Black Swan Green
by David Mitchell
Reactions to the book varied somewhat between those who had read Mitchell’s earlier works and those who had not.
Those who had read previous books might have expected something a little more unusual or inventive, but all enjoyed it though to varying degrees.
The period, with its backdrop of music, news, politics and, particularly, the Falklands War, is superbly captured.
Some found the book hard to get into at first, and certainly there are a lot of loose ends many of which remain unresolved.
The experiences of the central character (especially with regard to bullying and adolescent culture) are authentically evoked and struck a personal or professional chord with many.
The ending of the book together with the references to other works tantalizingly suggest more to come.
Thanks to John Goodby we are now able to liberally lace our discussions reasonably accurately with the term “bildungsroman” though we did not see it as parody.
NS August 2007
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