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A review by sydsnot71
A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines
4.0
Somehow, despite going to school in England in the 70s and 80s I never got to read 'A Kestrel for a Knave' or see the film, 'Kes'. I'm not sure how I managed this.
Well, I've finally read it and it is a great book. The school scenes ring very true, especially the assembly and the games lesson.
Billy Casper is a great character. He feels like a real kid with a real life. The English education system might have given up on him - and he it - but he's still capable of finding something to love and something to escape with. In his case it is 'Kes' a Kestral he raises and trains. In other cases it would be music or film or Doctor Who. We all have our own ways of escaping. We all have our own prison cages.
But I should be careful, as Hines himself says in his afterword - "I sometimes think that people read too much into novels and seek hidden meanings where none exist.". But then that's part of the fun of reading. Everyone who read 'A Kestral for a Knave' will have got something different out of it. We all read the same book but we all read a different book too.
Well worth reading if, like me, you've somehow missed out on this.
PS The afterword is really worth a read too btw.
Well, I've finally read it and it is a great book. The school scenes ring very true, especially the assembly and the games lesson.
Billy Casper is a great character. He feels like a real kid with a real life. The English education system might have given up on him - and he it - but he's still capable of finding something to love and something to escape with. In his case it is 'Kes' a Kestral he raises and trains. In other cases it would be music or film or Doctor Who. We all have our own ways of escaping. We all have our own prison cages.
But I should be careful, as Hines himself says in his afterword - "I sometimes think that people read too much into novels and seek hidden meanings where none exist.". But then that's part of the fun of reading. Everyone who read 'A Kestral for a Knave' will have got something different out of it. We all read the same book but we all read a different book too.
Well worth reading if, like me, you've somehow missed out on this.
PS The afterword is really worth a read too btw.