A Kestrel for a Knave - Barry Hines

A Kestrel for a Knave written by Barry Hines, a book that is structured in a series of flashbacks. The past is mixed in with the present. A moving book that focus’s on the relationship between one boy, Billy Casper and his hawk. The Hawk brings something into Billy’s life, something worth living for. Something he was lacking before. His home life is a mixture of bitterness and loneliness, nobody loves him or cares for him, and his older brother makes lives for worse for him. Constantly bullying him, and destroying any happiness he may have. School is no better than home, the school’s policy is one of punishment, the cane will be used ...  Read the complete review

I haven't bothered to do a "My All Time Favourite Books" list yet, but when I do get round to it, this will be positioned in the upper reaches somewhere. A Kestrel for a Knave, was written by Barry Hines, and published in 1968. It is set in Barnsley, and tells the story of Billy Casper, a working class schoolboy. It is clear from the narrative that he comes from a home where the father is absent, his brother, Jed is a bit of a bully and he takes his troubles from home, to school - it seems that something is always on his mind as he cannot concentrate at school - it would seem he is not interested, the simple fact is that no-one seems interested in ...  Read the complete review

One of the few books I enjoyed in the course of my English lessons. Unpretentious, accessible and realistic, it showed the life of a Northern lad in an uncompromising light. The kestrel was Billy's only, unexpected way out of the life of petty crime he seemed to, almost by default, be settling into. With the exception of one teacher and a librarian, everyone around him was as grim and gritty in personality as North England is portrayed. The sports master, especially, is a bit of a bastard, but still manages to be humanised by his love of football. Essentially, Billy is a proto-environmentalist (the book was written in 1968, after all), something that was ...  Read the complete review

I was made to read this book as part of my gcse coursework and exams and to be honest the first time i read it i found it very boring. This is possibly because i was reading it in class and often other people would be reading it out loud (poorly). However, after i had watched the movie based on the book, i read the book again to get a more in depth understanding and found it a lot more interesting. I think that this was for several reasons. One was that i could put faces to the characters and imagine the story in my head as i read the book. Another is that i think that the second time i read it i took my time, as i had already absorbed the most important ...  Read the complete review