjoyable.
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of Rupert Campbell-Black (who will appear in future books by Jilly Cooper), the good-looking rogue of the horsy set who jumps in and out of beds with no thought to the consequences.There are masses of other characters that people the pages of this huge tome. Despite this, they are characterised simply and well, with distinctive traits and values. Unfortunately, it is hard to be sure who to root for! In the beginning we are firmly behind Jake - his tough start in the sport, his sympathetic treatment of horses, and his courageous win of the World Championship in the face of almost-impossible odds ensure that we feel certain he is the hero of the piece. We cheer when he finds Macauley, a horse that Rupert mistreats, and then uses this horse to beat Rupert in the Championship. We adore his family of Tory and Fen and his two adorable children. However, key events in the book lead us to firmly throw our weight behind Rupert - despite all his many, many faults. We find the behaviour of Jake and Helen - Rupert's wife - abominable.
My least favourite character is definitely Helen. I dislike her mismanagement of Rupert, her neurosis, her brittle perfection, her inability to stand up for herself. I think she is weak and end up believing she deserves everything she gets! I love Billy - he is one of the few characters who, despite flaws, is consistently a person to have sympathy for.
The book is long and rambling and could do with a little more structure, although Cooper's research is excellently done. It follows a now tried and tested formula of taking a gossipy approach to relationships and sex, but we should remember that Jilly was one of the first to tread this path. Riders was a genuinely naughty book when it was first released, with swear words and steamy sex scenes that are now included in books as a matter of course.
Certainly Jilly Cooper's writing is not to all tastes - her books are often considered lowbrow trash, only suitable for holiday reading. I, however, adore her books. I love the doorstop bulk of them, where you can really become invested in the characters and the story. I especially enjoy the fact that the horses and dogs are as big characters as the people themselves - in this book Sailor, Macauley, Revenge, Desdemona, Badger include some of those animals who simply leap from the page.
Altogether I would recommend this book to horse lovers who have no issues with a naughty slant; readers of "chick lit" and people who want a slyly funny and very good-natured read. Extremely enjoyable.
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LibraryThing member gaskella
I have never had a personal desire to get on a horse, but watching show-jumping on telly was a fixture that I looked forward to while growing up. The Horse of the Year Show with the Puissance always ending with that gigantic wall getting higher and higher, the relay races, and the incredibly tight
So, on to Riders by Jilly Cooper. Set in the Cotswolds, Riders is the first in Cooper’s ‘Rutshire Chronicles’ and was published in 1985. It concerns just two things in its 340,000 words: Show-jumping and Sex. It’s a true bonk-buster – one of the originals, complete with an utter cad, toffs and comedy accents, a poor boy made good, with the added thrill of the show-jumping ring, however at its heart it really is a romance and you’re always hoping for a happy ending.
The main story concerns Jake Lovell, an orphan born of gypsy stock who ran away from school to learn about horses. He wants to set up his own yard and jump horses, but he’s just a groom as the book opens and penniless with it. Contrasting with him is Rupert Campbell-Black, rich and charismatic, who beds every woman who crosses his path, unless they’re fat and ugly that is. A champion show-jumper already, he’s not known for treating his horses with respect. As it happens, Jake’s mother was the cook at Rupert’s prep-school, and Rupe was always nasty to Jake, so a rivalry is born.
Jake luckily manages to marry a rich, but plain, girl – Tory, who bankrolls his ambitions. However their relationship is a loving one, well at first! Rupert goes after a rich American socialite, the ravishingly beautiful but brittle Helen. He eventually gets her, but theirs is not to be a happy relationship, Rupe can’t cope with monogamy, and Helen finds it very difficult to lose her inhibitions.
"After Rupert had come, with that splendid driving flourish of staccato thrusts which reminded Helen of the end of a Beethoven symphony, he fell into a deep sleep. Helen, lying in his arms, had been far too tense and nervous of interruption to gain any satisfaction."
It’s not all sex though, there are horses too. Tory’s younger sister Fenella is a promising show-jumper and could, if she tried harder, be picked for the British team with her horses Laurel and Hardy. Being still a teenager, she’s too interested in partying and Jake takes her to task…
‘You’re not going to make a fool of yourself at Olympia,’ he said.
‘I suppose Tory and Dino have been sneaking.’
‘They didn’t need to. One of the Olympic scouts was in Amsterdam. He said if Jesus Christ had ridden that donkey into Jerusalem the way you were riding Laurel and Hardy all week, he deserved to be crucified.’
Cooper engineers many crises and cliff-hangers to keep the gargantuan story moving. There is a huge cast of other characters, most of whom are simply portrayed, and conform to type, but fit well into the story. I particularly liked Billy, Rupe’s best friend who rises from being co-tormentor of Jake to being a decent chap and ace show-jumper too, and the only person who can keep Rupe in check, occasionally. These show-jumpers are the equivalent of stadium rock stars in their world, on tour for ten months of the year, just touching base occasionally – unless they or the horses get injured that is. Everything moves from Jake’s humble beginnings in the horsey world towards the major climax of him and Rupe starring at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
The writing is breezy, earthy and robust, with some swearing and obviously lots of raciness – I remember it being considered very naughty when it came out; of course many novels go far further these days. I do wish we could have reached the end around 300 pages sooner as 919 pages, even if easy to read does take time; but I have to confess that I really enjoyed this racy doorstop of a book! I will no longer turn my nose up at Jilly Cooper books when I encounter them in bookcases on holiday, I’ll search them out instead, and she could become my guilty secret read.
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courses riden against the clock was a week of great viewing. The Hickstead Derby with the iconic Derby bank and swimming pool of a water jump was a must as a relief from tennis which tends to dominate June. There were also Nations Cup events, where the teams had to ride each other’s horses. Show-jumping back in the 1970s was full of real characters. Who could forget Harvey Smith, who on having won two Derbys on the trot made a ‘V’ sign to the judges. I always enjoyed watching the Irishman Eddie Macken who cut a dash with his wavy blond locks and green jacket on his horse Boomerang. It is a shame that show-jumping has all but fallen off the TV schedules.So, on to Riders by Jilly Cooper. Set in the Cotswolds, Riders is the first in Cooper’s ‘Rutshire Chronicles’ and was published in 1985. It concerns just two things in its 340,000 words: Show-jumping and Sex. It’s a true bonk-buster – one of the originals, complete with an utter cad, toffs and comedy accents, a poor boy made good, with the added thrill of the show-jumping ring, however at its heart it really is a romance and you’re always hoping for a happy ending.
The main story concerns Jake Lovell, an orphan born of gypsy stock who ran away from school to learn about horses. He wants to set up his own yard and jump horses, but he’s just a groom as the book opens and penniless with it. Contrasting with him is Rupert Campbell-Black, rich and charismatic, who beds every woman who crosses his path, unless they’re fat and ugly that is. A champion show-jumper already, he’s not known for treating his horses with respect. As it happens, Jake’s mother was the cook at Rupert’s prep-school, and Rupe was always nasty to Jake, so a rivalry is born.
Jake luckily manages to marry a rich, but plain, girl – Tory, who bankrolls his ambitions. However their relationship is a loving one, well at first! Rupert goes after a rich American socialite, the ravishingly beautiful but brittle Helen. He eventually gets her, but theirs is not to be a happy relationship, Rupe can’t cope with monogamy, and Helen finds it very difficult to lose her inhibitions.
"After Rupert had come, with that splendid driving flourish of staccato thrusts which reminded Helen of the end of a Beethoven symphony, he fell into a deep sleep. Helen, lying in his arms, had been far too tense and nervous of interruption to gain any satisfaction."
It’s not all sex though, there are horses too. Tory’s younger sister Fenella is a promising show-jumper and could, if she tried harder, be picked for the British team with her horses Laurel and Hardy. Being still a teenager, she’s too interested in partying and Jake takes her to task…
‘You’re not going to make a fool of yourself at Olympia,’ he said.
‘I suppose Tory and Dino have been sneaking.’
‘They didn’t need to. One of the Olympic scouts was in Amsterdam. He said if Jesus Christ had ridden that donkey into Jerusalem the way you were riding Laurel and Hardy all week, he deserved to be crucified.’
Cooper engineers many crises and cliff-hangers to keep the gargantuan story moving. There is a huge cast of other characters, most of whom are simply portrayed, and conform to type, but fit well into the story. I particularly liked Billy, Rupe’s best friend who rises from being co-tormentor of Jake to being a decent chap and ace show-jumper too, and the only person who can keep Rupe in check, occasionally. These show-jumpers are the equivalent of stadium rock stars in their world, on tour for ten months of the year, just touching base occasionally – unless they or the horses get injured that is. Everything moves from Jake’s humble beginnings in the horsey world towards the major climax of him and Rupe starring at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
The writing is breezy, earthy and robust, with some swearing and obviously lots of raciness – I remember it being considered very naughty when it came out; of course many novels go far further these days. I do wish we could have reached the end around 300 pages sooner as 919 pages, even if easy to read does take time; but I have to confess that I really enjoyed this racy doorstop of a book! I will no longer turn my nose up at Jilly Cooper books when I encounter them in bookcases on holiday, I’ll search them out instead, and she could become my guilty secret read.
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LibraryThing member Darrol
An entertaining, albeit overly long, intro to the world of serious show jumping. Largely disappointing behavior by most of the characters.
LibraryThing member hninn
it is a bit erotic as well as exciting. It shows the nature of males who are obsessed with winning, women and wine.
LibraryThing member Jammies
A juicy and irresistible summer read, with interesting characters tangled in love affairs both wretched and wonderful.
LibraryThing member sharrow
I remember going to the local library and getting this out when I was about 14 or 15. I biked home on my ten speed with it stuck to my bike carrier as it wouldn't fit in my bag I had hanging over my handlebars. What a revelation. Still one of my all times favorites and who doesn't love Rupert. Rich
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characters and while now it might be a little dated, it's still a rather rollicking good time. LOVE Jilly Cooper. Show Less
LibraryThing member almin
Light, slightly trashy from the 1980's, over 900 pages is a bit much for a popcorn book. I don't think I'll be reading the series.
LibraryThing member thewestwing
3 stars - while I did race through this book, I actually had a lot of issues with it. All the main characters were awful, with the exception of Tori. And I just don’t see the appeal of Rupert that other readers loved. Also I found the fixation on women’s weight to be tedious. Not tempted to
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read further in the series. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Language
Original publication date
1985
Physical description
928 p.; 6.9 inches
ISBN
0552124869 / 9780552124867