The Blinder

by Barry Hines

Lenny Hawk was magic.
He could do things with a football the opposition hadn't even thought of. He had the world at his feet, and a chip on his shoulder.

He had a glittering future: as a soccer player, as a college student, or with the boss's daughter... but he had enemies, who played for higher stakes - and they were just as talented.

Genres: Fiction, British Literature

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Barry Hines (June 30, 1939 – March 18, 2016) was an English author, playwright, and screenwriter. His novels and screenplays explore the political and economic struggles of working-class Northern England, particularly in his native West Riding / South Yorkshire.

He is best known for the novel A Kestrel for a Knave (1968), which he helped adapt for Ken Loach's film Kes (1969). He also collaborated with Loach on adaptations of his novels Looks and Smiles (1981) and The Gamekeeper, and a 1977 two-part television drama adaption of his book The Price of Coal.

He also wrote the television film Threads, which depicts the impact of a nuclear war on Sheffield.

Reviews

[James Tingle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Barry Hines' second novel, A Kestrel For a Knave (Kes), last year, and really enjoyed it and so got myself a copy of his first novel, The Blinder, on the strength of that work. This debut by the author has all the hallmarks of Kes, with the Yorkshire dialect running throughout and the grittiness that surges up from the pages, but they are pretty different storyline-wise.
Billy, the main character from Kes, is more likeable overall and you feel more sympathetic to his cause, as the protagonist in this tale from the mid-sixties, Lennie Hawk, is more a Jack the Lad type, chasing the ladies and generally being a bit of an egomaniac. He is quite likeable in some ways, and you get why he has his admirers, but he does grate somewhat, especially how he finds everything comes so easily to him, from being a superstar football whizz, to excelling at Grammar School with almost no effort on his part, barely bothering to crack a book.
The main plot point of the book surrounds Lennie's burgeoning football career, already too good for the school team and getting scouted by professional clubs, juxtaposed with his studies and loose aims at possibly going to University. When he's not playing at studying for exams, or booting a football into the back of a net at his local town club, he can be found in his local pub, The Anchor, with coal miner mates, gleefully chatting up young ladies (and an older one at one point as well). His football-mad Dad can't wait for him to play for the local team full time, whilst his Mum is desperate for him to continue at school, as all the while Lennie basically breezes about doing whatever the hell he likes...he doesn't seem to have much regard for others most of the time, as long as he's cock of the walk, he's happy enough...
I did enjoy the book, and the dialogue is very believable, and has a rawness that sticks you right slap bang in the middle of sixties South Yorkshire, and it's generally very readable. I preferred A Kestrel For a Knave out of the two books, as it had a greater depth, more emotion and more drama, but this was still a very enjoyable read, and I think most people will fly through this little gem very contentedly.

[Steven Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hines’ first novel, and in my opinion possibly his best: there are arguments for the characters and dialogue in The Blinder being stronger than in A kestrel for a Knave.

Full review at: http://stevek1889.blogspot.co.uk/2014...

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this at school. A huge influence on me as a teenager.