Mondo Bungle

Black Swan Green, by David Mitchell, 2006
294 pages

I read this cuz I still can't find Cloud Atlas.

It's about a kid being 13.

Well, content wise, there's not much more to say than that. But it's quite a nice read. It's not all fantasy-like like a lot of his other stuff, but it's very compelling for an angst monger like myself. It details a year in the life of a 13 year old in Worcestershire in 1982-1983, with all the first kisses and Talking Heads records and English teen slang you can handle. The prose is what you'd expect but much more endearing, I think, coming from this new perspective of youth, and there's a lot more distinction in it that way. I read through it real quick.

Jason Taylor has kind of a speech problem, describes himself as a middle ranking kid and goes on about all the whacks and the cool guys and gals at school, tries his first cigarette, sees a fight and some intercourse, joins a gang, publishes poems under a pseudonym, etc.

It's a humbling book, realistic, honest, often funny, touching, another etc. Apparently they like to think of it as a modern Catcher in the Rye, of which my experience/knowledge is limited, but Black Swan Green is nice.

8.5/10

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