Black Swan Green

Black Swan Green by David Mitchell  304 pp.

Thirteen year old Jason Taylor recounts one year of his life in the tiny English town of Black Swan Green, where the town joke is there are no black swans. Jason's life is a misery. He has a stutter that speech therapy doesn't seem to be helping. He is bullied by a number of his classmates for his stutter and not being one of the tough, cool kids. He doesn't get along with his older sister who is heading off to university and his parents serious issues of their own. Girls don't seem to like him. Things just aren't going his way. It is 1982 and England is in the midst of the Falklands War and the Thatcher recession. Jason copes with things by writing poetry and giving nicknames to the parts of his personality that deal with the difficult parts of his life. Gradually things start to change for Jason and all the kids in his grade at school. For some, it is for the better; for others, it is much worse. Is the shift just because Jason has matured in that year or something more? This book is sad, funny, intriguing, shocking, unpredictable, and full of music from the period. It's very well written and worth reading.

The King's Speech / Mark Logue and Peter Conradi

The King's Speech by Mark Logue and Peter Conradi. 242 p.

This is both a biography of Lionel Logue, the speech coach who helped George VI of England overcome his stutter, and a history of that king's life. "Bertie" was Duke of York when he began treatment with Logue, and they continued their association once he became king. Logue was present for most of the big speeches that the king had to make; they would practice beforehand, but Logue's presence (he would be in the room during radio speeches) gave Bertie confidence. The view the book gives us of Bertie's reign is interesting, because it mostly revolves around major speeches--much of the book is based on Logue's diaries, so of course that affects the viewpoint. We're shown Christmas with the king's family, for instance, because during the war the king always made a radio address on Christmas, so Logue would be present.

As usual, reading about 20th century history always makes me feel like an idiot when I run into stuff I don't know. I knew Wallis Simpson had been divorced twice, but I didn't realize that at the time Edward VIII took the throne, she was still married to her second husband.

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