There were no curtains up. The window was a hard edged block the colour of the night sky. Inside the bedroom the darkness was of a gritty texture. The wardrobe and bed were blurred shapes in the darkness. Silence...
***
Life is tough and cheerless for Billy Casper, a troubled teenager growing up in the small Yorkshire mining town of Barnsley. Treated as a failure at school, and unhappy at home, Billy discovers a new passion in life when he finds Kes, a kestrel hawk. Billy identifies with her silent strength and she inspires in him the trust and love that nothing else can, discovering through her the passion missing from his life. Barry Hines's acclaimed novel continues to reach new generations of teenagers and adults with its powerful story of survival in a tough, joyless world.
***
I first read this book at school when I was about twelve years old. Needless to say, I did not recall the details. More recently I heard it recommended on the podcast, Backlisted, which I highly recommend, and was intrigued to read it again.
It was first published in 1968, and is as relevant today as it was then. The main character, Billy Casper, is a timeless portrayal of a adolescent boy growing up in Yorkshire with his mother and older brother, Jedd. Billy is bullied by his brother, bullied at school and by some of his teachers. This was the days of corporal punishment and reading of how the pupils were beaten was shocking. Billy was frequently humiliated by his teachers who had written him off. There is one scene set during a PE lesson which did not make for comfortable reading.
That said, this was a brilliant novel and easily a five star read for me. It is a slim volume that is a powerhouse of a book. Billy is lacking any familial love. His single mother is inept, and Billy is frequently left hungry and without direction.
His love and skill with the kestrel that he raised and trained was wonderful to read. Through this we observe him blossom into the boy that the reader implicitly recognizes he could be if only his circumstances and the people around him were different. He has been raised to be unambitious and to expect little from life.
While the storyline is bleak, the author performs a fabulous job of depicting the beauty of the area. His descriptions of the natural world surrounding this poverty stricken area are superb. Coupled with a narrative and a dialogue which is rich in the local dialect, this book is a fantastic juxtaposition between the beautiful environment and the harsh living conditions.
It was gritty and bleak, but I am extremely glad I came back to it. This is a book that has stayed with me since my school days. The fact that I even remember reading it some forty decades later speaks volumes about the power this book has.
If you would like to read a modern classic then this is probably top of my list to recommend. It is a fantastic book, and I can well imagine reading it again.
ISBN: 978 0141184982
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Formats: e-book, audio, hardback and paperback
No. of Pages: 208 (paperback)
About the Author:
Barry Hines (June 30, 1939 – March 18, 2016) was an English author, playwright, and screenwriter. His novels and screenplays explore the political and economic struggles of working-class Northern England, particularly in his native West Riding / South Yorkshire.
He is best known for the novel A Kestrel for a Knave (1968), which he helped adapt for Ken Loach's film Kes (1969). He also collaborated with Loach on adaptations of his novels Looks and Smiles (1981) and The Gamekeeper, and a 1977 two-part television drama adaption of his book The Price of Coal.
He also wrote the television film Threads, which depicts the impact of a nuclear war on Sheffield.
(author photo and bio. courtesy of GoodReads)
(all opinions are my own)
