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‘The chant built up in layers until it was a wave they were all riding’

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“When there's a star on a flag it stands for freedom. The star points in all directions, it means you can go anywhere you want. That's why I love stars, because they stand for freedom.” ― Stephen Kelman, Pigeon English

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Book review: Pigeon English

Pigeon English - Stephen Kelman

“Violence always came too easy to you, that's the problem. It always felt too good. Remember the first time you trod on an ant, and with an infant stamp made the moving still, the present past? Wasn't that a sickly sweet epiphany? Such power in your feet and at your fingertips such temptation! It would take some act of charity to give all that good stuff away. You'd need to be something greater that just another invention of a spiteful god.”

If I had to describe Pigeon English in three words, I'd pick innocent, brutal, and unusual. Innocent because as a reader, you get to see the world through the eyes of 11-year-old Harri, who describes his adventures with the naiveté typical for children; brutal because said world he lives in is filled with violence, threats and perversion; and, lastly, unusual because the book manages to combine these two aspects in an incredibly swift and natural way.

Harri Opoku lives with his mother and older sister in one of those suburbs of London that regularly make for shocking news because of their crime and violence. Despite the dismal conditions he's forced to grow up in since their move from Ghana, he's full of imagination and curiosity. He dreams about owning cool sneakers and being able to fly wherever he wants, like his friend Mr. Pigeon, whom he talks to in his mind. However, even with his childlike innocence he cannot ignore the rawness that surrounds him - the gangs, the curses and the broken people that determine his daily life. When a boy from his neighborhood is stabbed to death, he takes it upon him to investigate. But what starts as a game quickly becomes serious - because some secrets are dangerous to unveil...

It's hard to put my thoughts about this book into words. Despite the gravity of its topic, its unusual way of narrating makes it an easy and enjoyable read. Most of the time, it felt more like a (kind of adorably naive) collection of thoughts, observations and memories from Harri's mind than a real story...which makes the ending all the more shocking. It is not so much that you don't see it coming, more like you don't want to see what everything is coming down to. This is all I can say at this point without giving too much away.

All in all, I enjoyed Pigeon English, I was alternately amused and bewildered by what I read - especially at the little parts written from the pigeon's point of view that subtly hinted at the ending and randomly dropped really grave and philosophical thoughts into the story - and moved enough by the time I got to the ending to put together this review after months of not writing on this blog. So I guess I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in discovering an unusual combination of fiction and reality, and those who still remember what being a child felt like.

- Judith

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Pigeon English - Stephen Kelman

stared this book on August 16th and so far it's been an easy narrative to read. Written in the first person, the narrator is an 11-year-old boy from Ghana, recently moved to England and therefore figuring out the perils of this new country. Interwoven with his train of thought is a pigeon's, his pigeon to be specific, in a different script, and very very lyrical. The one event that shakes his world thus far is the death of a boy who'd been "chooked" or stabbed. (The use of slang here is masterful I think, and especially so considering the whole premise of the book) On a slightly related note, I must say I really enjoy it when I see references or homage paid to a certain culture or language that the book is about, especially if the book is written in English. Just as how some people say that translations are never as good as the original script, I feel like the immensity of a culture and the texture of a country/area/region is the most authentic when presented in its native language. And while sometimes these references are made cheaply and without proper consideration (see some Singapore literature and the throw-away 'lahs' that are included for no reason at. all.) the very inclusion of it seems to at least indicate the author's desire to express some love and consideration of the culture and its inability to be fully detailed without that vital link to its language.)

So far, favourite parts have included:

"Before you start running, find an empty bit of the world with nothing in the way."

From the pigeon's perspective:

"Violence always came too easy to you, that's the problem. It always felt too good. Remember the first time you trod on an ant, and with an infant stamp made the moving still, the present past? Wasn't that a sickly sweet epiphany? Such power in your feet and at your fingertips such temptation! It would take some act of charity to give all that good stuff away. You'd need to be something greater than just another invention of a spiteful god."

[edit]

Now finished the book and to be honest I don't love it. It's a delightful novel to be sure - solid storyline, interesting narrator, distinct style, great insight and texture given to the setting, it just isn't something that catches my fancy I suppose.

Though I must say it's an amazing view of the knife culture/"rough" neighborhood setting of England, more realistic than most and because written in the style of a young boy, more poignant and believable. There's a naturalization that occurs when you go through the novel. Slowly the unbelievable - the violence, the constant danger - becomes a part of the setting in an incredibly natural way that you're led to believe that it has always been and always will be that way. It's a frightful norm, and the fact that by the middle of the novel I read "chook" in the same blasé way that the rest of the characters do is telling.

Anyway, parts that I liked/found interesting:

"We live and breathe within the boundaries of our charges; we reach out for them when the bridge between them and their god is blocked."

"I can pray for what I like."

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"In England they celebrate summer coming by everybody opening their windows wide up and putting their music on proper loud. It's a tradition. That's how you know it's summer. You have to do it when the sun first comes out. Everybody does it together."

Stephen Kelman - 'Pidgeon English'

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