A moving evocation of a difficult and
different childhood. (Review by Margaret von Klemperer, courtesy of The
Witness)
Set in the then all-white suburb of
Hillbrow in 1967, John Hunt’s novel is a moving evocation of a difficult and
different childhood. While the setting might seem strange to those who know
Hillbrow in its current manifestation, Hunt’s fine descriptive writing makes it
an important and evocative backdrop to the story. But centre stage is occupied
by 11 year old Phen.
His real name is Stephen, but he is a
stutterer who has more trouble with the letter “S” than any other, so Phen at
least offers him a chance to articulate his name. Teased at school by peers and
teachers alike, his life is tough. And to compound his problems, his father is
dying, slowly and painfully. His one solace is to get Phen to read to him after
school, taking the child into the worlds of Hemingway, Truman Capote and John
le Carré, adding colour to the Cold War fantasy games Phen plays in the park
while walking his dog. But eventually even his father deserts him in favour of
a new-fangled reel to reel tape-deck and non-stuttering audio books.
Feeling sad and supplanted, he befriends a
hobo in the park, who tells Phen his name is Heb Thirteen Two, something Phen
will eventually decode with surprising consequences which at one point take the
reader into what feels like fantasy. But that’s not what it is.
Writing from the standpoint of a child is
extraordinarily difficult to do successfully. Hunt makes Phen completely
believable, neither too cute nor improbably knowing, as he deals with the
tragedy of his father’s impending death and observes with the clear eye of
pre-adolescence the behaviour of the adults who surround him. There is sadness
in the story, but also humour – Phen’s turn as a tree in the class production
of A Midsummer-Night’s Dream is
hilarious.
But despite his problems with speech,
Phen’s reading has taught him the power of words and given him a love of books.
And once he has worked out what Heb Thirteen Two’s name might mean, a new
dimension of comfort is added to his life, though Hunt avoids the obvious and
the clichéd. The ending of the book is deeply moving but the reader can be
filled with hope for Phen’s future.
Written by John Hunt, The Boy Who Could Keep a Swan in his Head is published by Umuzi. ISBN
978-1-4152-0966-0 - Margaret von Klemperer
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