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Available
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Publication
Bloomsbury UK (2012), 288 pages
Description
Lying in front of Harrison Opuku is a body, the body of one of his classmates, a boy known for his crazy basketball skills, who seems to have been murdered for his dinner. Armed with a pair of camouflage binoculars and detective techniques absorbed from television shows like CSI, Harri and his best friend, Dean, plot to bring the perpetrator to justice. They gather evidence-fingerprints lifted from windows with tape, a wallet stained with blood-and lay traps to flush out the murderer. But nothing can prepare them for what happens when a criminal feels you closing in on him.Recently emigrated from Ghana with his sister and mother to London?s enormous housing projects, Harri is pure curiosity and ebullience-obsessed with gummy candy, a friend to the pigeon who visits his balcony, quite possibly the fastest runner in his school, and clearly also fast on the trail of a murderer.Told in Harri's infectious voice and multicultural slang, Pigeon English follows in the tradition of our great novels of friendship and adventure, as Harri finds wonder, mystery, and danger in his new, ever-expanding world.… (more)
Media reviews
Pigeon English is indeed a very impressive debut...Pigeon English has a fresh, undeniable appeal, but Kelman doesn’t entirely knock it out of the park. Plotting gets swept aside for long stretches in order to focus on the coming-of-age aspect of the novel, and Harri’s charm-assault eventually
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begins to flag. Italicized monologues from a kind of “spirit pigeon”— Harri’s favourite bird — feel contrived.
Kelman clearly has the instinct and the skills for future greatness. If this book doesn’t make him The Next Big Thing, there’s a good chance his next one will.
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Pigeon English does an admirable job of revealing the frightened teenage boys behind gang members' tough façades. But it is too conscious of the gulf between its subjects and its inevitably middle-class readers to be truly convincing.
It is bad form to be rude about first novels, and a pleasure to praise them. Stephen Kelman’s has a powerful story, a pacy plot and engaging characters. It paints a vivid portrait with honesty, sympathy and wit, of a much neglected milieu, and it addresses urgent social questions.
Stephen Kelman's debut is sympathetic if overhyped portrait of the frightened boys behind Peckham's gangs....It's called the murder weapon." Kelman has already been much praised for his ability to write from an 11-year-old's perspective, but here, as often in the first half of the novel, Harri's
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voice feels laboured and faux-naïf.....Pigeon English (which comes packaged with reading group discussion points such as "Has the novel in any way changed the way you think about youth gangs, knife crime or urban poverty?") does an admirable job of revealing the frightened teenage boys behind gang members' tough façades... Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member kidzdoc
This Booker Prize longlisted novel is narrated by Harrison Opuku, an 11 year old boy who has recently emigrated to an impoverished south London neighborhood along with his mother and older sister, while his father and baby sister remain behind in Ghana. His mother works long hours as a midwife, and
The novel opens with the stabbing death of a schoolboy on a sidewalk near Harri's flat. Harri does not know the boy well, as he is older and goes to another school, but he and his friends vow to find out who murdered him. Inspired by the American television show CSI, the boys use their fledging detective skills to spy on potential suspects and gather fingerprints and other specimens from the crime scene. Harri is generally well liked by his classmates, as he is a fast runner and a good fighter, and he eagerly participates in typical boyhood pranks and games. His home life is a bit dull, as his older sister finds him to be a bother, and he befriends a pigeon who serves as a companion, confidant, and guardian angel.
As the story progresses, the identity of the boy's killer is obvious to the reader, but not to Harri, whose investigation intensifies as he gathers more clues and puts himself in danger.
[Pigeon English] was written in honor of Damilola Taylor, a 10 year old Nigerian boy who was murdered in 2000 in the south London neighborhood of Peckham, along with other children in the UK who experience fear and violence on a daily basis, and is also based on the author's own childhood experiences and people he encountered as a child and young adult. Harrison's voice and character are maddening, lovable, and ultimately unforgettable, and this is one of the better coming of age stories that I've read. The novel's main flaw is the character of the guardian pigeon, whose comments I found inscrutable and whose presence was unnecessary and distracting, which caused me to knock half a star off of my rating of this otherwise superb novel. It is also a very timely one, given the recent acts of violence in impoverished neighborhoods in south London and elsewhere. I doubt that Pigeon English will win this year's Booker Prize or even make the longlist, but it is a novel that was enjoyable and deserves to be widely read.
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he and his sister Lydia are left mainly to fend for themselves. Harri is a good boy, although a bit naïve in comparison to his classmates and the boys in the neighborhood. He lacks a father or other adult male authority figure that he can relate to, and falls under the influence of a local gang of older boys who terrorize younger kids in his school and conduct random acts of violence in the neighborhood, with little deterrence from the adults who live there or the local police, who are generally viewed as incompetent and hostile.The novel opens with the stabbing death of a schoolboy on a sidewalk near Harri's flat. Harri does not know the boy well, as he is older and goes to another school, but he and his friends vow to find out who murdered him. Inspired by the American television show CSI, the boys use their fledging detective skills to spy on potential suspects and gather fingerprints and other specimens from the crime scene. Harri is generally well liked by his classmates, as he is a fast runner and a good fighter, and he eagerly participates in typical boyhood pranks and games. His home life is a bit dull, as his older sister finds him to be a bother, and he befriends a pigeon who serves as a companion, confidant, and guardian angel.
As the story progresses, the identity of the boy's killer is obvious to the reader, but not to Harri, whose investigation intensifies as he gathers more clues and puts himself in danger.
[Pigeon English] was written in honor of Damilola Taylor, a 10 year old Nigerian boy who was murdered in 2000 in the south London neighborhood of Peckham, along with other children in the UK who experience fear and violence on a daily basis, and is also based on the author's own childhood experiences and people he encountered as a child and young adult. Harrison's voice and character are maddening, lovable, and ultimately unforgettable, and this is one of the better coming of age stories that I've read. The novel's main flaw is the character of the guardian pigeon, whose comments I found inscrutable and whose presence was unnecessary and distracting, which caused me to knock half a star off of my rating of this otherwise superb novel. It is also a very timely one, given the recent acts of violence in impoverished neighborhoods in south London and elsewhere. I doubt that Pigeon English will win this year's Booker Prize or even make the longlist, but it is a novel that was enjoyable and deserves to be widely read.
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LibraryThing member edgeworth
Eleven-year old Harrison Opoku is a newly-arrived Ghanian immigrant to the United Kingdom, living in a run-down council flat with his sister and mother. Harrison is wide-eyed and excited about life in London, but the lot of an immigrant is to be mired in urban poverty and exposed to the criminal
The novel is narrated from Harrison’s first-person point of view, relying on the time-honoured method of having a child narrator witness events that he can’t quite understand, but which the reader can. (And frankly, for an eleven-year old, he’s a fucking idiot.) Harrison’s meandering tale is peppered with a mixture of African-accented phoentics and London slang, and I quickly grew tired of reading the words “donkey hours,” “everybody agrees,” and “Asweh!” It’s not the Kelman fails to create a convincing voice for Harry, but rather that a) it’s an annoying voice, and b) he uses it as a crutch to give the book a sense of profundity. There are a number of scenes where Kelman relies on Harrison’s plain statements to relay the book’s unsubtle themes, and some clumsy attempts at symbolism which come across as the author clutching at straws. The book’s talking pigeon, which speaks directly to the reader (and sometimes to Harrison) had me rolling my eyes.
Pigeon English also has a completely left-field ending, one which I thought was a bit harsh, but at that point I no longer cared. It was one of those novels which I was really happy to finish, simply because I didn’t have to read it anymore.
Perhaps it’s just me – Pigeon English has been receiving rave reviews. But I found it to be a tremendously irritating novel, and would be disappointed if it won.
BOOKER VERDICT
The rave reviews worry me. Without them, I’d be honestly surprised that this clumsy and amaterish novel had even been shortlisted. In any case, Pigeon English is the least worthy of all the shortlisted novels I’ve read thus far, and if it wins it will be at the expense of several astronomically superior books (specifically Jamrach’s Menagerie and The Sisters Brothers). Given that this year’s panel seem to be very open to genre novels and not as much to the traditional contemporary-realist-moralising type, I feel that I can safely say it won’t win. And yet it lurks. It lurks.
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scum of human society. Pigeon English opens with Harrison witnessing the aftermath of a fatal stabbing against an older boy, and follows his naive attempts to track down the killer.The novel is narrated from Harrison’s first-person point of view, relying on the time-honoured method of having a child narrator witness events that he can’t quite understand, but which the reader can. (And frankly, for an eleven-year old, he’s a fucking idiot.) Harrison’s meandering tale is peppered with a mixture of African-accented phoentics and London slang, and I quickly grew tired of reading the words “donkey hours,” “everybody agrees,” and “Asweh!” It’s not the Kelman fails to create a convincing voice for Harry, but rather that a) it’s an annoying voice, and b) he uses it as a crutch to give the book a sense of profundity. There are a number of scenes where Kelman relies on Harrison’s plain statements to relay the book’s unsubtle themes, and some clumsy attempts at symbolism which come across as the author clutching at straws. The book’s talking pigeon, which speaks directly to the reader (and sometimes to Harrison) had me rolling my eyes.
Pigeon English also has a completely left-field ending, one which I thought was a bit harsh, but at that point I no longer cared. It was one of those novels which I was really happy to finish, simply because I didn’t have to read it anymore.
Perhaps it’s just me – Pigeon English has been receiving rave reviews. But I found it to be a tremendously irritating novel, and would be disappointed if it won.
BOOKER VERDICT
The rave reviews worry me. Without them, I’d be honestly surprised that this clumsy and amaterish novel had even been shortlisted. In any case, Pigeon English is the least worthy of all the shortlisted novels I’ve read thus far, and if it wins it will be at the expense of several astronomically superior books (specifically Jamrach’s Menagerie and The Sisters Brothers). Given that this year’s panel seem to be very open to genre novels and not as much to the traditional contemporary-realist-moralising type, I feel that I can safely say it won’t win. And yet it lurks. It lurks.
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LibraryThing member vancouverdeb
Pigeon Engish is a rewarding, insigthful read as well as being quite heart breaking at times.
Harri, along with his sister and mother, has recently moved from Ghana to an impoverished inner city highrise project. Harri makes a convincing eleven year old narrator, both spirited and good -hearted, in
Harri finds himself equally repelled and fascinated by the crime that surrounds him as he tries to navigate his new life.
When a boy is " chooked" or stabbed dead while Harri looks on from a distance, he begins his own murder investigation, using sellotape to gather finger prints , among other methods of investigation.
I was deeply touched by and saddened by many elements of this story , knowing that much of what is described is a reality for impoverished inner city dwellers. The book gave me a great deal of insight into the recent riots in the UK.
A powerful and heartbreaking novel.
Very much recommmended.
Harri, along with his sister and mother, has recently moved from Ghana to an impoverished inner city highrise project. Harri makes a convincing eleven year old narrator, both spirited and good -hearted, in
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contrast to the tragedy that surround shim in the form of poverty, street gangs, prostitution and gangs.Harri finds himself equally repelled and fascinated by the crime that surrounds him as he tries to navigate his new life.
When a boy is " chooked" or stabbed dead while Harri looks on from a distance, he begins his own murder investigation, using sellotape to gather finger prints , among other methods of investigation.
I was deeply touched by and saddened by many elements of this story , knowing that much of what is described is a reality for impoverished inner city dwellers. The book gave me a great deal of insight into the recent riots in the UK.
A powerful and heartbreaking novel.
Very much recommmended.
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LibraryThing member beserene
Toward the end of this novel, I started to feel like I knew what was coming, but I still wasn't prepared for the ending. I won't spoil anything here, but this is an emotional experience from first line to last and one has to pay attention to see what's happening. Kelman has given us a
On the surface, this appears to be a murder-mystery, but the mystery doesn't last all that long and the story becomes much more about life, about family, and about one child growing up in one particular summer in one particular place. As with many coming-of-age stories, there are familiar patterns followed -- fights, discoveries, kissing, etc. all come in to play at one point or another -- but nothing in this novel feels stale or trite, even in those moments when things feel familiar. Those looking for a cozy, resolved story should keep looking, but for others, this sometimes rambling, sometimes plotless, but always quick and interesting novel is well worth the time. Let this one get under your skin a little.
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child-narrator through whose eyes we see the immigrant experience; Harri, the narrator, is a boy from Ghana, living in tower (project) housing in London with part of his mother and sister. He interacts with his local family, his father and other family members back in Ghana, and his friends and enemies in London while we, the readers, watch from inside Harri's head. The paths of the narrative are often as random as conversations with 11-12 year old kids can be -- Harri's mind jumps from murder to tennis shoes to pigeons and back to death without warning or transition. Some reader's will not care for this narrative style -- as with Emma Donoghue's 'Room', it takes some time to get used to how this book 'reads', not only because of the narration but also because of the African-English dialect terms (hence, pigeon english) and slang patterns that may be unfamiliar -- but those who make the effort to pay attention will be engaged and intrigued. On the surface, this appears to be a murder-mystery, but the mystery doesn't last all that long and the story becomes much more about life, about family, and about one child growing up in one particular summer in one particular place. As with many coming-of-age stories, there are familiar patterns followed -- fights, discoveries, kissing, etc. all come in to play at one point or another -- but nothing in this novel feels stale or trite, even in those moments when things feel familiar. Those looking for a cozy, resolved story should keep looking, but for others, this sometimes rambling, sometimes plotless, but always quick and interesting novel is well worth the time. Let this one get under your skin a little.
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LibraryThing member detailmuse
The best bit is running in the rain. If you point your face up to the sky at the same time as running, it nearly feels like you’re flying. {...} just run as fast as you can. At first you’re scared of crashing into something but don’t let it put you off. Just run. It’s easy. The rain on your
Eleven-year-old Harrison (“Harri”) Opuku is new to London from Ghana, living with his mother and older sister among gangs in the housing projects. He’s a dreamer, a curious observer, a bit of an underdog -- and so disturbed by the murder of an older boy that he and a friend devote the next several months to working their versions of TV’s CSI to solve the crime.
This is a coming-of-age novel to read for its unique narrative voice -- first-person present tense, with a sweet optimism and naïve unreliability to love and heavy street/immigrant language that intrigues then becomes tedious. It’s short, sometimes beautiful, but often juvenile to the point that I didn’t care to finish ... and then with a one-in-a-hundred ending that changed my rating of the novel from not-good to good. Important, even.
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face and the wind makes it feel like you’re going superfast. It’s very refreshing. I dedicated my rain run to the dead boy.Eleven-year-old Harrison (“Harri”) Opuku is new to London from Ghana, living with his mother and older sister among gangs in the housing projects. He’s a dreamer, a curious observer, a bit of an underdog -- and so disturbed by the murder of an older boy that he and a friend devote the next several months to working their versions of TV’s CSI to solve the crime.
This is a coming-of-age novel to read for its unique narrative voice -- first-person present tense, with a sweet optimism and naïve unreliability to love and heavy street/immigrant language that intrigues then becomes tedious. It’s short, sometimes beautiful, but often juvenile to the point that I didn’t care to finish ... and then with a one-in-a-hundred ending that changed my rating of the novel from not-good to good. Important, even.
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LibraryThing member suetu
Tortured English is more like it!
While I can’t say that Stephen Kelman’s novel Pigeon English was a whole lot of fun to read, I don’t regret having made the effort. Elements of the novel can be challenging and/or tedious, but by the time you reach the end it packs a powerful punch.
The novel
Harri and his best friend, Dean, decide they’re going to investigate dead boy’s murder. Dean’s seen many episodes of CSI, so he knows how it’s done. This “investigation” is a loose thread throughout the novel, which takes place over the course of several months. But mostly Pigeon English is the Harri show. And Harri is as sweet and endearing a character as I’ve read in quite some time. He’s smack in the middle of the London projects, stabbings and AIDS and junkies are a part of his daily reality, and yet, somehow, he is an innocent. And he is in peril. The seduction of the street gangs is just one of the many threats the adult reader sees looming over the young man. And it’s painful to read. Still, there is a lot of humor salted throughout the novel.
Another narrative element is Harri’s affection for a pigeon that flies into their flat one day. Harri explains, “I just wanted something that’s alive that I can feed and teach tricks to.” A pet pigeon isn’t in the cards, but Harri keeps an eye on him. The pigeon, it seems, keeps an eye on Harri as well. Throughout the novel are brief interludes from the pigeon’s point of view as he watches over Harri. These are some of the most beautiful passages. Ironically, the pigeon’s English is flawless.
As sweet, imaginative, and funny as Harri is, reading an entire novel in his voice is a challenge. For starters, he has a very limited vocabulary. Despite his assertion that in “England there’s a hell of different words for everything,” he tends to use the same handful. Some are recognizably English—though I’ve never seen anyone so often “vexed” as he is. Other words are more open to interpretation. I think the frequent exclamation “Asweh” is “I swear.” An angry person is “red-eyes.” “Bo-styles” means cool. A long time is “donkey hours.” A tricky person is a “confusionist.” And most mysterious of all was the word “hutious,” used in so many different contexts that I’m left to conclude that it bears a grammatical resemblance to “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”
Thankfully, this is a short novel, and the language can be dealt with. When I finally got to the end, I can’t honestly say that I didn’t see it coming. Still, it was a shock. Or perhaps the shock was just how much of an emotional wallop it packed. And ultimately, that’s why I rate this novel a success—because by the end, I cared deeply about this child.
While I can’t say that Stephen Kelman’s novel Pigeon English was a whole lot of fun to read, I don’t regret having made the effort. Elements of the novel can be challenging and/or tedious, but by the time you reach the end it packs a powerful punch.
The novel
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opens with a body on the ground, a murdered child, never identified beyond “dead boy.” It is being gazed upon by 11-year-old Harrison Opuku, our first-person narrator and torturer of the English language. Harri is a recent emigrant from Ghana. He’s come to the London with his mother and older sister, while his father saves money back home to bring over the rest of the family. And Harri seems to be adapting well. He’s made friends and, for better or worse, is adapting to the prevailing culture. Harri and his best friend, Dean, decide they’re going to investigate dead boy’s murder. Dean’s seen many episodes of CSI, so he knows how it’s done. This “investigation” is a loose thread throughout the novel, which takes place over the course of several months. But mostly Pigeon English is the Harri show. And Harri is as sweet and endearing a character as I’ve read in quite some time. He’s smack in the middle of the London projects, stabbings and AIDS and junkies are a part of his daily reality, and yet, somehow, he is an innocent. And he is in peril. The seduction of the street gangs is just one of the many threats the adult reader sees looming over the young man. And it’s painful to read. Still, there is a lot of humor salted throughout the novel.
Another narrative element is Harri’s affection for a pigeon that flies into their flat one day. Harri explains, “I just wanted something that’s alive that I can feed and teach tricks to.” A pet pigeon isn’t in the cards, but Harri keeps an eye on him. The pigeon, it seems, keeps an eye on Harri as well. Throughout the novel are brief interludes from the pigeon’s point of view as he watches over Harri. These are some of the most beautiful passages. Ironically, the pigeon’s English is flawless.
As sweet, imaginative, and funny as Harri is, reading an entire novel in his voice is a challenge. For starters, he has a very limited vocabulary. Despite his assertion that in “England there’s a hell of different words for everything,” he tends to use the same handful. Some are recognizably English—though I’ve never seen anyone so often “vexed” as he is. Other words are more open to interpretation. I think the frequent exclamation “Asweh” is “I swear.” An angry person is “red-eyes.” “Bo-styles” means cool. A long time is “donkey hours.” A tricky person is a “confusionist.” And most mysterious of all was the word “hutious,” used in so many different contexts that I’m left to conclude that it bears a grammatical resemblance to “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”
Thankfully, this is a short novel, and the language can be dealt with. When I finally got to the end, I can’t honestly say that I didn’t see it coming. Still, it was a shock. Or perhaps the shock was just how much of an emotional wallop it packed. And ultimately, that’s why I rate this novel a success—because by the end, I cared deeply about this child.
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LibraryThing member sparemethecensor
Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, which was why I picked it up. Critics of this year's list were right: it didn't deserve to be there. It wasn't that good.
It wasn't terrible. The voice was interesting and engaging, and I guess the rich, white British people who
The narrator of Pigeon English is a eleven-year-old boy who recently immigrated from Ghana to a poor neighborhood of London. He experiences the new world he's living in through unique eyes, and it leads to a novel that is all about voice. The voice is generally pretty good; it's consistent and engaging, with some funny things going on. But the problem is that there was never a time I found it totally authentic. Halfway through the book, I actually looked the author up online, because I was so certain that he was a white, non-immigrant.
I was correct.
I am absolutely not one of those people who thinks that authors can't write characters outside of their class, their race, their sex, their personal point of view. But when you are doing that, you have an especial burden to make it seem real. You have to have a real and sympathetic understanding of how your character will sound, how he or she will react, how he or she builds a view of the world from his or her past — not yours.
There are lots of writers who do this well. Why is Booker lauding an author who doesn't?
It wasn't terrible. The voice was interesting and engaging, and I guess the rich, white British people who
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pick the shortlist would consider it to be singularly unique. But the problem I had was that the entire time, I could tell the author was white. His voice never worked at one hundred percent.The narrator of Pigeon English is a eleven-year-old boy who recently immigrated from Ghana to a poor neighborhood of London. He experiences the new world he's living in through unique eyes, and it leads to a novel that is all about voice. The voice is generally pretty good; it's consistent and engaging, with some funny things going on. But the problem is that there was never a time I found it totally authentic. Halfway through the book, I actually looked the author up online, because I was so certain that he was a white, non-immigrant.
I was correct.
I am absolutely not one of those people who thinks that authors can't write characters outside of their class, their race, their sex, their personal point of view. But when you are doing that, you have an especial burden to make it seem real. You have to have a real and sympathetic understanding of how your character will sound, how he or she will react, how he or she builds a view of the world from his or her past — not yours.
There are lots of writers who do this well. Why is Booker lauding an author who doesn't?
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LibraryThing member EBT1002
I got bored at places through this one, but it's really a marvelous coming-of-age story blended with social commentary seated within gang wars in London. Harri is a Year 7, immigrant from Ghana, fast runner and friend of pigeons. He and his friend, Dean, play detective, hoping they can discover who
It seems that we are surrounded with adolescent narrators these days; Harri will stay with me. His description of the world around him, blending his innocence with a sort of 11-year-old wisdom (you know, the wisdom born of innocence), is really quite captivating, amusing, ironic, and sad.
I recommend this book. I recommend staying with it even when you feel like giving it up.
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committed the murder of a young boy in the projects. The story moves between sweet descriptions of Harri's discovery of love (and sex), and his concern for his sisters and mother, his natural desire to be "dope-fine" (which means having the right trainers and never showing fear on the playground), and stark presentations of the gang "warfare" around him. Yes, there is a pigeon who also shares his perspective, predictably wiser and more philosophical than the human perspectives. That part didn't quite ring true for me through the novel, but in the end it's a device that works. It seems that we are surrounded with adolescent narrators these days; Harri will stay with me. His description of the world around him, blending his innocence with a sort of 11-year-old wisdom (you know, the wisdom born of innocence), is really quite captivating, amusing, ironic, and sad.
I recommend this book. I recommend staying with it even when you feel like giving it up.
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LibraryThing member mabroms
As Harri would say, this book was "dope-fine" and especially poignant in light of the recent UK unrest. It felt multi-faceted and textured throughout. Stephen Kelman is a subtle and astute chronicler of our changing times. Here's hoping that both he and this novel enjoy continued success.
LibraryThing member riverwillow
I had so many issues with this book, I just don’t know where to start. To be fair, some of my issues are probably in direct response to the hype around this book and the fact that it was short-listed for the Booker as this is a perfectly OK first novel. What it isn’t, is a great novel.
Sadly
Sadly
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I’m not completely convinced by Kelman’s depiction of Harri as he’s just not a convincing as an eleven-year-old as he’s just too naive. The sections with the pigeon just didn’t work for me and felt indulgent. All of this completely undermines and renders what should be a moving, emotional and disturbing story, meaningless, which angers me as there is a truth at the centre of this novel, which just gets lost. Show Less
LibraryThing member Franby
This has to be one of the most amazing books I have read in the last year. As an avid library user, I don't usually buy books ... I will make an exception for this because I found it so powerful, and just extraordinarily moving. Coming from London (although having living in NZ for the last 12
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years) I could recognise Harri's voice and location and world view ... the juxtaposition of his childish innocence, layered with the harsh reality of his urban existence ... I love, love, loved this book! And yes, it made me cry (I think all my favourite books do!) Show Less
LibraryThing member porch_reader
Harrison Opuku is an 11-year-old boy who has moved with his mother and older sister from Ghana to the housing projects of London. It is through his eyes that we learn what life there is like – from the joy of a new pair of binoculars or bo-styles trainers to the terror of knife-wielding gangs and
However, about three-quarters of the way through this book, I began to tire of Harrison’s voice. His tendency to treat the dangers of the projects as if they were a game dulled my sense of horror at what Harrison faced every day. Perhaps the device of an 11-year-old narrator in such a serious situation was interesting, but unsustainable, I thought. And then I came to the ending. I won’t spoil it here, but I will go so far to say that it wasn’t until the ending that I appreciated what Kelman had done. By telling the story through Harrison’s eyes, he created a dissonance – violence seen through innocent eyes – that was more powerful than the unvarnished violence that an adult might describe.
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even a murder. Harrison is an engaging narrator. Life in the housing projects is foreign to him, so he provides a fresh look at things that others might take for granted. His turns of phrase – including “Advise yourself!” and “dope-fine” – give him a distinctive voice. However, as the mother of an 11-year-old boy, I recognized his apprehension at having his first girlfriend and his joy on the last day of school – experiences that my own son has as well, although in a much different environment.However, about three-quarters of the way through this book, I began to tire of Harrison’s voice. His tendency to treat the dangers of the projects as if they were a game dulled my sense of horror at what Harrison faced every day. Perhaps the device of an 11-year-old narrator in such a serious situation was interesting, but unsustainable, I thought. And then I came to the ending. I won’t spoil it here, but I will go so far to say that it wasn’t until the ending that I appreciated what Kelman had done. By telling the story through Harrison’s eyes, he created a dissonance – violence seen through innocent eyes – that was more powerful than the unvarnished violence that an adult might describe.
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LibraryThing member YossarianXeno
A chronicle of the experiences of a young Ghanian boy who finds himself relocated to a flat in a London council tower block, this novel transports the reader through a range of emotions - excitement, hope, sadness and fear. Kelman successful tells the story from the boy's perspective, creating very
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believable relationships with his sister, his family, his friends and enemies. To say much more would risk spoiling the plot, but this book is imaginative, crisply told and well worth reading. Show Less
LibraryThing member maritimer
The young Ghanaian narrator's voice is convincing, but there is little in the way of a story to hang things on. Nothing much happens and it all goes pear shaped in the end. And the mystic pigeon: what was up with that?
LibraryThing member Laura400
I thought this was a good book with some amazing strengths and some disappointing weaknesses. It is a promising first novel, in other words.
Its greatest strength for me was its tremendously appealing narrator, whose voice is original and captivating. That is an amazing achievement. It also has a
It's hard to talk about this book without mentioning the Booker Prize 2011 shortlist. I read it because it was shortlisted. Though I enjoyed it, I can't say it would have made my cut for the best of the year. It's a good book. It's a lot better than fellow nominee "Snowdrops." But it is too flawed for me to consider it in the same rank as some of the past winners. I think most readers looking to read a Booker nominee this year would be much better served by the excellent Carol Birch and Julian Barnes entries.
Its greatest strength for me was its tremendously appealing narrator, whose voice is original and captivating. That is an amazing achievement. It also has a
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strong sense of time and place. And I found it memorable; I read it months ago, and it has stuck with me. Its major weakness to me were frustrating because they could have been so easily corrected. First, inter-layered in the boy's narrative were unconvincing short chapters narrated by a pigeon, and not just a pigeon but a supernatural pigeon. That just fell flat and detracted from the book's tone. The second weakness, for me, was the very abrupt and unexpected ending. I suspect that to British readers the ending wouldn't come as such a surprise, because the story seems to have been based on an incident that happened in London. But this American reader would have found it less jarring if the book jacket had hinted at the outcome.It's hard to talk about this book without mentioning the Booker Prize 2011 shortlist. I read it because it was shortlisted. Though I enjoyed it, I can't say it would have made my cut for the best of the year. It's a good book. It's a lot better than fellow nominee "Snowdrops." But it is too flawed for me to consider it in the same rank as some of the past winners. I think most readers looking to read a Booker nominee this year would be much better served by the excellent Carol Birch and Julian Barnes entries.
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LibraryThing member mtrumbo
Combination sweet, funny, and sad coming-of-age story told from the point of view of a young boy from Ghana trying to find his way after moving to London with his mother and sister.
LibraryThing member SandDune
Pigeon English is the story of Harrison who has travelled to London from Ghana with his mother and older sister, while his father and baby sister remain behind in Ghana. It's soon apparent that the better life that his mother is looking for is illusory. The book begins with a boy on Harrison's
A sad book which echoes the Damilola Taylor case, and really brings home the lack of opportunities for children on these sink estates. I noticed that some reviewers felt that Harrison was unrealisticly naive for his age but given that he had recently arrived in the UK from a different culture, I felt his lack of understanding about some issues were realistic - if anything he seemed to have settled into his new life with suprisingly few problems. Despite being narrated in Harrison's own words it's a fairly easy read, and one which is well worth reading.
I had a few reservations overall. There was a type of supernatural 'guardian pigeon' theme which really didn't work for me. And to me Harrison had settled into his new life far too quickly with very little sign of homesickness. I do think as well that from very early in the book it was fairly clear what the outcome was going to be. So overall a good read but not a great one.
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estate being knifed and killed, Harrison's estate and school are riddled with gang violence and his mother is in debt to the violent Julius, his aunt's boyfriend. Harrison, a likeable eleven year old, attempts to make sense of his new world and tries to discover the identity of the boy's killer.A sad book which echoes the Damilola Taylor case, and really brings home the lack of opportunities for children on these sink estates. I noticed that some reviewers felt that Harrison was unrealisticly naive for his age but given that he had recently arrived in the UK from a different culture, I felt his lack of understanding about some issues were realistic - if anything he seemed to have settled into his new life with suprisingly few problems. Despite being narrated in Harrison's own words it's a fairly easy read, and one which is well worth reading.
I had a few reservations overall. There was a type of supernatural 'guardian pigeon' theme which really didn't work for me. And to me Harrison had settled into his new life far too quickly with very little sign of homesickness. I do think as well that from very early in the book it was fairly clear what the outcome was going to be. So overall a good read but not a great one.
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LibraryThing member ruthiekro
Although I wouldn't say I exactly liked Pigeon English, I can't stop thinking about it. Young Harri, the teller of the story, is a sweet boy who faces more challenges than any 11 yr.old should. His understanding of the world around him will make you smile, even though most of his world is dark and
I really didn't like the pigeon part but it does serve its purpose. And Harri likes them - so be it.
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dangerous. I won't give away the ending but I'll say it's powerful. I really didn't like the pigeon part but it does serve its purpose. And Harri likes them - so be it.
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LibraryThing member 1morechapter
Pigeon English has been panned by many Booker Prize devotees, but I absolutely loved it. In fact, of the five shortlist titles that I’ve read, it is the one that has stayed with me the most and the one that I’d like to see win. (Note: I wouldn’t be disappointed if The Sisters Brothers,
Some of the reasons for it being panned may include the simple language, the heavy use of slang, and the fact that one of the minor characters is, in fact, a pigeon. None of that bothered me in the slightest. It only added to my appreciation of the book.
Harrison is a boy who has come to London from Ghana. A classmate of his is murdered, and he and a friend set out to find the killer. Yes, Harrison has a tendency to repeat himself. Yes, Harrison uses slang, if not in every sentence, then in every paragraph. Yes, he has childish, little boy tendencies and quirks. As a mother of two boys myself, I recognized most of these supposed ‘faults’ as completely believable, common attributes of boys in this age range.
I loved Harrison and his voice in the book. I did not know the real life story it was based on, so I had no way of knowing the outcome of the story. But as I said, this is the one book that I thought about afterwards the most. Good luck to Stephen Kelman, and congratulations on your Booker shortlist nomination. Pigeon English deserves its place there.
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Snowdrops, or The Sense of an Ending wins, either. I unfortunately could not read Half Blood Blues as it wasn’t available in the USA so I can’t give an opinion on it. I didn’t care for Jamrach’s Menagerie.)Some of the reasons for it being panned may include the simple language, the heavy use of slang, and the fact that one of the minor characters is, in fact, a pigeon. None of that bothered me in the slightest. It only added to my appreciation of the book.
Harrison is a boy who has come to London from Ghana. A classmate of his is murdered, and he and a friend set out to find the killer. Yes, Harrison has a tendency to repeat himself. Yes, Harrison uses slang, if not in every sentence, then in every paragraph. Yes, he has childish, little boy tendencies and quirks. As a mother of two boys myself, I recognized most of these supposed ‘faults’ as completely believable, common attributes of boys in this age range.
I loved Harrison and his voice in the book. I did not know the real life story it was based on, so I had no way of knowing the outcome of the story. But as I said, this is the one book that I thought about afterwards the most. Good luck to Stephen Kelman, and congratulations on your Booker shortlist nomination. Pigeon English deserves its place there.
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LibraryThing member DaptoLibrary
Our first book for 2012 raised little in the way of enthusiasm for this debut novel. There were numerous comments of its disjointed narrative and lack of character empathy which kept our club scores down, ranging from 3 to 8 points.
Joan mentioned the paradox of Harri and his family moving from the
Viti picked up on a subtle atmosphere of menace that lay beneath the whole story and also pointed to the Lord of the Flies analogy of loss of rules and breakdown of family and social structures. Well done Viti!
Everyone took Harri’s pigeon to be the carrier of his thoughts and emotions. A small but meaningful balance to Harri’s new world of Adidas trainers and gangland murder.
By far the most condemning aspect of Pigeon English would have to be its failure to connect our readers with the main characters and their plight. As a whole, our group prefers to connect with and care about those within the pages, so no matter how clever, innovative or profound a work of literature is, if we cannot relate or feel compassion, our enjoyment level drops and so does our recommendation.
As always, we would be interested in your opinion. If you’ve read Pigeon English, leave a comment and let us know what you think.
Joan mentioned the paradox of Harri and his family moving from the
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violence of Ghana to the toxic world of gang warfare in a south London estate. She also found an all too real glimpse of immigrants coming to a new country for a fresh start only to be alienated and separated from loved ones. Viti picked up on a subtle atmosphere of menace that lay beneath the whole story and also pointed to the Lord of the Flies analogy of loss of rules and breakdown of family and social structures. Well done Viti!
Everyone took Harri’s pigeon to be the carrier of his thoughts and emotions. A small but meaningful balance to Harri’s new world of Adidas trainers and gangland murder.
By far the most condemning aspect of Pigeon English would have to be its failure to connect our readers with the main characters and their plight. As a whole, our group prefers to connect with and care about those within the pages, so no matter how clever, innovative or profound a work of literature is, if we cannot relate or feel compassion, our enjoyment level drops and so does our recommendation.
As always, we would be interested in your opinion. If you’ve read Pigeon English, leave a comment and let us know what you think.
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LibraryThing member pokarekareana
Eleven-year-old Harri has come to Britain from Ghana with his mother and sister, and is thrust into the unfamiliar lifestyle of a schoolkid in a deprived area of London. Once there, he struggles, as children do, to make sense of events unfolding around him. I was struck by the juxtaposition of
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those events which happen to us all – fights with siblings, first loves – and those particular to immigrants – homesickness, mourning the absence of those who have been left behind in Ghana. The naively childlike narrative voice was especially well-written, and the ending was absolutely perfectly pitched, although not entirely unexpected. This thoroughly deserves to win the Man Booker prize, for which it has been shortlisted this year. Show Less
LibraryThing member Krista23
I have to be honest that this took me around 60 pages to get used to the writing style and some of the words I had to sound aloud to understand, but then I got the hang of it. It's true that the voice of Harri does become infectious. He's young, naive, normal boy who seems to have found himself in
The language used in the book is mostly slang, the style of writing is very interesting and did take me some time to get used to. At first I felt a little A.D.D. not knowing what was going on and had a little trouble following the story. Sounding out the words and keep reading was the key to finally getting a grip on it and starting to enjoy it more. I have to say I learned a lot of new words that Asweah I will probably not use in my daily conversations.
My favorite parts of the story were his banter with his sister and sometimes his friends that made me laugh out loud. I thought it was cute that he made friends with the Pigeons and like any normal kid, had a high curiosity of the things that were happening in his neighborhood.
There are good things that happen and bad things that happen, but all the while Harri takes things in stride, like an 11 year old does. Sucks in all of the information he can gather, processes it and spits it back out. This book for me was highly reminiscent of Pay it Forward with an African twist.
This book is not labeled as a Young Adult novel. It contains some pretty serious situations and has all too real scenes of murder and gang related activities. Even though has some very entertaining and witty parts, it has a very emotional, heavy moments. The main character is very young but deals with some very adult situations and I would only recommend to more mature readers.
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an area of England that has some gang activities. He and his friend have just seen another friend stabbed laying on the street with a police investigation happening. They decide that they are going to find out who killed him by practicing the techniques seen on CSI (an American TV show) It's all a game, something to pass the time and making friends.The language used in the book is mostly slang, the style of writing is very interesting and did take me some time to get used to. At first I felt a little A.D.D. not knowing what was going on and had a little trouble following the story. Sounding out the words and keep reading was the key to finally getting a grip on it and starting to enjoy it more. I have to say I learned a lot of new words that Asweah I will probably not use in my daily conversations.
My favorite parts of the story were his banter with his sister and sometimes his friends that made me laugh out loud. I thought it was cute that he made friends with the Pigeons and like any normal kid, had a high curiosity of the things that were happening in his neighborhood.
There are good things that happen and bad things that happen, but all the while Harri takes things in stride, like an 11 year old does. Sucks in all of the information he can gather, processes it and spits it back out. This book for me was highly reminiscent of Pay it Forward with an African twist.
This book is not labeled as a Young Adult novel. It contains some pretty serious situations and has all too real scenes of murder and gang related activities. Even though has some very entertaining and witty parts, it has a very emotional, heavy moments. The main character is very young but deals with some very adult situations and I would only recommend to more mature readers.
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LibraryThing member ljbwell
Pigeon English is the story of 11 year old Harrison Opoku, a recent immigrant from Ghana. He, his mother and older sister have recently moved to a flat in a rough part of London, while his father, grandmother and little sister are still in Ghana hoping to move soon, too. When an older boy is
The novel is told (mostly) from Harri's point of view. It is here that I can see why the book has been compared to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Through Harri's narration, we end up understanding more than he does about what it going on around him. I think this works in places, and in others have a harder time believing he'd be that naïve, even at his age. His enthusiasm and energy come through, as do his sometimes conflicting desires to be safe/fit in vs to be good/truer to himself. Without his father in the home, Harri feels it is his role to protect, to be the man of the family. Yet at 11 years old and in a tough neighborhood where gangs are a part of everyday life, this is not easy. Not to mention, he's just a kid - he wants to use reward money if they solve the crime to buy a Playstation, he likes to run, he's discovering girls...
There are also interludes narrated by a pigeon that watches over Harri. It took some time for these to work for me, but I slowly came around to the metaphor and the role in the story.
I knew the book had a lot of hype, and that tends to make me wary. That said, it is a good first novel, yes, with its flaws and not a particularly surprising ending, but a voice and story that kept me interested throughout.
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stabbed to death, Harri's and a friend decide to do their own version of the TV show CSI and find the killer.The novel is told (mostly) from Harri's point of view. It is here that I can see why the book has been compared to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Through Harri's narration, we end up understanding more than he does about what it going on around him. I think this works in places, and in others have a harder time believing he'd be that naïve, even at his age. His enthusiasm and energy come through, as do his sometimes conflicting desires to be safe/fit in vs to be good/truer to himself. Without his father in the home, Harri feels it is his role to protect, to be the man of the family. Yet at 11 years old and in a tough neighborhood where gangs are a part of everyday life, this is not easy. Not to mention, he's just a kid - he wants to use reward money if they solve the crime to buy a Playstation, he likes to run, he's discovering girls...
There are also interludes narrated by a pigeon that watches over Harri. It took some time for these to work for me, but I slowly came around to the metaphor and the role in the story.
I knew the book had a lot of hype, and that tends to make me wary. That said, it is a good first novel, yes, with its flaws and not a particularly surprising ending, but a voice and story that kept me interested throughout.
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LibraryThing member stephkaye
The moving tale of a bright young boy from Ghana whose family has moved to London. There, he learns about love and superheroes and reptiles -- but also murder, bullying, and other crimes. A sweet tale that shows us the bitter truths about urban violence.
LibraryThing member rubyjand
Heartwarming, funny, tragic, I really wish life had been kinder to young Harrison from Ghana, trying to figure things out in an English slum. The dialog is brilliant. They say "Don't bring yourself" or "Advise yourself" when they mean "You're nuts". I love these people. A must read!
Awards
Booker Prize (Longlist — 2011)
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2013)
British Book Award (Shortlist — New Writer — 2011)
Waverton Good Read Award (Longlist — 2011)
Guardian First Book Award (Shortlist — 2011)
Desmond Elliott Prize (Shortlist — 2011)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2011-03-07 (UK)
2011-06-27 (US, e-Book)
2011-07-19 (US, hardcover)
Physical description
288 p.; 5.08 inches
ISBN
1408815680 / 9781408815687
Other editions
Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman (Paperback)
Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman (Paperback)