h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

What did you think?

Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman

The first half was a struggle for me to read. Written from the point of view of an eleven year old boy I simply felt left out of it for the first half. But as I got to know him better I liked him better and was drawn in enough to want to continue learning the story.

My first thought on reaching the end, though, was that it had been a waste of time but that thought lasted barely a moment to be pushed out by the realisation of just how well the whole thing had been presented.

There are layers present from beginning to end in the narrative which I think were subtly done and the more effective for that. Among them, the pigeon, of course and the absent family members heard only on the phone.

I'll have to give it about 5½ out of 8.

M a n

Pigeon English

This was the first book I read.

I'm very familar with the estates described and the situation, so I could visualise the action and locations very well. It's the story of a 11 year old boy who lives on an estate where a child is murdered. It's shameless similar to the Damiola Taylor case of a real murder. He gets gradually dragged into the gang culture because that's just want you do on the estate. At the same time he really likes science and has amazing potential.

His mother is working hard as a midwife in a London hospital and he and his sister are basically left to their own devices. They are gradually drifting towards gang culture.

The book was a wonderful portrait of how a basically good kid gets sucked into violence and ganges in London.

There's a list of discussion questions at the back of my kindle edition. I'll put some of them up when I get home.

I'm not sure if this book would stand the test of time as it's very relevant to the time and place it was written in. Like much of Dickens the social commentary would be lost with time.

Pigeon English

I liked this book, it felt real and I grew to like the characters. I knew something bad was going to happen and wanted to read on to find out what.

Harri reminded me of being 10 and going on a holiday for disadvantaged children- everyone else was rougher, bigger and older. There was a whole new language and slang I used self-consciously. It also reminded me of the glimpses of an adult world that you get as a child but don’t understand, as you focus on sports day and playground friendships. A child at my school who drew a picture of his dad captioned ‘my dad puts dirt in his cigarettes got both a gold star and a visit from social services. The fascination with the stabbing felt quite real too, when I was in secondary school a boy was stabbed and killed in the inter-school rivalry we had with our neighbourhood school and we were all horrified, scared and fascinated.

One of the questions for readers in the back of the book is ‘how well do you think Harri and Lydia’s mother has protected them from the danger in their neighbourhood? I thought this was interesting as it suggested a whole choice that didn’t exist. This world is as alien to the mother as it is to the children; she clearly has to work and there is no suggestion that affordable good quality childcare exists.

She has clearly done her best to instill values in her children which they do call on (e.g. Lydia when she falls out with Miquita). I don’t really see what else she could do.

Another question is ‘are you surprised by the attitude of Harri and his friends to violence?' Not really; my son and his friends often play Vikings or Ninjas or Star Wars (or squirrels). These games involve much whirring around with swords (or sticks or lightsabres or pinecones). Harri seemed appalled by real violence.

This book did remind me why being middle class is a good thing and that I wouldn’t want to bring my son up in urban poverty…a little urban grit is one thing…

I liked the pigeon; I thought his random attachment was quite sweet and it helped with the ending of the book to soften the dark horror.