A short review on Black Swan Green

The book Black Swan Green by David Mitchell follow's Jason Taylor in the year that he transitions from a child to a teenager. The book is periodical and talks about one month of Jason's life in each chapter and focuses on his coming of age. Because it is a coming of age novel talks about many of the issues affecting him such as bullying, his parents marital woes, his stutter and even the devastating Falkland wars. 

Overall I would rate this a nine out of ten for readability as it is quite an easy read. This book would receive a seven out of ten for entertainment because I didn't think it was that exciting the whole way through. For thought-provoking I would think that Black Swan Green deserves an eight, as the text did get thinking about how a child is personally affected by their parents failed marriage and how it may affect their confidence and trust in others/themselves.

Readability:9
Entertainment:7
Thought-provoking:8



"Family Fight Stock Photo 118302697." Thinkstock. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Jan. 2015.

Black Swan Green Review

Black Swan Green is a novel written by the famous author of Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell. This book highlights the life of a young teenager named Jason Taylor, written from his perspective. After reading this book, I was very fascinated by how much he has encountered throughout the flow of this book and how descriptive these events were written. Same thing applies to the characters he has encountered throughout the book. These factors contribute to the reason why I was quite entertained while I was reading this book. 

This book was not too difficult to read and understand, but the language that Jason uses in his narration is so contrasting and informal to other types of writing language I read before, that it took me a little bit more time to fully understand what he was trying to say. There were times where I had to reread the parts I did not understand several times. Other than that, there was not too much of a problem for me to read this book. 

After reading this book, it left me with a lot of thought and made me think a lot about the story, especially about Jason, as his personality and how he coped these events in the story (paricularly his stammer and "Hangman"). This novel also made think a lot about the course of these very interesting events that happened in Black Swan Green.

Readability:  8/10

Entertainment: 8/10

Thought provoking: 9/10

Review of 'Black Swan Green'

'Black Swan Green' by David Mitchell, highlights a year in the life of the main character, Jason Taylor. The book is written in the perspective of a 13 year old and each new chapter corresponds with a new month in that year. The episodic structure allows Jason to introduce new characters and events that have occurred during each particular month. The characters in the book are well developed and each of them have clear personalities and characteristics that can be identified through their behavior, despite the fact that their behavior might not be suitable for their age group. Jason records the things that he experiences in his social, school and personal life; in the book, Jason is of a low social status at school and suffers from stammering (a speech disorder) of which he personifies as 'hangman' and he also goes through phases of being the victim of bullying at school. Overall, the book is an accurate depiction of an eventful teenage life, even though 13 might be too young for some of the events that have happened. 

Readability: 9/10

Entertainment: 6/10

Thought-Provoking: 7/10

Overall: 22/30

Jennifer Allardice - Black Swan Green review

Entertainment: 6/10

Readability: 9/10

Thought-Provoking: 4/10

  David Michel's Black Swan Green covers Jason Taylor's 13th year, in an episodic manner which highlights events of each month. The 13 chapter book can be said to be on the shorter side of stories, with highly eventful months within a seemingly ordinary community. The book takes you through Jason's troublesome adolescence, as he deals with the issue of his parents divorce, his love of writing poems, and his speech deficiency. Throughout the story he meets a range of interesting characters, such as the extravagant Mrs.Crommylink, the enticing Dawn-Madden, and her cruel boyfriend, Ross Wilcox, as well as his snob of a cousin, Hugo, who convinces Jason to try his first cigarette. Although Mitchell introduces a diverse and interesting range of characters, I find that fails to develop any of them to a reasonably deep level, excluding the main character, Jason, who's perspective the book is based off.

  Apart from the characters, the stories which revolve around them seem to be fairly disparate and too eventful for the young life of a 13 year old boy. The story starts off with realistic happenings, such as witnessing a scrap between boys, trying to impress his schoolmates, spraining his ankle and accidentally breaking his most valuable possession, passed down to him by his father as a sign of trust of responsibility. However, as the story progresses, more exaggerated stories begin to show. For example, he meets a crazy, extravagant, old lady, who acts as a guru who tries to teach him how to write, and cope with his parent's divorce. Followed by stumbling across a band of gypsies who basically send the entire town into chaos, as they begin to panic about them taking over their jobs and lands. Although the stories might seem a bit too bold, David Mitchell's style of writing still manages to engage the reader throughout the story.

  

Black Swan Green Review

Readibility: 8/10
Thought provokingness: 4/10
Entertainment: 3/10

Black Swan Green by David Mitchell was quite an easy read but I did not find it intriguing to read and think about. This book was not entirely satisfying to read either because of it's use of local slang, which I could not grasp onto the most of the meanings, which was quite frustrating. It's use of characters within the story was however interesting and made me want to further understand them and their circumstances. Despite the simple dialogue and language used in the book, the plot was very dull and I did not see the point to the story. I understood that the author tries to portray the ordinary life of a normal teenage boy, but the events that occurred were either too boring or unrealistic, this made me uninterested in the plot. Therefore entertainment wise, I did not give it a high rating. As the plot and characters themselves were reasonably typical, the plot itself was too. I did not put much thought into the book as I was reading it, mainly because the events and dialogue were all too plain to see. Overall the character portrayal was done excellently but in my opinion it was it was a mediocre read, and I would not read it for enjoyment unless I have to. 

Black Swan Green Review

Genre: Fiction

Author: David Mitchell

Black Swan Green tracks a year in the life of Jason Taylor, a thirteen year old living in the town of Black Swan Green. Each chapter represents one month in his life, from January 1982 to January 1983. The book is written from Jason's point of view, and some of the areas being discussed include his struggles to overcome his stammer problem, and how his relationship with his family and friends.

The words were pretty straightforward. Being written in colloquial language, the book was pretty easy to read. It was quite entertaining as well, especially towards the end. Some of the parts were quite relatable, especially the parts where Jason talks about the various problems he faced. I think I would have enjoyed the book more had it not written in episodic structure, where all the chapters seemed to be disconnected. Overall I quite enjoyed this book.

Readability: 8/10

Entertainment: 8/10
Thought-provoking: 7/10
Overall: 23 / 30

Black Swan Green Review

Written by David Mitchell, 'Black Swan Green' is a novel following a year in Jason Taylor's life. There are thirteen chapters, which in turn follow a month of the year. Jason is introduced as a 13 year old boy, with a stammer. We see the change from Jason in the first chapter, to what he has become as a result of influence from certain events throughout the book. Another element we see in this, is how he struggles with his stammer (which he personifies as 'hangman'), and how he deals with it or seeks help about it.

Mitchell accurately uses realistic interaction between characters to portray Jason and most of the other characters, however at times there are a few characters which seem to be absolutely unbelievable. However, Jason is the only main character and majority of the other characters are recurring or only minor. Also, the book is quite episodic, as what happens between chapters is not described, nor even briefly mentioned, so we are left unknown with what happens to him between the chapters.

Readability-5
Entertainment-5
Thought-provoking-7

This image depicts how one is influence by others, through the actions and thoughts of others. Jason would be the red cogwheel, and the other white cogwheels would be controlling Jason, influencing him.









                                                                            (Haha)

Black Swan Green Review

The book Black Swan Green is about a young boy Jason Taylor, and he narrates one story of his life in chapters. I thought that the book was enjoyable in most of the parts, but some bits of the books was a little bit hard to read on because the beginning was a little bit boring to continue at first. The structure of the chapters is episodic as it does not flow together to make a smooth transition from one chapter to the other. There are a little bit too many characters in the book, so it was a little hard to remember all of the characters as the majority of them only show up in one or two of the chapters. I think that the language is easy to understand because the author is talking in a thirteen year old boys language.

Readability: 9/10

Entertainment: 7/10

Thought-Provoking: 7/10

Overall: 23/30

Review of Black Swan Green

Black Swan Green is a novel by David Mitchell about a thirteen year old boy named Jason growing up in the town Black Swan Green. Every chapter of the story describes a different event that occurred in a certain month, allowing the whole book to be around one year of the boy's life. Since every chapter illustrates a different month, the book structure is very episodic, which makes the story a bit confusing at the start. However, it does get easier to transition between the chapters but the episodic structure of the book does not change. Therefore, the readability of this book is around 7. For entertainment, every chapter includes a variety of stories that are vivid and interesting, therefore the score is 8. As this book is about a young adolescent boy's life, the big story arcs of this novel are the bullies and the parents' constant quarrels, which ultimately lead to finding out about the father's affair and a divorce. Though this book does not directly highlight any themes, it does allow the reader to ponder about how easily a thirteen year old boy's life can change. Thus, the thought-provoking score is 7. Overall, Black Swan Green was quite a satisfying book.

Readability: 7

Entertainment: 8

Thought-provoking: 7

Black Swan Green, a novel.

Black Swan Green Review

Black Swan Green is basically a collection of events in the one-year life of 13-year-old Jason Taylor. This book is slightly unsatisfying in the sense that questions are raised in each chapter but are never answered because the focus on that particular new character has shifted to another one. Since it is written in the point of view of a teenage boy, the story incorporates a load of slang that is not especially necessary, and eventually becomes quite a tedious read. Additionally, the book introduces obstacles for Jason that are not really relatable, for instance his struggle with speech delivery, and also the fighting between his parents at home. However, because the story is a narration, we always know what Jason is thinking; and sometimes, after describing an event, he would come up with a question and leave it unanswered for his readers to ponder on.

Readability: 9
Entertainment: 6
Thought-Provoking: 7

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu2844QKMzcV4L2MZODoOJ-zKLwT1XfcbVh25QcHWevf77adWsDMjaZ-sHis5cLN_VLnGErz_pQon_yoa4B2_EdwmLOz7HIYLxduOQoRG-Oun1S064xHme0WVeOBBM0ay7goonvG8kItq5/s1600/IMG_4741.JPG
I chose this picture because it reminds me of the house by the woods where the sour aunt lived (although I imagined it to be bigger), and how it appears at the beginning of the story and the end. In a way, it represents Jason's development as a character, as he returns to this place and looks at it differently as compared as the first time he sees it. The difference is that he goes from fearing the old woman, to appreciating her help and wanting to go visit and thank her for a last time before he leaves the town.

Black Swan Green Review

Black Swan Green tells a year of the life of the teenage boy, Jason, who stutters and stammers as well as getting bullied in school . Each chapter tells a new event of a new month of the year. Each of the stories and characters are well-developed and explains Jason's personality. Slang is used in this book so that the readers are able to know that the book is written in the perspective of a teenager. I found some of the events in the book quite boring but some of them were really interesting such as a chapter named 'Hangman'. Overall, it was a good book.

Entertainment: 6/10
Thought-provoking: 7/10
Readability: 8/10
Overall: 21/30

Black Swan Green Book Review

Black Swan Green is a book set during the Falklands war. The main character and narrator of the story is a boy named Jason Taylor who is thirteen years old. The book goes through a year in his life and the everyday problems he faces like his stutter and bullies at school namely Ross Wilcox and his friends. At some points in the book it can get quite confusing however if you just read on everything will become apparent. I gave it the scores below because the story can get quite interesting and curious sometimes as his father is always disappearing late at night and Ross Wilcox's conflictions with his father.

Readability= 7.5/10

Thought Provoking= 7/10

Entertainment= 8.5/10

Review of Black Swan Green

Black Swan Green
I found this book a little boring at the beginning, but more and more interesting towards the end. It is very easy to read, seldom with complicated words because this story is told by a teenager. A lot of characters interest me, such as Mrs Crommelynck, an old lady that is extravagant and quite odd. I also am very curious about the aunt that lives in the woods that appears to be dying. Although I did not find the events that happen throughout the book quite realistic, it was entertaining and intriguing. I wonder all the time about the reason behind Jason Taylor's father having an affair. Overall, I found this book to be quite satisfying.

Readability: 9/10
Entertainment: 8/10
Thought-provoking: 8/10

'The Old Man And The Sea' Review

The Old Man And The Sea by Ernest Hemingway is a book about an old fisherman who goes on a fishing voyage. His luck is terrible and hasn't caught a fish in eighty-five days. He usually fishes with a boy, but the boy's parents stopped him from fishing with the old man, so he had to sail alone for three days on a tiny boat. At the end of the trip, he did not achieve his ultimate goal of selling his fish, but his bravery and perseverance won him the respect of his village and the boy is willing to fish with the old man again.

This book is simple and easy to understand, but there are deeper meanings behind the words, so the readability score is 9. The book is not super interesting and full of adventure, but it does has some entertaining elements like when the old man fights off the sharks, so the entertainment score is 6. Even though the book is easy to read, it is not as simple as it looks. It talks about many problems we face and how to overcome them with optimism and resiliency, so the thought-provoking score is 8. I think it's a great book, and I recommend it to everyone who wants a quick easy read that is also quite insightful.

Readability: 9
Entertainment: 6
Thought-provoking: 8

Shantaram : Gregory David Roberts

  In 1980, a former herion addict escapes Australian prison, and flees to Bombay. Having fallen in love with the country upon landing he learns to regain the aspects of his life he formerly lost. The character development within the book, is one which shows a great diversity of perspectives, from slums to five-star hotels, Gregory David Robert writes in beautiful detail of his characters, thoughts, opinions and his meaning behind continuing on; the meaning of life. 
  Although the book is an extremely heavy read, it forms a lot of quotable phrases, which makes one rethink everything relevant to your life. After "Lin-Baba"'s 10 years in Bombay, he returns to Australia as captive, having learnt the heart, life and love of the world. This novel could be considered an auto-biography, and is a high recommendation of mine.

Anzac Exhchange

Sarge I think I'm buggered,
I'm bitten on me back,
a bloody snakes bin crawlin' thru the grass.

So call the Medic quick,
to give me arm a prick,
and take away the pain until I pass.

Yer mate the Bombardier,
can have me 'ish' of beer,
I won't be drinkin' Fosters when I go.

I've wrote me mum a note,
and I've put it in me pack,
she's livin' down near Kunga-munga-mo.

So tell me Aussie mates,
you'ze Kiwi bloody skates,
have caused the death of one of Anzac's finest.

And when I pass away,
don't put me in the clay,
the bloody dingo's here are rife as goats.

What's that you bloody say,
the choppers on its way,
it won't be here in time to save this Digger.

The Doc he said it's what?
Now how did that get there?
A tear tab from a beer can caused this wound?

Well, the pain will pass away,
and I'll fight another day,
but PLEEZE you'ze Kiwi's keep this to yourselves!

Mike Subritzky 1986

I chose this because i thought it was quite interesting with all the slang words is interesting and not something we have looked at in class as most of the poems are of a serious nature and none of them are exciting or funny. Also the poem is written in 1986 so it was quite late for a war poem.

"Divergent" Review

The book Divergent is about a 16 year old girl named Beatrice "Tris" Prior. When 16, she has to make a decision to choose 1 of 5 factions- Abnegation, Erudite, Amity, Candor and Dauntless. When Tris takes the test to find out which of the 5 she belongs to, she finds out she is Divergent, which means that she has an open mind and that she can't train herself to act in one specific way of life. She chooses Dauntless, which is for the brave. She must go through hard training and ends up falling for Four, one of her instructor, while maintaing her secret identity of being a Divergent.

The writing is really easy for the reader, because it uses very straight forward language. This book is very entertaining, because it is not a hard book to read, and is easy to understand. This is a book that I would definitely recommend to readers that like a dystopian and science fiction.

Stormbreaker review

Readability: 8/10

Content was relatively easy to understand, although there were some adjectives that I did not really get during the time I was reading this book, since I was only 10 years old when I first read this book.

Entertainment: 9/10

A great read. Contains many scenes of action, suspense, and conflict. There are conflicts between the protagonists themselves, or between the protagonists and the antagonists. As you read, it just really wants to make you read on, so you can know what is going to happen next.

Thought-provoking: 7/10

Especially the ending, which is a hook for us to wonder and be curious about what is going to happen in the following books in the series, as the first book of the many books in this series comes to a close.

O Captain! My Captain! - Walt Whitman

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN! 
Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done, The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won, The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;    But O heart! heart! heart!       O the bleeding drops of red,          Where on the deck my Captain lies,             Fallen cold and dead. O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells; Rise up--for you the flag is flung--for you the bugle trills, For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths--for you the shores      a-crowding, For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;    Here Captain! dear father!       This arm beneath your head!          It is some dream that on the deck             You've fallen cold and dead. My captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still, My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will, The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done, From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;    Exult, O shores, and ring O bells!       But I, with mournful tread,          Walk the deck my Captain lies,             Fallen cold and dead

“O Captain! My Captain!” is a poem by Walt Whitman, included in his famous collection Leaves of Grass. The poem was written in 1865, at the end of the American Civil War, after the surrender of the Confederate States and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The “captain” in this famous poem refers to Abraham Lincoln, who captains the United States, represented by the “ship”, and the whole poem discusses how Abraham Lincoln died right when the United States had won the war, “O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells; /Rise up--for you the flag is flung--for you the bugle trills… It is some dream that on the deck/You've fallen cold and dead”. The poem

I found this poem by looking through significant wars in the modern English speaking world. I came across the American Civil War, and thought that this war would be a good basis to start searching for poems. When searching through a website dedicated to the poetry of the American Civil War, I came across a name I had heard many times, Walt Whitman. Upon clicking the link, I found that I was familiar with the poem. As a result of anchoring, I ended up choosing this poem.

I really enjoy this poem’s rhythm, and how the poem’s rhythm gives the poem energy, reflecting the joy of the United States after they had won the Civil War. The rhythm is almost danceable, with sharp stresses and rapid changes. I feel the stark contrast between the death of the "captain" and the scene unfolding before them on the shore is an excellent use of contrast, making each aspect seem much more important. The contrast makes the death seem much more impactful, when juxtaposed with the celebration. I also feel that the indentation of the poem’s lines helps represent the tonal changes in the content and atmosphere in the poem. It is almost if the indentations of the poem build up the theme and prepare the reader for the final line, which always explicitly states that the captain has “fallen cold and dead”.

HOSPITAL BLAST-WALL : Bernie Bruen

As we have all been reading Black Swan Green, we should all know that the falkland war was mentioned in an earlier part of the book. This poem written during the time of the war, comes out as an engaging read, for those of us who are interested in the current english material we're reading. The poet Bernie Bruen, describes the environment of a hot, muddy island, through using verbs, like slipping and sweating, rather than direct adjectives. This unique method of description and building atmosphere makes the poem more interesting to read, as well as a lot more lively, due to the use of verbs.

"Softly, now, and mind your noise.

Don't disturb the wounded boys - sleeping.

Though they dribble down your neck,

Put the sandbags on the deck - weeping.

Use the shingle from the shore.

Bring a couple hundred more - dripping.

Roundly, with a turn belay!

Detonator's on delay - slipping.

Time is short, so lift and haul;

Got to thicken up this wall - stacking.

"Beat the Clock to Beat the Bomb!"

Such a fitting axiom - cracking!

Strip to trousers, boots and belt.

Push yourself until you melt - sweating.

Heave 'em up; no time to lose,

Only minutes on the fuze setting.

Hacked it! - with a bag to spare,

Finest bulwark anywhere - lasting.

Let the sucker detonate;

No way it can penetrate - blasting."

Requiem for the Croppies - Review

Requiem for the Croppies

The pockets of our greatcoats full of barley...

No kitchens on the run, no striking camp...

We moved quick and sudden in our own country.

The priest lay behind ditches with the tramp.

A people hardly marching... on the hike...

We found new tactics happening each day:

We'd cut through reins and rider with the pike

And stampede cattle into infantry,

Then retreat through hedges where cavalry must be thrown.

Until... on Vinegar Hill... the final conclave.

Terraced thousands died, shaking scythes at cannon.

The hillside blushed, soaked in our broken wave.

They buried us without shroud or coffin

And in August... the barley grew up out of our grave.


Seamus Heaney

---

Requiem for the Croppies is a poem written by Seamus Heaney about the Irish Republican Army (IRA). In 1919 to 1921, the IRA began a campaign against British Rule in Ireland which was known as the Irish War of Independence.

This reason in which I have chosen this poem is because not only did I find it an interesting read, but also because it was about something I never knew before. It was nice to learn about a historical event while researching about the poem.

War Poetry - The Lonely Hill

The Lonely Hill

Wild grow the poppies in Tunisian vale
Gracing the green of a fertile land
And here comes "Peace" to lay her veil
On the hill of the foes last stand. .

Out of the Plain reared the lonely hill
Like a breast bared to the sky
Its slopes clasped the fallen ever still
And its bosom echoed the swallow's cry. .

Small sanctuary of a fallen dream
Last bastion to Enfidaville
Your crumbled fort is a desolate scene
Where all but the winds are still. .

The winds will rise and the tall grass bend
To ripple like waves of the sea
And time will take the scars to mend
On the lonely hill of the free.

- RA Harris

The poem is describing a soldier sitting on top of a lonely hill in Tunisia waiting to be rescued. As he sits in his shelter, his mind wanders back home and freedom. I chose this poem from World War 2 because it made me realize how lonely the war must have been, when you leave your family and loved ones to serve the country and fulfill your duty. He referred to his dreams as fallen and I feel sympathy for the soldiers. We all have experienced loneliness, but not on such a massive scale. 

Poem on WW2

The Glory of the Guns

When the Battle Cry is spoken, 

And the Voice of War is heard, 

The soldiers of the Allies, 

To battlefields do move. 

The enemy is silent, 

As if waiting for the sun, 

Then they hear that awesome sound, 

The booming of the Guns. 

They shudder in their trenches 

Within a gnawing fear, 

Of knowing the Battery 

Of 1-6-1 is here. 

The shells come whilstling all around, 

And wreck and break and knock things down, 

Creating havoc among the lines 

And all that it surrounds. 

The enemy has broken 

In torn and tired dismay, 

Those so inclined 

Get down on knees and pray. 

The Allies are victorious, 

The enemy is on the run, 

Once again they have been beaten 

By the Glory of the Guns.

- Gunner MR Duncan

General Quarters WW2 Poem

GENERAL QUARTERS

General quarters, general quarters, 

All hands man your battle station! 

Sunday morning, December the 7th,

As war confronted our nation.

We soon found out it wasn’t a drill 

But instead it was war for real.

As you watch the death of friends and shipmates, 

It’s more anger than fear you feel.

Japanese warplanes came flying in low, 

As I took aim with my gun sight.

From the deck of a ship anchored at Pearl 

Damaged, though crew still eager to fight.

I saw the face of a pilot, who crashed,

Surrounded by black smoke and fire.

Some of my bullets must have found their mark.

For his death was but my desire!

Two thousand, three hundred and twenty-three killed, 

In a battle less than two hours.

With the heart of our Pacific fleet gone, 

Japan had flexed their naval powers.

The bombing and strafing of ships and troops 

Caused our congress to declare full war. 

Where many a man laid down his life 

Fighting for flag, country and more.

-Tom Zart

I chose this poem because of the rhyming scheme, and also the story that it tells. This poem was written during the WW2, of the Japanese against the Chinese. It talks about the scenery of the war and the feelings from one of the soldiers.