Adolescence is one of the most difficult periods in the life of any person. Many books have been written about it in a variety of genres, including novels about growing up.
David Mitchell's "Black Swan's Loom" is not just a novel about growing up, although it has all the traits of that genre. It is about the injustice of our world, the indifference of adults, poetry, gender stereotypes instilled from childhood, intolerance, the complexity of relationships, the fragility of beauty, and much more.
David Mitchell was born in Southport, Merseyside, in England, raised in Malvern, Worcestershire, and educated at the University of Kent, studying for a degree in English and American Literature followed by an M.A. in Comparative Literature. He lived for a year in Sicily, then moved to Hiroshima, Japan, where he taught English to technical students for eight years, before returning to England. After another stint in Japan, he currently lives in Ireland with his wife Keiko and their two children.
The main virtue of the novel, in my opinion, is the sincerity and accuracy with which the experiences of an adult, his struggles and searches are described. Jason Taylor, the protagonist of the novel, on whose behalf the story is told, is a figment of the author's imagination, a fiction, but how convincing! This character clearly has autobiographical overtones (the time and place of the novel chosen by the author not by accident, because Mitchell's childhood was spent in Worcestershire in the 80's). Jason - an ordinary teenager with an unusual inner world. He contains the Glist, the Hangman, the Unborn Twin, and Eliot Bolivar. He is a most ordinary boy, complexed out by his teenage problems, playing darts and fighting with his classmates. Unusual are his ability to see beauty in the ordinary, his love of poetry, and his violent imagination. Unusual are his honesty, nobility and courage, his understanding of cause and effect.
Jason's family made a strong impression on me - it looks so respectable, prosperous. Except that the adults are so busy with their own problems that they do not even know that their son is being bullied at school. Both mother and father love Jason in their own way, but they are not interested at all in what is going on in his soul, which makes him feel "invisible". Jason's relationship with his sister is not easy either; she calls her younger brother "Trollop". Only when she grows up and leaves home does she realize that she loves him and can do something to help him.
In general, the adults in the novel are shown far from the best side. They are hypocritical and inconsistent (the episode with the collective protest against the construction of the Roma settlement is a prime example). And Jason's parents are like that. Yes, Jason loves them, but his father and mother remove the rose-colored glasses from him by their own actions. And then the only way out for him is to become an adult himself. Very accurately and vividly describes the pain and bewilderment that grows up with the child. The collapse of ideals is always painful, and here Jason loses faith in his parents and gets nothing in return. Practically the only adult in the novel who understands Jason is Madame Crommelink, but unfortunately, their "lessons" end all too quickly.
David Mitchell's characterization of not only the adult world but also the world of children is compelling and vivid, and some of his descriptions were shocking to me. It wasn't the abundance of fights and naturalistic details, no. I was confused by how strictly, if you believe the book, the life of a teenager! How many "can'ts" and "only do this" are in it! What a complex and clear hierarchy in the school community! And it's scary to think what phrases like "only faggots like French" instilled in a child can lead to!
In this connection I am very surprised, where did the notorious tolerance come from in modern European society at all, if only recently the only possible behavior for teenagers was the total rejection of dissent, if any attempts not to be a brawler, a cad and a bully were stigmatized, and bullying and extortion was considered the most common thing?! Not to mention the almost universal xenophobia!
The background to the events of the novel are the Falklands War and the economic crisis, but the background is very bright and meaningful. Again, through the perception of a child, the reader sees how important these events were to the British and the price they had to pay to win the Falklands conflict.
The ending of the novel seemed to me at first somewhat artificial, contrived. Too quickly Jason transforms into a "beautiful swan", too easily solves all his problems. But then I realized that this transformation occurs subtly throughout the novel, appearing in minor details at first glance, and the internal logic of events leads to this conclusion.
Bottom line: Black Swan's Loom is a novel that is quite unlike any of Mitchell's other works I have read, but not inferior to them. David Mitchell is definitely "my author.
This article was sponsored by Kathleen a Derusso
Comments