Black Swan Green

By: David Mitchell

Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne

Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's Summary

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 13-year-old Jason Taylor, the sleepiest village in muddiest Worcestershire in dying Cold War England, 1982. But the 13 chapters, each a short story in its own right, create an exquisitely observed world that is anything but sleepy. A world of Kissinger-esque 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 emigre 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.

©2006 David Mitchell (P)2006 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic Reviews

"Great Britain's Catcher in the Rye, and another triumph for one of the present age's most interesting and accomplished novelists." ( Kirkus Reviews)

"Gorgeous....Captures the sheer pleasure of being a boy and brings to mind adventures shared by Huck and Tom." ( Publishers Weekly)

"He reproduces Jason's inner life with such astonishing verisimilitude that readers will find themselves haunted by him long after turning the last page." ( Booklist)

Great intro to Mitchell's world: Black Swan Green

Any additional comments?

Five stars to David Mitchell's unrelentingly real portrayal of one boy's 13th year. Jason Taylor is disturbed, eloquent, sweet, bawdy (in a 13 year old kind of way), unintuitive and unable to be anyone but himself. That last part is the trouble: no one accepts a 13-year-old who is true to himself, so he gets beat up on a regular basis. He has a rough time of it--an unrelenting stammer, a highly developed intellect which does not usually work in his favor, and a vicious internal life--he names his alter egos the Unborn Twin, Hangman and Maggot. But his talent for language (I know, ironic) and the picaresque episodes with unexpected allies put him in the driver's seat for the bildungsroman which is 8th grade. He emerges victorious, to take the challenges of 9th grade on--whether he wants to or not.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Captivating

I absolutly loved this book and this author. I also have recently listen to Cloud Atlas. I love the voice of the character,13 year old Jason Taylor. He is a middle tier cool kid. This book is a funny, sensative and often heartbreaking look at how difficult it is to be a 13 year old boy and navigate your place in the food chain of boys in school, the mysterious draw of girls, world politics and family problems. The narrator is brillant. I couldn't stop listening because of his magical voice. He effortlessly breaths life into all of the characters in the book. I can't wait to read/listen to more by this author and I look to hearing more from this narrator.

I can't say enough good things about this book.

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

Everyone should read!

David Mitchell is a writer I enjoy a lot, so I expected to like this. It exceeded my expectations and I not only loved it, I've already purchased it for several other people in my life.

Besides the magnificent writing, the narration is absolutely perfect! I feel like this is a book I would have enjoyed in written or audio form. That said, I'm glad I listened to it because the narrator bought the book to life for me in a way that I'm not sure I would have experienced reading it. I highly recommend it to everyone.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Couldn't take more of the dreadful English accent

Any additional comments?

Having grown up in Malvern ( pronounced Moll Vern ) I loved Mitchell's reference to places I know and I found the story compelling, but the narrator's English accent was so painful that I couldn't get through this. I hope there's another recording as I'd love to listen.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

My favorite of his books

Would you listen to Black Swan Green again? Why?

The narrator was compelling. I doubt if I'll listen again because I have many, many waiting for my eaers.

What other book might you compare Black Swan Green to and why?

Skippy Dies.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

a good story read terribly

its a tribute to David Mitchell's writing that I managed to listen to this book to the end. The story takes place in England and the characters are all English. so why choose a narrator that sounds like a Canadian who went on holiday to Manchester and took elecution lessons from the Queen - sorry Kirby I'm sure you're a nice bloke but the reading was dismal!!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Slow start but then very engrossing

I really liked this book - my first by David Mitchell. The narration was good in parts but the pronunciation of place names and even just ordinary words was off putting. A slight glitch in an otherwise good experience. I'm off to start my next DM book now....

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A boy's coming of age doesn't get much better

What made the experience of listening to Black Swan Green the most enjoyable?

Everything. The reader seemed to BE the characters. I wish the book was longer.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The lad, of course! I did also like his sister, too. Even Hugo with his grisly dark side was just right for this perfect book.

What about Kirby Heyborne’s performance did you like?

I think the reader must have loved this book as much as I did and it came through. The pain, the little joys, the everyday-ness of being a boy in Yorkshire at age 13. It was moving and entertaining.

If you could take any character from Black Swan Green out to dinner, who would it be and why?

the lad of course. I would want to know how his poetry was developing and if he liked his new home in London.

Any additional comments?

David Mitchell is a perfect novelist, storyteller and poet. His command of prose takes my breath away. Literally.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

You say Tomato

Captures life in 1980's middle England perfectly, disturbingly realistic depictions of small village & comprehensive school drudgery.
A subtle coming of age story with one drawback, the narration.

If the lead character of a novel is a 13 year old boy please audible, pretty please hire an English actor.

The pronunciation of vowel sounds by this narrator are incredibly jarring. Pretty clearly an American doing an English accent and not all that badly EXCEPT for all of his vowel sounds!
Not being English also leads to the narrator woefully mispronouncing place names and butchering regional accents that are scattered throughout the book.

The narrators rhythm and acting skills are really quite good but he shouldn't be reading English characters without some guidance. Easier just to hire a Brit in the future, PLEASE!

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Even better the 2nd time!

I listened to this book about a year ago and recently started listening to it again. I am enjoying it even more the 2nd time around. So much happens during the year in the life of Jason that you can't absorb it all the 1st time around. Great story and great narrator.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful