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Loading... Black Swan Green (original 2006; edition 2007)by David Mitchell (Author)Like all David Mitchell's books, I loved Black Swan Green. It's told from the perspective of 13 yr old Jason Taylor, growing up in 1981 England. A bit reminiscent of the Adrian Mole Diaries, the first person narrative let's us ride along in Adrian's mind as he experiences early adolescence. There's only a slight hint of the surreal that permeates some of Mitchell's other books, but that's ok - it's a different type of story. The writing itself is beautiful - sometimes lyrical - and the imminent monologue and dialogues are spot-on for tone. Highly recommend! Good but being written from a child's point of view is a big problem, in my view. The general outline of the plot felt really close to a lot of my experiences and some parts were really effective in that sense but this just made the bits where it wasn't realistic incredibly jarring. There are a few bits which are clearly far out of the ordinary and these don't bother me as much as the unrealistic patterns of speech and social dynamics that are clearly supposed to be the bread and butter of the book. The ending is frustrating too because it ends after a year, right at the point a dramatic change actually happens in the life of the main character (everything else has been a lot of small events). The chapter breaks can be annoying because they typically end right before revealing the consequences of something - usually you can infer it from the chapter following but in places it makes the narrative confusing and elides important events. This isn't to say the book is *bad* - not at all. His writing is excellent as ever, it made me tear up in places and bits were frighteningly realistic. It's just somewhat frustratingly inconsistent, marring the experience somewhat. I'd recommend reading his other books first. On a final note, a few times he does "something happened actually it didn't." It feels like something out of Goosebumps and is just straight up bizarre. later note: i reviewed this when i was really ill and i kind of dunno if i'd agree with what i wrote much. thinking back on it a month later all I can remember is how much it hit home. Just thinking about it makes me kind of sad. I think I was put off by the sadness. If you've liked David Mitchell I'd read this. Such a wonderful book, but very different from Cloud Atlas, though the author's incredible mastery of language and impressive imagination are equally in force. I had a hard time putting this book down and find that I'm still thinking about it. Thanks to my partner Tim for giving me such a great Christmas gift with this novel! This 13 year old's life isn't really anything I can relate to but David Mitchell writes well and conveys 1980s Britain and growing up. With a stammer, family discontent and bullies this is often painful, sometimes funny and occasionally mystical. The novel takes the reader deep inside Jason's mind and feels his puzzlement about so many things, including what a Brummie is and his efforts to explain the adult world. Nicely constructed if maybe somewhat a fantasy. Filled with 1980’s nostalgia, Black Swan Green transports the reader to a small town in Worcestershire, England, where thirteen-year-old narrator and protagonist Jason Taylor is dealing with the familiar challenges of adolescence. We follow his life in this small town as he seeks acceptance, observes the growing disharmony in his parents’ marriage, clashes with schoolyard bullies, battles a stammer that makes him agonizingly self-conscious, secretly writes poetry, and begins to mature into a more self-aware individual. This book paints a portrait of an innocent youth starting to deal with the often-painful realities of life and learning that appearances can be deceptive. It is a character-driven story told linearly in thirteen chapters. I thought Mitchell did an excellent job of capturing the voice of a teenage boy, and the writing is reflective of how an adolescent would talk. A large portion of the book is spent inside Jason’s head listening to his inner dialogue around such topics as his discomfort around his parents’ marital troubles, dealing with the ridicule of his schoolmates, his push/pull relationship with his sister, his attempts to overcome speech difficulties, reactions to the Falklands War, and guilt over specific actions. I felt his pain and became invested finding out what was going to happen with him. It takes a while to ramp up and builds momentum towards the end. I thought certain chapters were brilliant. I especially enjoyed the chapter entitled “Solarium” that features a flamboyantly eccentric character, Madame Crommelynck, an elderly Belgian woman who engages him in conversations about art, music, poetry, literature, and language. It contains elegant observations about youth and age, life and death, beauty and truth. This book is filled with meaningful examinations on the vulnerabilities in human relationships and the difficulties in being true to oneself while feeling pressured to fit in. Although the story is narrated by a teen, I felt I got more out of it reading it as an adult than I would have when I was much younger. Recommended to those that enjoy subtle, contemplative, character-driven stories, especially those related to coming-of-age. What is beauty? What is life all about? The questions that generate and resonate from the years when coming of age are present in this fine novel. The young boy at the center of this story is fascinating in his experiences and recognitions of life and love and the joy of existence. Highly recommended. I like the way the author writes, he is very funny. A great story about a 13 year old boy. Very realistic. My only wish is that it would have had more of an overall story. Each chapter kinda felt like its own separate story. Not that it didn't flow or anything, it did and it moved along, but it seemed like for a while that there was less of a plot and more of chapters/stories of this kids life. Good, just not my favorite style. I'll probably pick up the author's other books. Mensmerizing, nuanced & poignant coming of age story about a young boy with a stuttering problem growing up in 1980's England. The book takes place during his 13th year and it is awe-inspiring how Mitchell, telling the story in first person, subtly and gradually matures his character's way of thinking about and relating to the world. Mitchell is a mster. Black Swan Green has entered my personal pantheon of favorite books. Voor zover ik al fan was van het werk van David Mitchell, is hij na het lezen van Dertien nog een trapje hoger komen te staan. Indrukwekkend is niet alleen zijn stijl, die zo feilloos en trefzeker is, dat je haast vergeet dat hij er is, maar ook de manier waarop hij de genadeloze wereld van een dertienjarige vorm geeft. Tegen de achtergrond van de Falklandoorlog, de relatie van zijn ouders die spaak loopt en een bikkelharde strijd met zijn zus, probeert de dertienjarige Jason Taylor zich staande te houden op zijn school en in zijn sociale omgeving. Mitchell geeft dit prachtig en helder weer, zonder te vervallen in al te gemakkelijke cliché’s of voorspelbare wendingen. Leest als een trein en na afloop drukken we Taylor en zijn auteur dicht aan onze borst. Prachtboek. I liked this one a lot. A fun voice, a neat sense of nostalgia, and bits here and there that invite rumination. It's not a hard book by any stretch of the imagination, or a formally tricky one (a la Cloud Atlas), but neither is it exactly light-weight. It's one I'd read again, possibly on a single tear with the other Mitchell I've read. Now I'm off to get his two earliest novels and will wait with bated breath for the next. This book is reportedly "semi autobiographical" so it is hard to know which bits are real life, and which fictional, but the searing nature of the trials of life as a 13 year-old seemed extremely real to me. Beautiful writing, as I have come to expect from David Mitchell, but I found the contents of this book harrowing. I wonder how much has changed in terms of the bullying and aggressive social ranking among adolescents since the 1980s. I can only guess that the advent of social media has supercharged the process. Loved this, not really what I was expecting. Surprisingly poetic but a straightforward read. Although I'm too young to remember that early in the 80s, the book captures the monocultural, village life that I recall very well from my youth - definitely brings back how awful early secondary school life is and the social stratas between kids which are a minefield to navigate. Highly recommended. I can only call this an immature work. I have read and enjoyed most of David Mitchell's other books but this one did not impress. I kept reading it thinking something was going to happen ; some point to the story. I nearly gave up half way through until suddenly an ageing Belgian bohemian appeared in the story and I thought things were going to take a turn for the better. Alas no; the character disappeared after one chapter and the story plodded on and to be honest remained boring to the end. Maybe mildly interesting if you are a 14 year old boy. While I knew this was a semi-autobiographical novel about a 13-year old boy in the 80ies, and not really speculative fiction, I still expected something more. 'The Bone Clocks' blew me away - and not because of its speculative elements, but just because Mitchell wrote such a great, human book - judged by all kinds of parameters. 'Black Swan Green' is a bit too one-dimensional for me: one year in a boy's life, trapped with his stammer, in the disolving marriage of his parents, in the social world that is other kids in a small town. Been there, done that - so to say. It didn't surprise me, it didn't engage me and I didn't learn anything, so I decided to jump ship at 50%. I cannot fault David Mitchell - the language is great, there are some excellent scenes, and the protagonist's voice is convincing, but this was not the book for me: I'm simply not into the subject matter, I found out while reading. If you do like books about teenagers: there's a significant chance you'll like this, a lot even. More reviews on Weighing A Pig Doesn't Fatten It A complete departure from Mitchell's usual multifaceted attack. This book is glaring proof that his fiction's solidity isn't the result of a puzzle-piece pile of style and wit that dizzies rather than tells (as some have claimed), but the fact that each individual piece of his puzzle is cut, measured, and perfectly colored while somehow remaining absolutely human. There is something about a well written coming-of-age novel that grabs hold of your ‘young soul’ and gives it a good healthy massage- breathing it to life again. Black Swan Green by David Mitchell did this for me. It takes us to the Worcestershire backwater of Black Swan Green, (there are no swans on the green - local joke) and a young Jason Taylor struggling through his thirteenth year. On the surface there is nothing extraordinary about Jason, his middle class family consists of mum, dad and big sister Julia, who refers to him as ‘Thing’. He has a group of, if not popular, at least acceptable friends that try their best not to slide down the popularity ladder. And life is about not falling into the abyss that stretches between childhood and adolescence. Not an easy task with a stammer that insists on strangling your throat just when you need your voice, a family that seems to be crumbling under its own weight, and a group of school bullies cruel enough to put your teeth on edge. Set in the early 80’s of Thatcher’s England and seen through Jason’s young eyes, an immensely clear picture of village life unfolds and lures you in. I found it utterly engrossing and surprisingly stimulating. Many times I shared Jason’s frustration and fear, something that is imperative for me while reading a book. I need to care about the characters and the outcomes of their actions. Jason stores a few secrets throughout this book, but how he manages his stammer is just brilliant. He gives it the name, ‘Hangman’, and a personality, which helps in his battle to outwit it. He is not always successful, but that is the nature of the struggle, sometimes he wins, sometimes Hangman does. This is fantastic writing, and I was completely captivated by this exchange. I suppose I could relate to this on a personal level as my father had a debilitating stutter. As a child I just accepted it has part of him, but as an adult I am aware how difficult it must have been for him growing up with such a malady. This book is loaded with great school boy analogies like … ‘The staffroom’s like God. You can’t see it and live.’ Or ‘ …cigarette smoke billowed out like fog in Jack the Ripper’s London.’ And once you adjust to the apostrophe ridden dialogue, you find yourself constantly pulled back into those early high school years where every new day has the potential to send you to the moon or strike you down where you stand. It’s that basic and that complicated. Sadly, Mitchell has lessened the impact produced by some of his more descriptive phrases by using them more than once. This is a pity as it took the shine off a little for me. It appears as though some of his chapters were off-springs of earlier short stories, which could explain this over sight. Something that surely could have been picked up during the editing process. However, this was not enough to spoil the book for me and I was disappointed when Black Swan Green never made the cut for the ManBooker Prize. I was sure it would at the very least get shortlisted, but alas, my favourites seldom do, and it’s sad to think that this may result in some people passing it by. Don’t. If you’re inclined to take the advice of a prolific (if not chronic) reader, put this book on your reading list. You’ll be pleased you did. a year in the life of a boy in a small village in central England during the 80's, bullies, first love, family squabbles and the Falklands War. Enjoyed this quite a bit. Very "English" in the language that took me a bit to muddle thru, but not too bad. A cow of an awkward pause mooed. Art fabricated of the inarticulate is beauty |
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but plot and character development slow moving and not enthralling as anticipated.
No dead horse or dog in this one, simply a way-un-needed dead kitten...and more sad miseries. ( )