Barry Hines (1939–2016)

The ostensible storyline is a bit of a pretext by which to deliver some terrifying truths about the shadow that stalked us for so long. But it works; the storyline keeps you riveted in the face of what would otherwise be sheer numbness. It takes us from a couple of kids who just had an oops and got pregnant, practically the definitive quotidian drama, through buffet after buffet--the explosions, the death, the disfigurement, the animals writhing in the flames, the mass PTSD, the constant show more wind, the epidemics, the total overwhelm, the impossibility of heroism, the impossibility of self-defense, the impossibility of survival, the Riddley Walker-esque breakdown of language and humanity, the climactic moment of "crude intercourse", the flare of life, and then the birth of a stillborn, deformed baby, representing the future--forever. Better Nineteen Eighty-Four. show less

A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines was originally published in 1968. This classic coming-of-age story is about Billy Casper, a young working class boy who lives with his mother and brother on a huge housing estate in South Yorkshire. The story unfolds over the course of one day with flashbacks to give the reader some backstory. Billy is a troubled youth who gets in trouble at home, in the neighbourhood and at school.

Billy lives a bleak life, his mother appears indifferent to her boys and show more is in the habit of bringing men home with her some nights. Billy’s brother, Jud, is older and is working full time at the local pit mine. Billy and Jud have an adversarial relationship with the bigger Jud usually getting the upper hand. In flashback, we learn that Billy caught a young kestrel and has trained it. This is a boy who is never going to get an opportunity to escape what fate has in store for him. There is no higher education waiting for him, he will most likely end up working in the same pit mine as his brother. His escape from his daily life is his kestrel, he can release the bird and watch it soar into the air and fly high above the dreary world. On this particular day, Jud’s bullying and rough ways cause Billy to make a decision that ends up costing him dearly. In the course of this one day, the bleakness and hopelessness that is Billy’s life is vividly illustrated.

A Kestrel For A Knave is not a charming or sentimental story. Instead the author highlights the harshness of Billy’s life that is filled with bullying and neglect. The reader is left with a sense of inevitability about what a narrow future awaits this boy. Although sad, this story evokes strong emotions and is a powerful tale. show less

“It's fierce, an' it's wild, an' it's not bothered about anybody, not even about me right. And that's why it's great.”

Firstly a quick summary for those of you, who unlike me, are not old old enough to remember the 1969 film adaptation of this book. Set in an unnamed 1960s northern England mining town, Billy Casper lives with his inept mother and bullying older brother and is often left to fend for himself. At school Billy is viewed by most as a troublemaker, bullied by teachers and show more students alike. One night Billy steals a kestrel chick from its nest, rears and pores all his love and passion into it. Pretty simple tale then? Or maybe not.

Many, many years ago I served in the Royal Navy and when some years later, as part of my resettlement package before returning to 'civvy' street, I visited HMP Dartmoor with an idea of becoming a prison warder. Now whilst I recall little about the actual visit itself, what I certainly do remember was my sense of dread when the prison gate closed behind me. And I was only visiting.

If like me, when you read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein you wonder just who is the real monster, Victor or the creature, in this book you wonder who is the real prisoner? Kes or Billy? Yes, Kes was taken from its family and is kept in a garden shed only allowed out to exercise yet Billy is also a prisoner. Only instead of one keeper Billy has many. Society.

Billy has no tangible aspirations in life. He will leave school virtually illiterate and a future marked by low expectations and little chance of real freedom. Those who have an opportunity to guide him, (family, teachers and the careers officer), instead treat him with indifference and violence. In fact most of the teachers at Billy's school have given up trying to teach preferring instead to try to flog knowledge into the boys. Whereas Kes, when off the leash, has the opportunity to fly away, non-lifer prisoners have the chance of reforming and staying out of prison Billy has little chance of escaping his pitiful lot. A point underlined right at the end, when despite knowing that he is likely to be given a good thrashing by his brother he meekly returns home to an empty house and goes to bed, he has virtually given up before his adult life has even begun. He believes that the highpoint of his life is already behind him.

I found this a heart-rending read but amid the hardship and broken dreams there is humour and a healthy dose of Northern banter, I particularly enjoyed the ridiculously competitive PE teacher. Hines depiction of the countryside and the kestrels themselves is beautifully written. I wish I could say that this book was a product of its time I fear that there are still pockets of hopelessness today. Kids whose only future seems to be one spent in low value, low pay work or on social security. This means that this book is still relevant today and as such is a real gem. show less

I have owned this book for years, and have very hazy memories of having read it when I was much younger.

It is the story of Billy, who lives with his single mum and his abusive older brother in a northern mining community in the 1960s (?).

It is a gritty slice-of-real-life book, grim at the start and grim at the end, and grim for quite a lot of the middle. Billy is no angel, lightfingered and close mouthed and always looking for small ways to get back at his brother. But it really shows the show more world that shapes him, the lack of love, lack of respect, and the unfair (and sometimes sadistic) ways the system treats him.

The thing that makes Billy the subject of this book is that he has stolen a kestrel chick and a book on falconry, and managed to train his beautiful, fierce bird Kes. From Billy's skill and Billy's patience and the way Billy so clearly sees the beauty in Kes we see so much of value in Billy, hidden from most of the world.

It is all a bit laid on with a trowel in places - Billy is told to write the tallest tale he can think of in English, and we get such simple wholesome things, like a good breakfast, and chips and beans for his tea, and his Dad coming home and a trip to the pictures.

The ending is bleak and sad and strange. What happens to Billy? Have we as a country failed so many poor angry young men? Do we still? show less