Jason Taylor: A Holden Caulfield for the Next Generation

Enter the world of David Mitchell through his semi-autobiographical novel Black Swan Green. Set in England in the 1980s, readers witness the coming-of-age of Jason Taylor.  Jason is an adolescent boy and aspiring poet who struggles with stammering, a speech impediment he labels as his “hangman.” As a protagonist, Jason is relatable in both his flaws and virtues, and his voice is as familiar as it is authentic. What makes this novel different from a bildungsroman in the literary canon such as David Copperfield, however, is that Jason is not a traditional hero. He is actually rather ordinary, which in fact makes the novel all the more extraordinary, as he in many respects is an awkward, jaded adolescent who is trying to make sense of the world around him. Readers follow him as he wanders away from his home to explore the ghosts, witches and gypsies that reside in the woods, just past the village of Black Swan Green. We empathize with him as he reacts to dysfunction at home, and we listen as he interprets historical events such as the Falklands War. 

Structurally, this book is also remarkable and unconventional. Black Swan Green can be read from beginning to end as a complete bildungsroman. Or, if preferred, readers can read each chapter as its own short story, as each section can live and breathe separately from the whole work. Most importantly, the novel is a gateway to David Mitchell's artful, intricate and awe-inspiring collection of novels. Avid readers who devour Mitchell’s prose will notice that Jason Taylor and Eva van Outryve de Crommelynck show up in future novels. 

Favorite Quotation: "Human being need to watch out for reasonless niceness too. It's never reasonless and its reason is not usually nice."

Trivia: Similar to Jason Taylor, David Mitchell had a speech disorder as a child.