Product Description

David Mitchell comes home - to England, 1982, and the cusp of adolescence. Jason Taylor is 13, doomed to be growing up in the most boring family in the deadest village ("Black Swan Green") in the dullest county (Worcestershire) in the most tedious nation (England) on earth. And he stammers. 13 chapters, each as self-contained as a short story, follow 13 months in his life as he negotiates the pitfalls of school and home and contends with bullies, girls and family politics. In the distance, the Falklands conflict breaks out; close at hand, the village mobilises against a gypsy camp. And through Jason's eyes, we see what he doesn't know he knows - and watch unfold what will make him wish his life had been as uneventful as he had believed. Vividly capturing the mood of the times - high unemployment, Cold War politics and the sunset of agrarian England - this is at once a portrait of an era and of an age: the black hole between childhood and teenagerdom.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #142494 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

Review
"* 'His wildest ride yet... a singular achievement, from an author of extraordinary ambition and skill' - Independent on Sunday on CLOUD ATLAS * 'Exceptional... clever, unusual, gripping and beautifully written' - Literary Review on NUMBER9DREAM * 'The best first novel I have read in ages... [it] beguiles, informs, shocks and captivates.' - William Boyd, Daily Telegraph Books of the Year on GHOSTWRITTEN"

Daily Mail
'David Mitchell is dizzyingly, dazzlingly good...Black Swan Green is just gorgeous'

Sunday Express
‘A delight to read from beginning to end’

Customer Reviews

Black Swan Green: Mitchell is a maestro
Black Swan Green, detailing 13 months in the life of Jason Taylor resonates soundly with our own experiences of growing up. On many occassions Mitchell is beautifully but undeliberately funny; at other times the book is breathtakingly tragic with Mitchell reminding us, like a contemporary Golding, of the cruelty and brutality which children and adolescents can be capable of.

A brilliant page turner from a sensationally good writer.
Much easier to read than his other books but no less satisfying. I'm surprised that it didn't breakthrough to the big time in sales terms; but perhaps the subject matter of a village boy in 1982 England sounds too unpromising or parochial - it's neither. I see that some other reviewers make literary criticisms of the novel but if you want a very well written book with great characters and a lively page turning plot (and who doesn't?) buy this.

Funny, perceptive and moving.....
A very impressive story of teenager coming to terms with the world around him in the 1980s. The story tells of the thirteen months of Jason's life between childhood and adolescence - the stammering, the bullies, the family strife, the Falklands War and the diverse and strange characters living in his village. As a sensitive, intelligent boy Jason has to make his way in life through a maze of dangers - knowing which boys to avoid, not using the wrong words, wearing the right clothes, not letting anyone know he writes poetry etc. The whole story is laden with cultural and historical references: Curly Whirlies, Thatcherism, Gotcha and ZX Spectrums.

An authentic narrative voice is in turns funny, perceptive and moving. In parts it is desperately sad (even though Jason expresses no self pity) but is ultimately positive and uplifting. Beautifully constructed novel and exuberant language.

I enjoyed all the references to Alain-Fournier's Le Grand Meaulnes. This book has now waiting on my "books to read" shelf!