Black Swan Green

By David Mitchell

By the New York Times bestselling author of The Bone Clocks and Cloud Atlas | Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize

Selected by Time as One of the Ten Best Books of the Year | A New York Times Notable Book | Named One of the Best Books of the Year by The Washington Post Book World, The Christian Science Monitor, Rocky Mountain News, and Kirkus Reviews | A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist | Winner of the ALA Alex Award | Finalist for the Costa Novel Award

From award-winning writer David Mitchell comes a sinewy, meditative novel of boyhood on the cusp of adulthood and the old on the cusp of the new.

Black Swan Green tracks a single year in what is, for thirteen-year-old Jason Taylor, the sleepiest village in muddiest Worcestershire in a dying Cold War England, 1982. But the thirteen chapters, each a short story in its own right, create an exquisitely observed world that is anything but sleepy. A world of Kissingeresque realpolitik enacted in boys’ games on a frozen lake; of “nightcreeping” through the summer backyards of strangers; of the tabloid-fueled thrills of the Falklands War and its human toll; of the cruel, luscious Dawn Madden and her power-hungry boyfriend, Ross Wilcox; of a certain Madame Eva van Outryve de Crommelynck, an elderly bohemian emigré who is both more and less than she appears; of Jason’s search to replace his dead grandfather’s irreplaceable smashed watch before the crime is discovered; of first cigarettes, first kisses, first Duran Duran LPs, and first deaths; of Margaret Thatcher’s recession; of Gypsies camping in the woods and the hysteria they inspire; and, even closer to home, of a slow-motion divorce in four seasons.

Pointed, funny, profound, left-field, elegiac, and painted with the stuff of life, Black Swan Green is David Mitchell’s subtlest and most effective achievement to date.

Praise for Black Swan Green

“[David Mitchell has created] one of the most endearing, smart, and funny young narrators ever to rise up from the pages of a novel. . . . The always fresh and brilliant writing will carry readers back to their own childhoods. . . . This enchanting novel makes us remember exactly what it was like.”—The Boston Globe

“[David Mitchell is a] prodigiously daring and imaginative young writer. . . . As in the works of Thomas Pynchon and Herman Melville, one feels the roof of the narrative lifted off and oneself in thrall.”—Time

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jul 30, 2010
• ISBN: 9780307375483

Reviews for Black Swan Green

[eilonwy_anne · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have a hard time saying why this book is so charming. Perhaps it's Jason's naked honesty as a narrator, the way he lays bare his own insecurity. Perhaps it's the way he anthropomorphizes his own impulses and problems, or how the initially de rigeur contempt/resentment relationship with his older sister rapidly becomes something more respectful and interesting. Perhaps it's that he writes poetry under the name of Eliot Bolivar.At any rate, Black Swan Green manages to make a memorable voice and an individual story out of what seems like very ordinary material: young boy struggles with identity and social acceptance in small English town in the 80s. The plot does have its predictable moments, but also its surprises. I enjoyed the book, read it quickly, and liked Jason much more than the average teen protagonist.

[bookwyrmm_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Compelling novel of coming-of-age in small town Britain in the early 80s.

[jody12-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[mahsdad · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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

[meredk · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a book by David Mitchell, who also wrote "Cloud Atlas" and "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet," both of which I loved. Those books were completely unlike one another, and this is unlike either of those, and I loved this as well. The voice of the main character, Jason Taylor, is brilliantly done - Mitchell totally nailed what it's like to be the painful age of 13. Funny at times, occasionally a bit scary, often discomforting, the story covers one year in this kid's life. It's about bullying for sure, also about self discovery, and ultimately about growing up. Simply wonderful.

[msaucier818 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Three books later, I am not completely sold on David Mitchell. I enjoy his writing style, but his stories have something about them that I have a hard time really appreciating. This particular book is well written, but there is no real climax to the story. Each chapter acts more or less as a short story in the life of a 13 year old boy in England in the early 1980s. I appreciated the historical references, but the misery and bullying the kid goes through made it difficult for me to read. Maybe my problem is more personal and it brought me back to that awkward age in my own life, but this is not a book I will return to in the future.

[msf59 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Jason Taylor is thirteen years old, living in a village in Worchestershire, in the west midlands of England. It is 1982, the cold war is dying and Margaret Thatcher is playing host to a continuing recession and the Falklands War. This coming of age novel, tracks a year in Jason's life. In episodic bursts, we see days of wonder and joy, followed by flashes of adolescent brutality, as Jason is mercilessly bullied, for having a stammer. He is also a bystander, to the unraveling of his parents marriage, which is particularly painful to the teenager. Jason is a faithful narrator, very bright, with poet instincts and aspirations, without the smart-alecky Holden Caulfield approach.Mitchell based this story, on his own rough and tumble childhood. This was also his follow-up, to his masterpiece, Cloud Atlas, and clearly proved and solidified his reputation for being one of the best English novelists working today.

[ysmng_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Overall good read.

[smiler69 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Our narrator, Jason Taylor is thirteen years old at the beginning of 1982 and tells us about his daily life, his family, his experiences with boys in his neighbourhood of Black Swan Green, a fictional village in Worcestershire, England. Jason is an especially sensitive boy who publishes his poetry in the local parish bulletin, but as he tells us early on, writing poetry is "gay" so he does so under a pseudonym and is careful not to let his secret out. And with good reason; having developed a speech impediment, Jason sees his popularity sink over the course of the following year, becoming the victim of relentless bullying, while weathering through a tense environment at home, where his mother and father are continually at war with one another, with intimations that Mr Taylor has taken out a second mortgage on the family home secretly and that there might be another woman in the wings. This is very much a coming of age story, and what made it especially appealing to me is that it rung very true and seemed all too familiar. Like David Mitchell, I too was born in 1969 and saw life through a similar perspective as the author reveals to us in the in this semi-autobiographical novel. For me, the Falklands War was something happening very far away from Montreal, Canada, but for Jason it's an exciting event, and an opportunity for hero worship; his reverence and trust in Margaret Thatcher is endearing, and tells us not to rely entirely on this inexperienced narrator. Many references to pop culture, including the music and pastimes favoured by adolescents were similar to what I experienced, which may have influenced me in giving this novel what is I consider to be a high rating, as I would probably otherwise have given it a four-star rating. Mitchell writes very well, and very convincingly, as well as realistically; toward the end of the story, our hero makes large strides towards asserting himself and figuring out what his priorities are, while the rest of his world remains as imperfect and fragile as it is in real life. Definitely recommended.

[indygo88 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Quite an enjoyable book, this one was. After The Virgin in the Garden by A.S. Byatt, it was quite refreshing. This was my first book by Mitchell, and I enjoyed the writing style for the most part. The way the chapters joined together threw me a little at the beginning -- they didn't necessarily flow from one to the other, but instead seemed more like little vignettes one after the other -- but after getting used to that I rather liked it. I thought there were some brilliant phrases mixed in throughout...I wish I would've highlighted or written some of them down. I liked reading through the eyes of a 13-year-old boy, although I'm not sure I envy him that period of his life. Boys can be so cruel to one another (as can girls, nowadays). I also have a close friend who stutters (she prefers the term 'speech impediment'), and I guess I probably never stopped to think just how much anxiety certain situations must produce.

[jbd1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another good story from David Mitchell; I'm surprised I had missed this one for so long, since I'm usually pretty diligent about reading his books shortly after publication. A great, amusing narrator, matched with Mitchell's usual lively writing and just a hint of the fantastic.

[jmoncton_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

David Mitchell always amazes me. Each work or his that I read has a unique style and voice that is perfectly executed. Black Swan Green is a coming of age book and doesn't have the mind twisting plot elements of Cloud Atlas or The Bone Clocks, but is more of a quiet story about a teenage boy just trying to navigate all the problems that go along with adolescence. A great read.

[jedijane_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Living in New Zealand, I've found it hard to explain to friends, who are lovers of David Mitchell, why this is such a good book. For me it represents my childhood in the '80s and all the delicious details of those times are brought back for me with relish. Of course I also love Mitchell's obligatory self-referential excerpts and Black Swan Green's connection to one of one of the most haunting tales from Cloud Atlas.I loved this book. It demonstrated for me that Mitchell can do more than multi-narrative inter-woven post-post-modernism and most importantly can delve deep within characters and show their inner workings, whilst still retaining their humanity. Although it may not be as self-consciously intellectual as some of his other works, I really enjoyed the accessibilty of this story and was ultimately saddened by its finale.

[nordict-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Really enjoyable "pre-coming-of-age" novel following the trials and tribulations of teenage Jason Taylor in rural 1980s England. Each chapter could stand on its own as a good short story. I really felt sympathetic and proud of Jason for his perseverence through one of life's more difficult periods. David Mitchell also made me realize that there can be a kind of beauty in even this, the mundane and typical kind of adolescent suffering that young people will inevitably experience even in a wealthy, developed Western country. I still get a kick out of the fact that the local joke suggests that there are no swans in Black Swan Green...until one appears at the very end.

[letseatgrandpa · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of my favorite books of all time -- I thought it was so well done!

[kougogo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In Mitchell's words Black Swan Green is 'a novel that describes the year before coming-of-age' (I'm paraphrasing). In this it captures something indelible and moving. A voice of a 12-year-old boy, a brain developing, an expression feeling out for itself the first tastes of an adult world. It feels immediate, not nostalgic. It is perhaps a little unsatisfying - maybe though that's the point. The protagonist himself is a little unsatisfied, is readying himself for a change. This novel describes (and seems like) the calm before a storm.

[dylanwolf · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Unlike most reviewers here I found this quite a disappointment. Ghostwritten and Cloud Atlas were tremendous novels - breaking new ground. Black Swan Green, on the other hand, is far more mundane fare. I have some difficulties with novels where the narrator is a child. It's a difficult trick to pull off and whilst some like Mockingbird, Catcher, Vernon God Little and Wasp Factory succeed others like The Curious Case of the Dog don't.Black Swan Green, although it had some stonking sentences that others have pointed up, was, I thought, too formulaic. The bullying was overdone, the marriage break-up was prosaic. To me the novel didn't feel like it was loved. It felt like it was an aggregation of standard genre themes and icons - a predictable journey. Adequately done but not the risky project that I'd come to expect from David Mitchell.Perhaps there was too much memoir loaded into it for any surprising or controversial approaches to coming-of-age issues to be included.Black Swan Green is an easy and engaging read (unless you are trying to put a miserable school experience behind you) but it will not knock your socks off.

[leahdawn_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Pretty awful. An uneventful, boring plot that lurches along painfully. David Mitchell's other books are MUCH better.

[petterw_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As coming-of-age novels go, Black Swan Green is among the best and most believable I have read. The story of Jason Taylor is in no way spectacular, as much is happening in the fictionous span of one year than in a life of a real 13-year old. Still it is diffucult to stop reading, both because it is everyone's story, and it is delightfully nostalgic whether you grew up in England or elsewhere. Mitchell manages to write a story as seen through the eyes of a 13-year old, while at the same time use a vivid and rich adult language. This is harder than you think! Recommended.

[madcurrin_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"The cow of an awkward pause mooed."This sentence alone is reason enough to read Black Swan Green. I didn't enjoy this novel nearly as much as Ghostwritten or Cloud Atlas - after the fireworks and tricks of those other books I kept expecting something out of the ordinary to happen in Black Swan Green, which never eventuated - but Mitchell remains one of my favourite writers for his command of descriptive language and his ability to completely inhabit the voice and personality of his narrators.

[eyejaybee · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Perhaps the best novel about going to school in the 1970s/1980s I have ever read. In fact, quite simply one of the best books I have ever read of any genre.

[deargreenplace · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Am I the only person who didn't like this book? I am normally a huge fan of David Mitchell, but Black Swan Green was dull.It is the suburban and pedestrian tale of 13 year-old Jason Taylor. Middle class, middle England. Crushes, fights, adventures, gangs, adolescent discoveries, families. Not a lot happened.Mitchell seemed to get a huge kick out of dropping in references to long-gone relics of the 1980s in just about every paragraph. If this is what you want, I recommend watching the tv compilation I Love The 1980s instead.

[epictale · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Hugely enjoyable book! Engaging characters, worthwhile and credible storytelling, and crisp prose. This is the best book I've read in awhile. Highly recommended.

[brianinbuffalo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As a fan of coming of age novels, especially those set in contemporary eras, I was eager to read Mitchell's work. The fact that the book was showered with rave reviews, and that the plot included splashes of contemporary history raised my expectations even higher. That's why I was stunned when I couldn't even make it halfway through this tome. I can't say it any other way. I found most of it painfully boring. I kept saying to myself "the next chapter will hook me." It never happened. There's no denying that Mitchell is a skilled author. Perhaps I need to try some of his earlier novels. But this one just didn't do it for me.

[clfisha · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

David Mitchell is at heart a superb storyteller and this semi-autobiographical 'coming of age' tale is no exception. It doesn't matter it's set in boring old England or that it ticks all the standard tropes (you know the kind of thing boyhood adventures, bullying, family problems and first love) it is a captivating, emotional and fun tale.We follow thirteen months of the life of 13 yr old Jason Taylor, a chapter for every month. At first this technique is jarring, especially as the 1st story stops so abruptly (familiar eh?) however as story progress the plots and themes mesh wonderfully into one strong linear tale and all you are left with are the hooks of our unanswered questions, with which we are occasionally rewarded a answer.The setting is pitch perfect, as a child of 80s Britain myself I found the decade brought vividly and scarily to life. From food and music through to the Falklands war and bitter antagonism with gypsies, it's all there. Sadly this means it's hard for me to say whether the colloquiums are too much, I don't think though do.One warning, I would read his other books first, because he does reference them. Characters such as Frobisher's love from Cloud Atlas make an appearance and this does impact your view of the story. On one level a dizzy sense of time flowing is gained, Black Swan Green is their past or their future and events outside Jason's world. On another level a question of unreality seeps into the novel, were these events inspiration or do these parts indicate the falsehoods in the tale.These feelings are also enhanced by the rare sentence commenting on events, assuring us this event did or did not happen. Mix this with a sometimes profound and mature musing, sudden awareness of an authors presence and his manipulations. It maybe be obvious that memoir isn't always true but this deft touch adds insecurity and depth to a simple memoir.Or course after my blatherings I must add it's not a tricksy post modernist book, it's just a damn fine tale and can be enjoyed as such.

[carothelibrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this nostalgic look at childhood in the 1980s, and the coming of age story of Jason. I agree with some other reviewers that his 13-year-old voice didn't always seem to ring true, but there were so many other enjoyable aspects of this novel that that didn't detract too much. With its backdrop the Falklands War, this is obviously a highly autobiographical book. I'm intending to read more of Mitchell's writing to see how it compares.

[lriley_43 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Quite a bit different from Mitchell's past novels--this is a kind of coming of age fiction set in the 1980's in a small village in rural England. It as a much about how 13 year old Jason Taylor sees himself and how everyone around him sees him. Jason wants terribly to belong and for much of the book although not one of the most popular or toughest kids he falls somewhere in the middle status-wise. His father is an agressive go-getter executive for a supermarket. His mother stays at home. His sister Julia some 5 years older than he is allowed and allows herself certain liberties that he can't seem to attain. Jason writes poetry but he keeps it hidden because it will mark him out as 'gay' to his peers. He also stutters over certain phonetic sounds--that begin with s's and n's and has become quite adept at substituting other words that don't to take their place. His one major fear is to have to get out in front of a class and read from a text. His father and mother begin to have marital problems--mostly over money and how it is to be spent--and in the meantime Jason will find that all his fears will come right out in the open and he will become he fears more than anything--a pariah to be picked on by the most popular and the meanest kids in his school. Eventually though Jason comes to realize not only things about himself but also insights on others as well. As he begins to turn the tables on his tormenters though his parents marriage is falling apart. Anyway it's a very good book and although quite different from the rest of Mr. Mitchell's work it is also worthy of it. Very clean and easy to read prose. Some of the characterizations are particularly wonderful in particular Madame Crommelynck, his sister Julia and his friend Moran. It's a compelling plot and I'd recommend it along with all the rest of Mr. Mitchell's work.

[framberg_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a wonderfully funny, wonderfully poignant, wonderfully vivid novel. The story of Jason Taylor's 13th year, with all of its attendant miseries and triumphs, is told by Jason with honesty, imagination, and just the right amount of insight. Mitchell's protagonist is a completely believable 13 year old boy, worried about war and cigarettes and kisses, curious about everything, and struggling desperately to maintain (or improve!) his social standing at his comprehensive school. Jason's stammering problem is particularly well described - the image of the Hangman, preventing Jason from using certain words and circumscribing his conversation, hovers over his every utterance. Only in his poetry can Jason speak freely, yet he writes anonymously, sure that his classmates will label his efforts "gay". Jason's growth over the course of the year chronicled in the novel is substantial, but Mitchell never forces his character, letting his maturation unfold naturally as he faces the trials and tribulations of youth.

[nagem13 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well, I suppose I should preface this by saying that I LOVED Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, but I can definitely see where it's not for everyone. Part of what I loved about it is the way that Mitchell uses structure to add to the story, and he pays attention to structure in Black Swan Green as well. It's more reader friendly in Black Swan Green though. Cloud Atlas cuts each of the stories except for the last one in half and wraps them around each other, like Russian dolls. In Black Swan Green, both the passage of time and the number 13 are important, and so there are 13 chapters, one for each month that the book spans. You get an episode that happens each month rather than a completely continuous narrative. It works for me.Black Swan Green is significantly more accessible than Cloud Atlas, although 80s British slang is sometimes like a different language. It's kind of like A Clockwork Orange though... you get used to it. And then you start wanting to whip out words from it and no one knows what the hell you're trying to say... unless they've read the book.The narrator, Jason Taylor, is sometimes incredibly acute, but then also sometimes things go way over his head. It's also quite interesting to try to work out Jason's contradictions throughout the novel. For example, my favorite quote from the novel: "Me, I want to bloody kick this moronic bloody world in the bloody teeth over and over till it bloody understands that not hurting people is ten bloody thousand times more bloody important than being right" (118). The following chapter makes this a very interesting statement indeed. By the end of the novel, though, Jason has moved forward.

[celticstar · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I haven't read anything else by David Mitchell so I can't compare but reading the blub for his other books this does sound really different. I was 10 in 1982 so this was a nostalgia trip for me too and I really enjoyed it. Like Jason I'm also the youngest child, the one that never gets told what's going on! British Bulldog was banned in my Primary School the year I arrived, boys may have played it out of School but thankfully I didn't get to witness this if they did.