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Крал Гарван
"Крал Гарван" от Майкъл Стюарт е историята на самотно, пренебрегвано момче на име Пол, което често сменя дома и училището си. Историята на живот, с който има само един начин да се справиш - да избягаш от него. След като не намира подкрепа в семейството си, няма приятели или среда, неговото спасение се оказва светът на птиците. Така започва и пътуването му - в търсене на най-прекрасната птица в естествената й среда. В своето пътешествие Пол ще открие повече неща, отколкото търси, ще мине през големи премеждия, една любов, малко заблуди, а дори може и да загуби ума си...
232 pages, Paperback
First published January 28, 2011
12 people are currently reading
179 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
September 23, 2024
Who knew that literary fiction slash psychological thriller slash weird mystery slash ornithology slash wtfuckery would be my new favourite genre?!
Twitchers who don’t mind a dark edge, (like myself!) this is a birdwatching book JUST FOR YOU.
5 ⭐️ - Brilliant. I loved it.
Twitchers who don’t mind a dark edge, (like myself!) this is a birdwatching book JUST FOR YOU.
5 ⭐️ - Brilliant. I loved it.
August 18, 2012
My partner, Jane, picked up a copy of this novel, signed by the author, and, frowning, began to read. After about fifteen minutes, she looked up and asked me, ‘Does it go on about chuffing birds all the way through?’ Yes, Jane. It does indeed go on about chuffing birds nearly all the way through. Most of the chapters are short, and every one is named after a kind of bird.
The main narrative of ‘King Crow’ is in the present tense and the first person – my favourite narrative mode.
The main character is a teenager called Paul Cooper who lives in Salford. He has no friends, a history of moving from one school to another, and seems in some way detached from reality. He filters all his observations and experiences through a series of metaphors based on his knowledge of ornithology. The story is concerned with what happens when Paul unexpectedly makes a friend called Ashley, and the two of them get into trouble with a criminal gang and decide to flee to the Lake District. On the journey, Paul looks forward to seeing ravens in the wild for the first time.
It would be trite and inappropriate to try to compare this book to ‘A Kestrel For A Knave’ (or ‘Kes’ as people insist on calling it since the film adaptation was made). In AKFAK, the protagonist actually owns a bird, and that is the only bird he is interested in. In ‘King Crow’, the protagonist is only interested in birds in the wild, and is knowledgeable about birds generally. Both protagonists are adolescent males from northern, working-class backgrounds but, beyond that, they are as different as two characters could be. Were they ever to meet, they would definitely dislike each other. All the dialogue in ‘King Crow’ is written in standard English rather than dialect – a wise decision. Barry Hines has said in later editions of AKFAK that he wishes he had written the whole dialogue in both the novel and the screenplay in standard English and left it to the reader to translate.
Another feature of the dialogue and one which I cannot remember seeing in any other novel is that there are no quotation marks. Each speaker’s words are introduced by a long dash. This was a deliberate device to allow Paul Cooper’s internal monologue to blend into the dialogue and I think it works: it does not make the narrative difficult to follow.
I found Paul Cooper to be a very likeable and believable narrator. I sympathise with his detachment and with his passion for accumulating what most other people would regard as “useless” information. He is opinionated and unsentimental, and speculates to himself on a wide range of subjects, from a hypothetical fight between Disney and Warner Brothers cartoon characters, to the fate of the giant panda. It was the unfolding of Paul’s character and his broken relationship with the real world that drove me to want to finish the book. Michael Stewart knows how to create suspense and he also knows how to write a resolution which is satisfying and believable to a contemporary readership. The flight to the Lake District is in no way an attempt to resort to flowery descriptions of setting instead of developing the characters and advancing the plot.
David Peace chose ‘King Crow’ as the work by an emerging writer to have the first three chapters included at the end of the World Book Night edition of ‘The Damned United’. Since then, the Kindle edition of ‘King Crow’ has reached No 38 in the download charts. It also won the Guardian’s ‘Not The Booker’ prize, for which the author was awarded a Guardian mug which took an inordinately long time to arrive.
I am currently taking part in a reading tour to promote a poetry anthology of which Michael Stewart is the editor, and in which some of my work appears (‘A Complicated Way Of Being Ignored’, published by Grist). This has been a vivid, arduous and emotional experience, with some late nights, long taxi rides, one epileptic fit, and some truly execrable and embarrassing “read-round” poetry from audiences.
He has been working on his second novel for some time. I have no idea what it is about, but it has been submitted to the editor and I hope it appears in print soon.
My collective name for my partner, Jane, and stepson, Jared, is The Jays: as Michael Stewart would say, “the most colourful of the corvids”. Even they are like chuffing birds.
The main narrative of ‘King Crow’ is in the present tense and the first person – my favourite narrative mode.
The main character is a teenager called Paul Cooper who lives in Salford. He has no friends, a history of moving from one school to another, and seems in some way detached from reality. He filters all his observations and experiences through a series of metaphors based on his knowledge of ornithology. The story is concerned with what happens when Paul unexpectedly makes a friend called Ashley, and the two of them get into trouble with a criminal gang and decide to flee to the Lake District. On the journey, Paul looks forward to seeing ravens in the wild for the first time.
It would be trite and inappropriate to try to compare this book to ‘A Kestrel For A Knave’ (or ‘Kes’ as people insist on calling it since the film adaptation was made). In AKFAK, the protagonist actually owns a bird, and that is the only bird he is interested in. In ‘King Crow’, the protagonist is only interested in birds in the wild, and is knowledgeable about birds generally. Both protagonists are adolescent males from northern, working-class backgrounds but, beyond that, they are as different as two characters could be. Were they ever to meet, they would definitely dislike each other. All the dialogue in ‘King Crow’ is written in standard English rather than dialect – a wise decision. Barry Hines has said in later editions of AKFAK that he wishes he had written the whole dialogue in both the novel and the screenplay in standard English and left it to the reader to translate.
Another feature of the dialogue and one which I cannot remember seeing in any other novel is that there are no quotation marks. Each speaker’s words are introduced by a long dash. This was a deliberate device to allow Paul Cooper’s internal monologue to blend into the dialogue and I think it works: it does not make the narrative difficult to follow.
I found Paul Cooper to be a very likeable and believable narrator. I sympathise with his detachment and with his passion for accumulating what most other people would regard as “useless” information. He is opinionated and unsentimental, and speculates to himself on a wide range of subjects, from a hypothetical fight between Disney and Warner Brothers cartoon characters, to the fate of the giant panda. It was the unfolding of Paul’s character and his broken relationship with the real world that drove me to want to finish the book. Michael Stewart knows how to create suspense and he also knows how to write a resolution which is satisfying and believable to a contemporary readership. The flight to the Lake District is in no way an attempt to resort to flowery descriptions of setting instead of developing the characters and advancing the plot.
David Peace chose ‘King Crow’ as the work by an emerging writer to have the first three chapters included at the end of the World Book Night edition of ‘The Damned United’. Since then, the Kindle edition of ‘King Crow’ has reached No 38 in the download charts. It also won the Guardian’s ‘Not The Booker’ prize, for which the author was awarded a Guardian mug which took an inordinately long time to arrive.
I am currently taking part in a reading tour to promote a poetry anthology of which Michael Stewart is the editor, and in which some of my work appears (‘A Complicated Way Of Being Ignored’, published by Grist). This has been a vivid, arduous and emotional experience, with some late nights, long taxi rides, one epileptic fit, and some truly execrable and embarrassing “read-round” poetry from audiences.
He has been working on his second novel for some time. I have no idea what it is about, but it has been submitted to the editor and I hope it appears in print soon.
My collective name for my partner, Jane, and stepson, Jared, is The Jays: as Michael Stewart would say, “the most colourful of the corvids”. Even they are like chuffing birds.
February 11, 2017
Днес ще летим на едни доста по-мрачни „Книжни Криле”. Всъщност дори черни. Гарванови. „Крал Гарван” на Майкъл Стюарт е поредното силно и провокативно предложение за млада аудитория от „Студио Арт Лайн”. Прочетете ревюто на "Книжни Криле":
https://knijnikrile.wordpress.com/201...
https://knijnikrile.wordpress.com/201...
August 12, 2017
Interesting novel not all as it seems as the main character goes in search of ravens
September 23, 2020
I have started and deleted the review for this book more times than I can count. Even now it has been over a month since I read the book, and I can’t come up with the words that;
Will do it justice
Allow me to talk without spoiling anything…
So I am just going to keep it very short –
King Crow is a wild and wonderful book that I can’t recommend enough! A strange mix of road trip novel and ornithology that had me glued to the page. Our protagonist Paul is a bird lover – it’s all he seems to talk about, and think about, and that has made him a bit of an outcast. He has just started at a new school and is finding it hard to fit in, when he meets Ashley. Ashley is the opposite of Paul. After a series of events they end up on a forced road trip. Paul decides it would be a good time to try and find ravens in their natural habitat while at the same time keeping their heads down. Much fun ensues including underage drug fueled parties and car chases.
Yes, birds, drugs, and car chases. It’s all here, and it’s brilliant.
Will do it justice
Allow me to talk without spoiling anything…
So I am just going to keep it very short –
King Crow is a wild and wonderful book that I can’t recommend enough! A strange mix of road trip novel and ornithology that had me glued to the page. Our protagonist Paul is a bird lover – it’s all he seems to talk about, and think about, and that has made him a bit of an outcast. He has just started at a new school and is finding it hard to fit in, when he meets Ashley. Ashley is the opposite of Paul. After a series of events they end up on a forced road trip. Paul decides it would be a good time to try and find ravens in their natural habitat while at the same time keeping their heads down. Much fun ensues including underage drug fueled parties and car chases.
Yes, birds, drugs, and car chases. It’s all here, and it’s brilliant.
December 30, 2018
*Actual rating: 3.5 stars*
Short literary novel written about a disadvantaged, socially awkward boy in England who is obsessed with birds. Obviously I read this book because of the obsession with birds part, and some of the descriptions and observations are either wonderfully poetic (the kestrel hovering) or snarkily funny (the narrator's opinion about the March of the Penguins). Despite this, at first I thought I wouldn't like the story at all. I thought it was going to end up yet another gritty tale of drugs and juvenile delinquency. But I'm glad I kept reading, because by the end, it turned out to be a different sort of story after all. My final impression: Offbeat and interesting.
Short literary novel written about a disadvantaged, socially awkward boy in England who is obsessed with birds. Obviously I read this book because of the obsession with birds part, and some of the descriptions and observations are either wonderfully poetic (the kestrel hovering) or snarkily funny (the narrator's opinion about the March of the Penguins). Despite this, at first I thought I wouldn't like the story at all. I thought it was going to end up yet another gritty tale of drugs and juvenile delinquency. But I'm glad I kept reading, because by the end, it turned out to be a different sort of story after all. My final impression: Offbeat and interesting.
October 26, 2019
So firstly, I don’t care for birds not in any sense even as a plot device. The characters are fairly two dimensional with no real substance, makes it difficult for me to be invested as a reader if I don’t care for any of the characters. I did enjoy the fight club esque twist but it wasn’t executed as well as fight club and it didn’t really make me enjoy it any more. The only thing that kept me going was how short it was.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 30, 2013
сюжет - 1
идея - 2
герои - 1
жанр - 2
поетика - 1
Внимание, по-голямата част от тази книга дава подробна информация за птиците - тяхното поведение, външни белези, разпространение, систематика и анатомия. Ако не искате да четете за разликата между зеленики и обикновени чинки, за изхранването на ястреба-врабчар, за птицата носорог, която не живее в Англия, за всички 187 от 636 птици, от които Пол вече е видял в естествена среда, е по-добре да не подбирате като четиво "Крал гарван". Защото тя ще ви накара да погледнете по един различен начин към птиците.
Майкъл Стюарт е дебютиращ писател. Неговата първа книга разказва за живота на 16-годишния Пол Купър - училищния живот, наркотици, побойници, момичета и, разбира се, птици. Действието е в първо лице, което постоянно се редува с различните факти за птици, които се въртят в главата на Пол. Това е един нов начин на повествование, но бързо би успял да дотегне на читателя. Вместо да се следи развитието на действието, се получават просто натрупани факти за птиците. Това е замисълът, книгата цели да поучи читателя, да го информира за много факти относно страстта на главния герой - птиците. Но човекът, който би се заинтересувал, би открил същата информация и в една енциклопедия.
Сюжетът е праволиненен, действието се развива за около 10 дни. Редува се с фактите за птици и с откъслечните спомени на Пол за детството му. Научавайки всичко за него, ние надникваме из всички кътчета на душата му.
Идеята, около която се върти цялата книга, е самотата, драмата на пренебрегнатия и незабелязания, нуждата от приятелство и любов, пагубното влияние на едно разбито семейство върху децата. "Крал гарван" трудно би научила едно дете или тийнеджър на нещо, освен птиците и коя дрога какво действие предизвиква. Защото Пол не е наистина лошо дете. Той не е кото онези "ужасни" деца, които родителите дават за пример какъв не трябва да бъде един ученик. "Крал гарван" би имала по-силно въздействие върху възрастните, които понякога нямат почти никаква представа какво се случва с децата им и най-вече в главите им. До какво биха довели действията им, като родители и колко пагубно би могло да бъде това. Защото децата са крехки и чупливи.
Главният герой е Пол Купър, вечният новак и аутсайдер. Сменил безброй жилища и училища, никога не успял да намери приятели. Изоставен от баща си, когото почти не помни, отглеждан от майка си - лесбийка, която често мени приятелките си. Пол е затворено момче, което има проблем с общуването. Той се изолира от външния свят, чрез любов-мания, която изпитва към птиците. Той е съвсем безразличен към случващото се около него, моралните му ценности са притъпени. Стремейки се да избяга и да не бъде забелязан, неусетно се е превърнал в безчувствен егоист. Но тук действията и мислите му стават противоречиви. Въпреки тези му стремежи, той отново иска да намери приятел и да срещне любовта, или по-скоро просто да прави секс. Иска да бъде разбран и приет, без да отдаде нещо от себе си, без да положи старание. Но животът е жесток и тогава идват на ход фантазиите и измислиците.
Останалите два персонажа - Ашли и Беки, имайки предвид тяхната същност, остават съвсем плоски като характери. Образите им сякаш притежават единствено две-три характеристики. Ашли е обективизираното "желание" на Пол да има приятел, който да го защитава, който да го обича и да го кара да правят луди неща, да се забавляват и да живеят истински. А Беки представлява "мечтата" на Пол за любов, разбиране, ласки и разбира се - секс. А реалност и измислица са толкова преплетени, че лесно биха объркали читателя, но именно това е целта.
Цялото действие се разва в съвременна Англия и всичко, което се случва там, би могло да се случи и в истинския живот. Поетиката, с която е разказана книгата, е съвсем проста и точна. Чете се бързо и леко, но за съжаление на български език звучи на моменти дори смешно.
Бих препоръчала книгата единствено на родителите, които имат желание да разберат колко страшна може да бъде всъщност действителността, в която живее едно дете и че не всичко е толкова просто и лесно, само защото все още си дете.
идея - 2
герои - 1
жанр - 2
поетика - 1
Внимание, по-голямата част от тази книга дава подробна информация за птиците - тяхното поведение, външни белези, разпространение, систематика и анатомия. Ако не искате да четете за разликата между зеленики и обикновени чинки, за изхранването на ястреба-врабчар, за птицата носорог, която не живее в Англия, за всички 187 от 636 птици, от които Пол вече е видял в естествена среда, е по-добре да не подбирате като четиво "Крал гарван". Защото тя ще ви накара да погледнете по един различен начин към птиците.
Майкъл Стюарт е дебютиращ писател. Неговата първа книга разказва за живота на 16-годишния Пол Купър - училищния живот, наркотици, побойници, момичета и, разбира се, птици. Действието е в първо лице, което постоянно се редува с различните факти за птици, които се въртят в главата на Пол. Това е един нов начин на повествование, но бързо би успял да дотегне на читателя. Вместо да се следи развитието на действието, се получават просто натрупани факти за птиците. Това е замисълът, книгата цели да поучи читателя, да го информира за много факти относно страстта на главния герой - птиците. Но човекът, който би се заинтересувал, би открил същата информация и в една енциклопедия.
Сюжетът е праволиненен, действието се развива за около 10 дни. Редува се с фактите за птици и с откъслечните спомени на Пол за детството му. Научавайки всичко за него, ние надникваме из всички кътчета на душата му.
Идеята, около която се върти цялата книга, е самотата, драмата на пренебрегнатия и незабелязания, нуждата от приятелство и любов, пагубното влияние на едно разбито семейство върху децата. "Крал гарван" трудно би научила едно дете или тийнеджър на нещо, освен птиците и коя дрога какво действие предизвиква. Защото Пол не е наистина лошо дете. Той не е кото онези "ужасни" деца, които родителите дават за пример какъв не трябва да бъде един ученик. "Крал гарван" би имала по-силно въздействие върху възрастните, които понякога нямат почти никаква представа какво се случва с децата им и най-вече в главите им. До какво биха довели действията им, като родители и колко пагубно би могло да бъде това. Защото децата са крехки и чупливи.
Главният герой е Пол Купър, вечният новак и аутсайдер. Сменил безброй жилища и училища, никога не успял да намери приятели. Изоставен от баща си, когото почти не помни, отглеждан от майка си - лесбийка, която често мени приятелките си. Пол е затворено момче, което има проблем с общуването. Той се изолира от външния свят, чрез любов-мания, която изпитва към птиците. Той е съвсем безразличен към случващото се около него, моралните му ценности са притъпени. Стремейки се да избяга и да не бъде забелязан, неусетно се е превърнал в безчувствен егоист. Но тук действията и мислите му стават противоречиви. Въпреки тези му стремежи, той отново иска да намери приятел и да срещне любовта, или по-скоро просто да прави секс. Иска да бъде разбран и приет, без да отдаде нещо от себе си, без да положи старание. Но животът е жесток и тогава идват на ход фантазиите и измислиците.
Останалите два персонажа - Ашли и Беки, имайки предвид тяхната същност, остават съвсем плоски като характери. Образите им сякаш притежават единствено две-три характеристики. Ашли е обективизираното "желание" на Пол да има приятел, който да го защитава, който да го обича и да го кара да правят луди неща, да се забавляват и да живеят истински. А Беки представлява "мечтата" на Пол за любов, разбиране, ласки и разбира се - секс. А реалност и измислица са толкова преплетени, че лесно биха объркали читателя, но именно това е целта.
Цялото действие се разва в съвременна Англия и всичко, което се случва там, би могло да се случи и в истинския живот. Поетиката, с която е разказана книгата, е съвсем проста и точна. Чете се бързо и леко, но за съжаление на български език звучи на моменти дори смешно.
Бих препоръчала книгата единствено на родителите, които имат желание да разберат колко страшна може да бъде всъщност действителността, в която живее едно дете и че не всичко е толкова просто и лесно, само защото все още си дете.
November 11, 2011
This is a great read, a first time novel by Michael Stewart.
It's about Paul Cooper, teenage boy from dysfunctional fatherless family, lesbian mother who seems to bring a lot of women through her bedroom and a sister he prefers not to think about. But what sustains Paul through his painful, guilty, confusing life; what he loves and what he thinks and reads about constantly, is birds. Paul is consumed by birds, they are his soother, his passion.
The reader learns that they are about 636 bird species in Britain, and Paul has checked off 187 birds from this list that he has seen personally. That there are no birds called 'sea gulls', there are gulls and many many different kinds of gulls, but no sea gulls.
Of course the story is much deeper than Paul's obsession with birds as he gets involved in a drug deal gone wrong with the 'glowing' boy Ashley who has saved him from bullies.
Ashely and Paul begin a harrowing journey to the Lake District where Paul hopes to see ravens first hand, and where they hope to escape from the drug dealer who is pursuing them.
I am very very partial to books where you learn things, so I was particularly entranced with all the images and facts about birds.
Here is a paragraph from the book that endeared Paul to me, because it's refreshing to think about animals in a respectful way and not a condescending way. Paul is talking about the film March of the Penguins:
"There are basically two reasons the film did so well in America - one, it promoted conservative family values, and two - it made penguins look cute. Oh, and a third reason. Americans are wankers. When the penguin chick died my mom wept into our KFC bucket. I had to fetch tissues. Uncontrollable weeping. Pathetic. And some of the respect I had for my mother died that day. When Morgan Freeman says, "in the hardest place on Earth, love finds a way", I could have put my foot through the television. "Love", how can you talk about penguins being in love?
"Penguins spent millions of years evolving the ability to fly, only to spend the next million years or so evolving the ability to NOT fly - and it has chosen to live on a lump of ice. It spends half the year sitting on an egg in sub-zero temperatures, and the other half of the year abandoning its mate to get food. That's a pretty stupid way to live your life."
The book is full of gems like this. Paul is sweet but screwed up and understandably so. Bullied at school, no friends, father issues, moving constantly with his mum, he's just trying to keep his demons at bay.
And I have to say the ending is excellent, a surprise to me which is always a treat.
"
It's about Paul Cooper, teenage boy from dysfunctional fatherless family, lesbian mother who seems to bring a lot of women through her bedroom and a sister he prefers not to think about. But what sustains Paul through his painful, guilty, confusing life; what he loves and what he thinks and reads about constantly, is birds. Paul is consumed by birds, they are his soother, his passion.
The reader learns that they are about 636 bird species in Britain, and Paul has checked off 187 birds from this list that he has seen personally. That there are no birds called 'sea gulls', there are gulls and many many different kinds of gulls, but no sea gulls.
Of course the story is much deeper than Paul's obsession with birds as he gets involved in a drug deal gone wrong with the 'glowing' boy Ashley who has saved him from bullies.
Ashely and Paul begin a harrowing journey to the Lake District where Paul hopes to see ravens first hand, and where they hope to escape from the drug dealer who is pursuing them.
I am very very partial to books where you learn things, so I was particularly entranced with all the images and facts about birds.
Here is a paragraph from the book that endeared Paul to me, because it's refreshing to think about animals in a respectful way and not a condescending way. Paul is talking about the film March of the Penguins:
"There are basically two reasons the film did so well in America - one, it promoted conservative family values, and two - it made penguins look cute. Oh, and a third reason. Americans are wankers. When the penguin chick died my mom wept into our KFC bucket. I had to fetch tissues. Uncontrollable weeping. Pathetic. And some of the respect I had for my mother died that day. When Morgan Freeman says, "in the hardest place on Earth, love finds a way", I could have put my foot through the television. "Love", how can you talk about penguins being in love?
"Penguins spent millions of years evolving the ability to fly, only to spend the next million years or so evolving the ability to NOT fly - and it has chosen to live on a lump of ice. It spends half the year sitting on an egg in sub-zero temperatures, and the other half of the year abandoning its mate to get food. That's a pretty stupid way to live your life."
The book is full of gems like this. Paul is sweet but screwed up and understandably so. Bullied at school, no friends, father issues, moving constantly with his mum, he's just trying to keep his demons at bay.
And I have to say the ending is excellent, a surprise to me which is always a treat.
"
January 8, 2018
An unusual and gripping read. Paul Cooper is 16, and almost obsessively interested in birds. He does not make friends easily, has moved house and school many times and when the story begins is just about to run into trouble at his latest school. That is until the bullies who are about to cause problems for him are distracted by and sent off by another boy. Paul doesn't know him, but there is something about him that reminds him of a member of the crow family. Paul likens most people to a type of bird.
The story itself is fast paced, moving from Paul's hometown of Salford to the Lake District, via a brief school trip to The Tower Of London. Paul and his new friend Ashley have got into more trouble than they bargained for and go on the run. They meet a girl Becky when they arrive in the Lakes who joins up with them, but then things begin to fall apart.
This book won the Guardian's Not The Booker in 2011. The writing is good, not overly literary, which makes it accessible, and with the chapter headings being the names of birds there is plenty of opportunity to incorporate bird-related information into the story. I read it quickly not only because it is not very long, but also because it kept me intrigued right to the end.
The story itself is fast paced, moving from Paul's hometown of Salford to the Lake District, via a brief school trip to The Tower Of London. Paul and his new friend Ashley have got into more trouble than they bargained for and go on the run. They meet a girl Becky when they arrive in the Lakes who joins up with them, but then things begin to fall apart.
This book won the Guardian's Not The Booker in 2011. The writing is good, not overly literary, which makes it accessible, and with the chapter headings being the names of birds there is plenty of opportunity to incorporate bird-related information into the story. I read it quickly not only because it is not very long, but also because it kept me intrigued right to the end.
January 1, 2015
I am sorry to say that I didn`t like this book. There was nothing interesting in it, the description of birds in every chapter were something new and fresh, but after fifty pages it was just something that was distracting me from the plot. The characters weren`t interesting enough.
To be honest this book was sucking energy out of me, and I read it till the end just cause my collegue asked me to and was talking about how great this book was for weeks.
But I did like the last 30 pages very much, that earned this book a second star. If the whole book was written as the last 30 pages this would be a great book - at least for me.
To be honest this book was sucking energy out of me, and I read it till the end just cause my collegue asked me to and was talking about how great this book was for weeks.
But I did like the last 30 pages very much, that earned this book a second star. If the whole book was written as the last 30 pages this would be a great book - at least for me.
January 10, 2017
Опасният полет на „Крал Гарван“: http://azcheta.com/kral-garvan-maikal...
„Крал Гарван“ ми се стори леко неизпипана като стил и сюжет книга, която обаче има смелостта да се захване с клишетата на тийн жанра и да ги запрати в дивото. Историята е най-увлекателна, когато главният герой Купър разказва за любимите си птици или разсъждава над суровите закони на джунглата. В неговите очи отвращението на човека към смъртта и хранителните навици на мършоядите изглежда глупаво и неестествено. Светоусещането му го прави интересен, но несимпатичен особняк, отстранен и статичен в ситуации, в които хората са склонни да изпадат в паника или да извръщат отвратено очи.
„Крал Гарван“ ми се стори леко неизпипана като стил и сюжет книга, която обаче има смелостта да се захване с клишетата на тийн жанра и да ги запрати в дивото. Историята е най-увлекателна, когато главният герой Купър разказва за любимите си птици или разсъждава над суровите закони на джунглата. В неговите очи отвращението на човека към смъртта и хранителните навици на мършоядите изглежда глупаво и неестествено. Светоусещането му го прави интересен, но несимпатичен особняк, отстранен и статичен в ситуации, в които хората са склонни да изпадат в паника или да извръщат отвратено очи.
July 10, 2018
Really enjoyed the style of this book and the storytelling, but found the ending weak and slightly disappointing.
February 14, 2017
King Crow is a weird book about a weird boy. Paul Cooper is a high school pupil who views the world in terms of its relation to birds. Anyone he meets, he works out what kind of bird they equate to. His life's ambitions are mapped out in terms of birds. He's like a twitcher except he doesn't seem to travel anywhere to actually see the birds of his dreams. His life is mapped out in suburbs of Manchester.
So one day, when he sees Ashley - a new and good looking boy at school - Paul sees new possibilities.Although they are initially hostile, Paul sees a blossoming friendship. And as Ashley's bad boy tendencies come to the fore, Paul finds himself sucked into an exciting and criminal world.
There are parts of the novel where one doubts that a reticent character like Paul would so readily become involved in a criminal underworld and walk away from all that he knows. And would Ashley really reach out to Paul? Bear with the book - it is worth it. The contradictions are resolved. There is a feeling, though, that a great novel really ought not to shake the reader's confidence in the narration in this way. Surprises ought to be surprising rather than explanations of previous inconsistencies.
Nevertheless, King Crow is interesting enough in itself to make this a worthwhile read and make Paul Cooper an intriguing character. It's not perfect, but King Crow is a good effort.
So one day, when he sees Ashley - a new and good looking boy at school - Paul sees new possibilities.Although they are initially hostile, Paul sees a blossoming friendship. And as Ashley's bad boy tendencies come to the fore, Paul finds himself sucked into an exciting and criminal world.
There are parts of the novel where one doubts that a reticent character like Paul would so readily become involved in a criminal underworld and walk away from all that he knows. And would Ashley really reach out to Paul? Bear with the book - it is worth it. The contradictions are resolved. There is a feeling, though, that a great novel really ought not to shake the reader's confidence in the narration in this way. Surprises ought to be surprising rather than explanations of previous inconsistencies.
Nevertheless, King Crow is interesting enough in itself to make this a worthwhile read and make Paul Cooper an intriguing character. It's not perfect, but King Crow is a good effort.
February 8, 2018
Paul is an outsider, obsessed with birds. He watches birds all the time and constantly compares birds to humans and vice versa:
'People often overlook the starling. I think that's a shame. Just because they're common, doesn't mean they aren't fascinating. What I like more than anything else is their sociability. This can often be mistaken for aggression, but I reckon one goes with the other - you see people piling out of the Brown Cow on Friday evenings and you'll know what I mean.'
Ashley is everything that Paul isn't, tough and good looking, and inexplicably happy to make friends with Paul. When the two get into trouble, they leave home in Salford and head off to the hills of the Lake District. Paul wants to find ravens, Ashley wants to disappear.
Along the way they meet Becky and the three explore the Lakes together, though definitely not taking the tourist route.
There are many reasons why I love this book - the setting (Salford being close to where I grew up and the Lake District being a favourite place), the writing (Stewart creates a very convincing voice for Paul), and of course the birds. I also really enjoyed Paul's journey to self discovery.
This is Michael Stewart's debut novel.
'People often overlook the starling. I think that's a shame. Just because they're common, doesn't mean they aren't fascinating. What I like more than anything else is their sociability. This can often be mistaken for aggression, but I reckon one goes with the other - you see people piling out of the Brown Cow on Friday evenings and you'll know what I mean.'
Ashley is everything that Paul isn't, tough and good looking, and inexplicably happy to make friends with Paul. When the two get into trouble, they leave home in Salford and head off to the hills of the Lake District. Paul wants to find ravens, Ashley wants to disappear.
Along the way they meet Becky and the three explore the Lakes together, though definitely not taking the tourist route.
There are many reasons why I love this book - the setting (Salford being close to where I grew up and the Lake District being a favourite place), the writing (Stewart creates a very convincing voice for Paul), and of course the birds. I also really enjoyed Paul's journey to self discovery.
This is Michael Stewart's debut novel.
March 28, 2021
Very unusual book and one I really enjoyed. For me the value in this book is it's uniqueness. I recommend it!
If I had to try to describe what it's close to it reminded me of a mix between Ben Myers and American Psycho.
Ben Myers because of its brilliant discription of Cumbria and matter-of-fact and shocking way of telling quite gruesome scenes
And American Psycho because as a reader part of the intrigue of the book is never being sure what is genuine about the characters. And also the essays on birds! They were pretty interesting to be fair but they did remind of Patrick Bateman's monologues about 70s/80s music!
If I had to try to describe what it's close to it reminded me of a mix between Ben Myers and American Psycho.
Ben Myers because of its brilliant discription of Cumbria and matter-of-fact and shocking way of telling quite gruesome scenes
And American Psycho because as a reader part of the intrigue of the book is never being sure what is genuine about the characters. And also the essays on birds! They were pretty interesting to be fair but they did remind of Patrick Bateman's monologues about 70s/80s music!
January 13, 2023
A dark introspective thriller with a bird-obsessed protagonist is not without its subtler softer moments within the majority of its grit and grimness.
This book seems authentically written and has a compelling plot and characters. It will keep you on edge and thinking about its contents. Multi-layered and thoughtful, this book has wings.
This book seems authentically written and has a compelling plot and characters. It will keep you on edge and thinking about its contents. Multi-layered and thoughtful, this book has wings.
March 11, 2023
Харесват ми книги, от които можеш да научиш нещо ново. В този случай се говори предимно за манията на един от героите към птици. Всичко е подробно описано (даже на моменти прекалено). Хареса ми вмъкването на сериала "Doctor Who", това не го очаквах.
Интересна идея.
Интересна идея.
March 27, 2025
very interesting premise. unexpected twist that doesn’t leave too many plot holes (how did he interact with the gang?). strong voice and a fun read. wish i got through this quicker rather than spacing it out.
June 4, 2018
An intriguing and absorbing book.
January 2, 2021
Gripping mix of nature writing and northern working class life.
September 17, 2024
Тотално не очаквах да чета за наркотици и насилие като перспектива на една голяма самота, и томно този елемент ми попречи да харесам историята.
December 20, 2011
King Crow is narrated by sixteen-year-old Paul Cooper; not the most sociable of boys, he’s more interested in ornithology (and peppers this first-person account with facts from his bird books). But Cooper’s life takes a turn into darker territory when he becomes friends with Ashley O’Keefe at his new school; Ashley is mixed up in drugs, and double-crosses a local gangster in a bid to strike out on his own. Cooper and Ashley end up stealing a car and driving to Cumbria – one to flee the gang, the other in the hope of seeing some ravens. Along the way, Cooper meets a girl named Becky, and starts falling in love – but Ashley isn’t happy at the thought of being ignored.
Paul Cooper is an intriguing protagonist; it would have been easy enough for Stewart to paint him as a figure deserving of our sympathy, but instead the picture is more complicated. At the very beginning, we see Cooper try to block out the site of a gang kicking a girl by focusing on what he knows about finches (one senses that he quite often uses his love of birds as a shield against the aspects of life he doesn’t like); and our response may be ambivalent, because it’s not clear whether he is callous or just fragile. The answer is probably a mixture of both, and Cooper becomes increasingly difficult to warm to, with his uncomfortable tendency to objectify the opposite sex as he does birds, and his peculiarly understated way of reacting to events (about a third of the way through, Cooper says, ‘Since meeting Ashley, my life has definitely got more interesting. I’ve done a lot of thing I’ve never done before,’ [p. 66], which seems a rather muted way of describing experiences which include seeing your best friend being tortured, stealing a car, and knocking a man down). And yet, Cooper’s voice remains amiable.
King Crow is skilfully structured to reveal its secrets only gradually. It’s clear from early on that there has been turmoil in Cooper’s family life and trouble at school, but exactly what and how much are things which only come into focus with time (and even then they’re perhaps not made fully clear). There is also the big twist, which occurs two-thirds into the book, and which I absolutely did not see coming – looking back, it is both carefully hidden and cunningly foreshadowed. It’s a twist that both puts a new gloss on what has gone before, and adds a different kind of urgency to what remains, because of what we have now come to understand.
Stewart’s novel maintains its effectiveness almost to the very end, at which point Cooper is perhaps overly eager to explain things. This could be seen as part of the character, another manifestation of the boy’s apparent nonchalance towards his circumstances; but, still, it’s a little jarring for a book which has so carefully balanced the withholding and revealing of information to then show so much of its hand all at once. Nevertheless, King Crow remains a fine debut that leaves one interested to see what Michael Stewart will write next.
Paul Cooper is an intriguing protagonist; it would have been easy enough for Stewart to paint him as a figure deserving of our sympathy, but instead the picture is more complicated. At the very beginning, we see Cooper try to block out the site of a gang kicking a girl by focusing on what he knows about finches (one senses that he quite often uses his love of birds as a shield against the aspects of life he doesn’t like); and our response may be ambivalent, because it’s not clear whether he is callous or just fragile. The answer is probably a mixture of both, and Cooper becomes increasingly difficult to warm to, with his uncomfortable tendency to objectify the opposite sex as he does birds, and his peculiarly understated way of reacting to events (about a third of the way through, Cooper says, ‘Since meeting Ashley, my life has definitely got more interesting. I’ve done a lot of thing I’ve never done before,’ [p. 66], which seems a rather muted way of describing experiences which include seeing your best friend being tortured, stealing a car, and knocking a man down). And yet, Cooper’s voice remains amiable.
King Crow is skilfully structured to reveal its secrets only gradually. It’s clear from early on that there has been turmoil in Cooper’s family life and trouble at school, but exactly what and how much are things which only come into focus with time (and even then they’re perhaps not made fully clear). There is also the big twist, which occurs two-thirds into the book, and which I absolutely did not see coming – looking back, it is both carefully hidden and cunningly foreshadowed. It’s a twist that both puts a new gloss on what has gone before, and adds a different kind of urgency to what remains, because of what we have now come to understand.
Stewart’s novel maintains its effectiveness almost to the very end, at which point Cooper is perhaps overly eager to explain things. This could be seen as part of the character, another manifestation of the boy’s apparent nonchalance towards his circumstances; but, still, it’s a little jarring for a book which has so carefully balanced the withholding and revealing of information to then show so much of its hand all at once. Nevertheless, King Crow remains a fine debut that leaves one interested to see what Michael Stewart will write next.
September 22, 2012
You know from the start that the central character, Paul Cooper, is a lonely boy, introverted and inhabiting a world of his own on quite a profound level. Even engaging with the reader, he's a slippery character, hiding behind his obsession about birds right from the first line:
'When I look at people, I wonder what sort of birds they are.'
He distances himself from other people in every way he can, even introducing himself by his surname, and not because he's from an upper class public school either. Far from it. Despite his determination to distance himself from the world he finds himself in, he draws your sympathy from the start, even though (or perhaps because) Paul is a strange mixture of dispassionate observation and fear, and uses one to hide from the other. He is so afraid of the world that he literally switches his mind to thinking of the facts he knows about the feathered creatures he is so obsessed with as a means not just of emotional escape, but trying to 'block out' the world and physically hide in his thoughts. As though he believes that if he thinks about birds, people won't see him - like a small child who thinks you can't see him if he puts his hands over his eyes:
‘Then he says to me, - Yeah? Want some, new boy?
I feel his breath on my face. Focus on his blazer, a darkening sky. The finches fly off and are replaced by starlings, triangular wings, twisting and soaring, a swirling black cloud […] Remember to breathe. Think about starlings. Think.’
When he meets Ashley, a boy who is the opposite of Paul with his cool confidence, you know everything is about to change. This is where I have to tread carefully as Paul's story needs to be read to really appreciate this excellent book.
Stewart's prose is somehow deceptively simple and yet beautifully poetic, and is often in the immediacy of present tense, and the story unfolds through a character depicted with a rare psychological truth. Paul hides behind shrugs and his quest to see ravens as he observes the world and his own story as it unfolds, and that's the key way the magic of this book works for me.
Stewart manages to convey Paul's matter-of-fact observation of the world he inhabits and the often shocking events in beautifully poetic prose to reveal the story, and interweaves Paul's experience of nature and particularly his constant sliding into his obsessively ornithological world to create a refreshingly different book, and a compelling one.
'When I look at people, I wonder what sort of birds they are.'
He distances himself from other people in every way he can, even introducing himself by his surname, and not because he's from an upper class public school either. Far from it. Despite his determination to distance himself from the world he finds himself in, he draws your sympathy from the start, even though (or perhaps because) Paul is a strange mixture of dispassionate observation and fear, and uses one to hide from the other. He is so afraid of the world that he literally switches his mind to thinking of the facts he knows about the feathered creatures he is so obsessed with as a means not just of emotional escape, but trying to 'block out' the world and physically hide in his thoughts. As though he believes that if he thinks about birds, people won't see him - like a small child who thinks you can't see him if he puts his hands over his eyes:
‘Then he says to me, - Yeah? Want some, new boy?
I feel his breath on my face. Focus on his blazer, a darkening sky. The finches fly off and are replaced by starlings, triangular wings, twisting and soaring, a swirling black cloud […] Remember to breathe. Think about starlings. Think.’
When he meets Ashley, a boy who is the opposite of Paul with his cool confidence, you know everything is about to change. This is where I have to tread carefully as Paul's story needs to be read to really appreciate this excellent book.
Stewart's prose is somehow deceptively simple and yet beautifully poetic, and is often in the immediacy of present tense, and the story unfolds through a character depicted with a rare psychological truth. Paul hides behind shrugs and his quest to see ravens as he observes the world and his own story as it unfolds, and that's the key way the magic of this book works for me.
Stewart manages to convey Paul's matter-of-fact observation of the world he inhabits and the often shocking events in beautifully poetic prose to reveal the story, and interweaves Paul's experience of nature and particularly his constant sliding into his obsessively ornithological world to create a refreshingly different book, and a compelling one.
January 28, 2020
Never reviewed this before because I never finished it, I think I left on a train...
This time I read most of it on another train.... the journey went very fast, as did 16 year-old Paul Cooper's journey in the story. It mostly takes place over a few short days and is pretty gripping.
Paul is naively obsessed with birds, his favourite bird changes but is currently the raven, he's a bit of a twicher but more imaginative than most. The narrative is in his point of view and very much inside his head. It's an interesting kind of coming of age story, there's action, birds, murder, birds, car chases, birds, drugs and more birds. I won't say more than that, read the book.
Ok well I will say a bit more about the birds. I like birds, I'm a bit of a birder myself, but I just think that in this story there are too many throw-away birds, concentrating on fewer species maybe would have been more engrossoing. And less confusing for non birders? But confusion is part of the plot, so hey-ho!
It's a good read, read it!
This time I read most of it on another train.... the journey went very fast, as did 16 year-old Paul Cooper's journey in the story. It mostly takes place over a few short days and is pretty gripping.
Paul is naively obsessed with birds, his favourite bird changes but is currently the raven, he's a bit of a twicher but more imaginative than most. The narrative is in his point of view and very much inside his head. It's an interesting kind of coming of age story, there's action, birds, murder, birds, car chases, birds, drugs and more birds. I won't say more than that, read the book.
Ok well I will say a bit more about the birds. I like birds, I'm a bit of a birder myself, but I just think that in this story there are too many throw-away birds, concentrating on fewer species maybe would have been more engrossoing. And less confusing for non birders? But confusion is part of the plot, so hey-ho!
It's a good read, read it!
May 12, 2012
I was hipped to this book by a pamphlet on New North-West Writing in NW libraries picked up from my local library. It's set in Salford which I'm fairly familiar with, however I was kind of freaked out towards the end when the plot led me to my actual place of work some 200 miles away from where Paul Cooper starts his journey. I came out of this book feeling like I'd learned a lot about both animal and human behaviour. Michael Stewart's philosophical wit and beautifully drawn characters kept me wanting to know more. I read a book a couple of month ago called Tollesbury Time Forever by Stuart Ayris. That and King Crow together have helped me understand how fragile the mind can be and how I should never judge a book by it's cover. This is the stand out book of my reading year so far, brilliant!
January 18, 2026
A cheeky little number. Gets under your skin, creeps up behind you and taps you on the shoulder, jumps out from behind a tree.
This is a very cleverly written novel. Narrator Paul Cooper is a bit odd, but completely draws you into his increasingly bizarre world. Don't let the first couple of chapters fool you into thinking this is going to be a kitchen sink drama. It's not. It reminded me of Marc Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, and of Ross Raisin's novel God's Own Country - both well worth reading.
And you even learn stuff about birds.
Excellent.
2nd reading, June 2021
Yes, still excellent. I know much more about birds now than I did when I read this before, and I think that increased my enjoyment. I had forgotten most of the story so worth rereading.
This is a very cleverly written novel. Narrator Paul Cooper is a bit odd, but completely draws you into his increasingly bizarre world. Don't let the first couple of chapters fool you into thinking this is going to be a kitchen sink drama. It's not. It reminded me of Marc Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, and of Ross Raisin's novel God's Own Country - both well worth reading.
And you even learn stuff about birds.
Excellent.
2nd reading, June 2021
Yes, still excellent. I know much more about birds now than I did when I read this before, and I think that increased my enjoyment. I had forgotten most of the story so worth rereading.
December 29, 2014
Fantastic little novel that reminds me in some ways of a contemporary and more riotous version of A Kestrel For a Knave/Kes. Paul Cooper is a troubled and introverted teenager from Salford, who knows everything there is to know about birds. He ends up reaping havoc across the North of England in a matter of days. Funny, sad and touching, so much happens in such a short space of time that the book threatens to veer from convincing realism into a slightly far-fetched thriller, but it reels itself in and just about makes perfect sense at the end. Wonderfully written and very informative on the subject of birds (assuming the author isn't making it all up), this could easily be the best piece of work I've read this year by a largely unheralded writer. All hail King Crow.
June 23, 2018
This is a 'troubled youth' story, not my favourite genre.
I never felt the close connection between Paul and Ashley as was intended, let alone why I needed to care when a girl came between them.
Also the road trip and chase were negated by the rather cliché ending.
However I shall commend the sensitivity shown and understanding of therapeutic techniques.
It took a while but I came to enjoy the ornithological core theme of the book though mostly because it provided small informative breaks from the clumsy 'subtleties' of the plot.
King Crow would probably be better appreciated by those with an interest in tough upbringings, toxic masculinity and the effect these can have on a young boy's mind.
I never felt the close connection between Paul and Ashley as was intended, let alone why I needed to care when a girl came between them.
Also the road trip and chase were negated by the rather cliché ending.
However I shall commend the sensitivity shown and understanding of therapeutic techniques.
It took a while but I came to enjoy the ornithological core theme of the book though mostly because it provided small informative breaks from the clumsy 'subtleties' of the plot.
King Crow would probably be better appreciated by those with an interest in tough upbringings, toxic masculinity and the effect these can have on a young boy's mind.
June 10, 2013
I heard Michael Steward at his own author reading a little while ago. King Crow is his debut novel and what an enjoyable read it is.
Paul Cooper who comes form a dysfunctional family is only interested in birds and sees people as birds. He and his newly won friend Ashley go on a journey together and encounter a number of strange, even dangerous people as well as Paul falling in love with a young girl.
It is a fascinating story, told from Paul's perspective with a surprise ending - or maybe not quite such a surprising ending after all.
Very much enjoyed the book - would read another work by Stewart.
Paul Cooper who comes form a dysfunctional family is only interested in birds and sees people as birds. He and his newly won friend Ashley go on a journey together and encounter a number of strange, even dangerous people as well as Paul falling in love with a young girl.
It is a fascinating story, told from Paul's perspective with a surprise ending - or maybe not quite such a surprising ending after all.
Very much enjoyed the book - would read another work by Stewart.
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