Black Swan Green Paperback – February 27, 2007

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.

I bought this book because of Cloud Atlas - I just wanted to get grounded a little more in his work before attacking his most recent. I must say, for the first 25 pages or so I wasn't sure it was a good decision - early, odd work by developing young author??? But I am so glad I hung in there. First, some of the early difficulty comes from being put firmly and deeply inside the mind of an adolescent male. Secondly, the narrator thinks/speaks in a punk/young/British patois which takes some time to become fluent in. I suspect, in retrospect, that it may be a little autobiographical - how else could he have captured the mind of this young man so deeply, so well? For those of you looking for specifics, the subject is a young upper middle-class boy who stutters and so is the victim of bullying at school, and a failing marriage at home. And, BTW, for fellow Cloud Atlas fanatics there are a couple of clever references here that only you and your ilk will get. Anyway, buy it, read it, fall in love.

This was an incredibly rewarding novel with some of the most beautiful prose I've read in a contemporary author. For those of you that have trouble with morphed language and slang (hint: it's british, and I'm not even sure brit's will understand all of it), try to exhibit some patience through the first few chapters. In my opinion, it was vital to the imagery evoked throughout the novel in helping immerse the reader in the adolescent world of 1980s England. Speaking of - Mitchell does a wonderful job creating mood and setting with both his syntax and descriptive power. Of particular note, Jason's encounter with the old woman by the lake, poetry lessons, and the encounter with his father at the fair are all extremely powerful and mesmerizing to the reader. It's one of those books where the author subtly sets a scene with limited description, dialogue, and rhetorical devices (no drawn-out descriptions or unnecessary pretty words) and halfway through the reader finds him/herself waist-deep within the pages. It's also rewarding to see the interconnectedness of things between early and later chapters (signature mitchell) and how these connections help portray Jason's rise to maturity (watch his relationship with Julia). Highly recommended novel, definitely not vintage mitchell in subject matter, but just goes to show what an amazing novelist he is.