Black Swan Green

And like that, I’ve read every book David Mitchell has published so far, and I have to wait for his next book with bated breath. And while I’m a bit heartbroken that I have no more new Mitchell to read, I’m somewhat glad I ended with Black Swan Green, which feels like Mitchell’s most personal book, and turns a coming-of-age slice of life in 1980’s Britain into something incredible. In other words, just another masterpiece for one of the finest authors alive today. Like most of Mitchell’s books, Black Swan Green is composed of individual vignettes that combine to make something larger. But while many of Mitchell’s novels consist of multiple narrators, allowing him to throw his voice (narratively speaking), Black Swan Green is entirely told from the perspective of Jason Taylor, a 13-year-old boy from Worcestershire, England. It follows Jason over the course of a single year – specifically, from January 1982 to January 1983 – as he deals with bullies at school, his stammering problem, the departure of his older sister for school, fights at home, and his own desire to be something other than the typical Worcestershire boy. In other words, Black Swan Green is a typical coming-of-age story in so many ways…and yet, it feels like so little else out there, thanks in no small part to Mitchell’s rich voice. While he may be confining himself to a single narrator this time, none of that detracts from the beauty of his story, which never steps outside of its young perspective to comment on itself, instead letting the reader make the jumps for themselves. More than that, reading Black Swan Green as an adult lets us see the situations for what they are, removing Jason’s adolescent worries while reminding us constantly of how awful and overwhelming life could be at that age. But not content to simply give us a slice of adolescent life, Mitchell plunges us back into the early 1980’s in Britain, as the Falklands War explodes and Margaret Thatcher surges in popularity. It gives the book a wonderful lived-in feel, allowing the world to come to life without ever feeling insisted-upon or forced, and gives Jason’s story an impact that a generic setting could never match. (And, of course, there’s the fact that Mitchell is clearly somewhat writing his own story here, including the stammer that shapes so much of Jason’s life; it’s hard not to feel Mitchell’s experience shaping so much of what you read.) The result is a rich, engaging novel, one that creates a world that I happily lived in and never wanted to leave. I got angry at Jason’s bullies, savored his odd conversations with an elderly neighbor who sees beneath his surface, ached for him as I realized just how bad his home life was getting, and got caught up in his pining for girls and the excitement of his first, tentative relationships. It’s the rare adolescent story told by an adult that remembers not only the exhilaration and boundless nature of that age, but all the tension and awfulness that filled our lives. And beyond that, there’s Mitchell’s beautiful, rich prose, which gives every supporting character their own voice, makes Jason’s commentary on the world sing without ever feeling too old, and just plain works, making the novel the rich experience that it is. You’ll know Jason Taylor by the end of this, with all of his flaws, wants, needs, and hopes, and even if the book is just a slice of his life, there’s a sense that we’re seeing glimpses of the man he will become in here – and the man we want him to become. It’s a wonderfully funny, personal, rich book from a master writer – another essential read from an author who seems to write nothing but.

If it weren't David Mitchell writing this novel, I'd probably have expected less and liked it more. It's well crafted, well written, funny and interesting. That said, it's also a straightforward portrayal of growing up in a working class town in England (apparently, it's based on Mitchell's own experiences). In other words, it's nothing like Cloud Atlas or any of Mitchell's more complex and ambitious novels. Mitchell's virtuosity is in evidence, in his wonderful writing style, character development (the dad is particularly richly drawn and quite hilarious) and plot construction. Also, there are some characters that overlap with Cloud Atlas so that's fun. A good read -- but be prepared for a "memoir" type read (although crafted more tightly -- like a novel), not a Cloud Atlas.

I should probably start with a confession: I am in the minority of people who didn't particularly like Catcher in the Rye. I didn't necessarily dislike it, but it just never spoke to me in the way it spoke to so many others. I didn't fully understand why until I read Black Swan Green. For me (and I suspect many others), my youth was not one of prep schools, running away, prostitutes, or mental breakdowns. Most importantly, it was not full of dramatic ANGST, in the way that it is portrayed in Catcher in the Rye. Instead, like Jason Taylor in Black Swan Green, life was simply too busy for wallowing in angst ... "busy" in the sense of mundane adventures (that nevertheless feel more consequential than anything else in the world at the moment), family drama, and the interminable boredom punctuated by moments of terror known as school! As much as one would like to hit the pause button, the merry-go-round of life never stops, especially for a young adult. Mitchell does an outstanding job capturing the day to day excitement, fear, loneliness, and dilemmas actually faced by a 13 year old--many of which can be easily generalized to the world of adults, which is no less full of pecking orders, pressure to look cool/competent, jingoism, fear of failure, etc. than the world of children. In fact, this is part of what makes Mitchell's story so gripping: despite the incredible detail and the specific setting in 1980s England, this is a microcosm representative of the world at large. As a result, Black Swan Green is an extremely universal tale--I felt like I could relate incredibly well to the story, despite growing up neither in the 1980s nor in England! Black Swan Green was the third tale of Mitchell's that I've read (Cloud Atlas was the first; a character or two from that tale make a brief cameo in this book, in what felt like a slightly self-indulgent move by Mitchell, although it also was a bit clever as a meta-motif of the "everything-is-interconnected" lessons from that novel). Whereas Cloud Atlas is extremely "macro" in scope, Black Swan Green is much more "micro" in terms of geographic scope and time. Yet, it is equally gripping and has an equally important message. I fell in love with Mitchell's writing thanks to Cloud Atlas ... the infatuation only deepened thanks to Black Swan Green: this is an intelligent, gripping, and moving tale that easily belongs in the same conversation with some of literature's great works in the bildungsroman genre.

The writing was beautiful and poetic - captured the wonder and turmoil of the this very special adolescent and his family and friends. Loved it!

mal etwas anderes von ihm, ein Jugendroman - aber dicht und überzeugend aus der Sicht eines Jungen geschrieben und sehr lesenswert. Muss immer mal wieder an die Geschichte denken. Lese das Buch sicher mit meinen Jungs nochmal, wenn sie älter sind.

A Good Read!

I would consider myself a David Mitchell fan and I have read a few of his books and really enjoyed them so I was excited to start another of his works. In this book we are in 1982 with 13-year-old Jason Taylor. Jason lives with his parents and older sister in Home Counties England, against the ominous background of his bullying for a speech impediment, the Falklands War, and the slow disintegration of his parents' marriage. It feels like Mitchell does an excellent job of getting into the head of an adolescent boy – the trivial obsessions that seem so important, the painful desire to fit in and the not quite understanding of the nuances and undercurrents of the adult world. For anyone who remembers the ’80s he also pushes all the right cultural reference buttons – food, cars, music – to give a strong sense of time and place. As with all good coming of age stories it veers from-laugh-out-loud to toe-curling within a few paragraphs and I was immediately taken by Jason and absorbed into his life. I think there is a lot in this book that people can relate to even if you didn’t grow up in England in the 80’s. In usual Mitchell style the writing is wonderful, there are so many sentences and paragraphs that were highlighted in my Kindle and the characters felt so real to me. Overall another excellent Mitchell book and I’m trying not to jump straight into the other 3 of his books I have on my Kindle currently!

Excellent ! Cet auteur possède une maîtrise absolue du langage. Il se met dans la peau d'un adolescent de treize ans trouvant exactement le jargon des années quatre-vingt. Drôle et profond à la fois.