The Boy Who Could Keep a Swan in His Head

by John Hunt

“Hillbrow, 1967. The New York of Africa. Someone wrote that the place would soon have more people per square kilometre than Tokyo. Everyone quoted that article to everyone. Some even cut it out and kept it folded in their wallets.”

While other boys daydream about racing cars and football, eleven-year-old stutterer Phen sits reading to his father. In number four Duchess Court, Phen’s dad looks like a Spitfire pilot behind his oxygen mask.

But real life is different from the daring adventures in the books Phen reads and he is forced to grow up faster than other boys his age.

This is until Heb Thirteen Two shows up: in his pinstriped suit pants and tie-dyed psychedelic top, the stranger could be any old bum, or a boy’s special angel come to live among men.

Poignant, witty and wise, John Hunt’s The Boy Who Could Keep a Swan in His Head is a meditation on being alive and shows us the power of books when we need them the most.

288 pages, Softcover

First published April 1, 2018

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

John Hunt is the author of the novel The Space Between the Space Between. His book The Art of the Idea, which celebrates the power of ideas to move the world forward, has been translated into several languages. He is currently Worldwide Creative Chair of advertising agency network TBWA, having previously co-founded TBWA\Hunt Lascaris. He grew up in Hillbrow and still lives and works in Johannesburg.

Reviews

[فاطِمة طه]

3¾⭐️⭐️⭐️
حتي بعيد الخاتمة كنت سأقيمه بنجمتين فقط.. و لكنه استحق أكثر، ربما كان هناك بعد لحظات الملل و لكن اللغة كانت بديعة، و بالطبع لعبت الترجمة دورًا مؤثرًا في ذلك.
ربما هذا كتاب من أكثر الكتب التي خرجت منها بالعديد من الاقتباسات.
لن أتذكر جل أحداث الكتاب لأنه ليس مركزًا على الأحداث بل شخصية فين فحسب و لكن سأتذكر هذا الكتاب لأنه كان رفيقي في أيام الجامعة .
Neuroendocrine module 2024.
10 june 2024.

[Paige Nick]

Young Phen (Stephen) is growing up in Hilbrow in 1967. His dad is really sick. His mom, gran and uncle are trying to manage the doctors and the meds and survival. Phen reads books to his dad, he also walks his dog, stutters, struggles at school, slips into his imagination to escape his life, and meets Heb Thirteen Two, who is either an angel or a crazy homeless guy who lives in the park.

Literary fiction, with magic realism weaved into it. It feels like the author's childhood may have been sewn into this story; small growing up in Jozi in the 60s moments ring that true.

It's not plotty or quick, more a considered and philosophical coming-of-age tale. With an ending that turns quite magical and etherial.

[Menna Mousa]

الرواية فلسفية .. شعرت أنها معقدة بعض الشئ و مملة في أوقات كثيرة
لا أعرف أين الخلل بالضبط ؟ و لكني شعرت أن الترجمة أربكتني قليلا .. ربما أنقصت من جمال الرواية
لم أحبها صراحة بإستثناء آخر ثلاث صفحات فيها

[Lauren Mcgill]

I really wanted to like this book but found it quite disjointed and difficult to slog through

[Salma Yasser]

felt like I was being stabbed through the eye with an ice pick

[Sarah]

Absolutely beautiful book. About death and angels and Hillbrow in the 50's.. just lovely.

[Sarahinidjel]

" لم يستطيعوا قول ما يقصدونه قط، كانت ثمة أسرار دائما، واحتوت كلماتهم على أجزاء مخيفة"
رواية فلسفية بامتياز، فلسفة على لسان الطفل فين، صاحب الثمان سنوات بخياله الجامح وذكائه المتقد، كان يطرح فين الأسئلة عن الحياة وعن كل ماحوله داخل سريرته بحيث لا أحد يسمعه، فكلما حاول رفع صوته كان يقف صامتا عاجزا متلعثما، فتضيع كلماته في الهواء!

[Anaïs Jordaan]

Made me wish I had a father even if he were dying from cancer.

[Andy – And The Plot Thickens]

"It was at this point that Phen realised he'd been a fool to think it was all about what people said. It was all about what they DIDN'T say. Words were used to talk AROUND what really mattered. To surround and hide the truth. Grown-ups could claim they weren't lying because they were so good at camouflaging. It was the silence that leaked the truth through."

South Africa. 1967. Eleven-year-old (Ste)phen wanders the streets of Hillbrow, Johannesburg, trying to escape his home life. His father is terminally ill and lies at home, dependent on an oxygen machine. His mother, grandmother and uncle like to downplay what's happening but Phen knows.

Phen is a lonely child, one without friends. His peers at school call him Stuttafords (a former department store in South Africa) because of his stutter. So, he and his dog spend his time away from school, outside, pretending to go on the kinds of adventures Phen reads in books.

But then, Phen meets Heb Thirteen Two in the park. Heb wears pinstriped suit pants, a tie-dye psychedelic top and rope as shoelaces. The man and boy befriend each other, even though Heb speaks in riddles and never seems to answer a question directly. Is Heb just another homeless person? Or does his name mean something more? After all, Hebrews 13:2 says, "Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." (Note: this is not a religious book).

This is a stunning story about growing up, the power of books, and finding meaning within ourselves. It's written in the magic realism style, which is one of my favourites. I loved it.

[Hjwoodward]

I do not have a kindle edition of this book, I wish it would stop saying so at the top. The whole nostalgic Hillbrow bit was interesting in parts, but I didn't think facts like mentioning Fontana sold chicken and baked goods added to the plot really, it was just a bit of nostalgia shoved in, I felt. I liked Phen's character, and felt sorry for him. I would have liked to not feel such pity for him, but who could not what with his stuttering, his friendlessness and his father dying? I enjoyed the humour, sometimes the book made me laugh aloud. I really enjoyed the sentences from books and trying to identify them. The author's description of the protagonist's mixed emotions when his father asks him to read to him is very well done, as is the boy's reaction to the tape recorder. Good descriptions of the dog and the angel in the park.

[Travice]

11 year old Phen lives in a block of flats in Hillbrow Johannesburg 1967. His neighbour is Mrs. Kaplan He asks her "What is that number tattooed on your arm?" She says: " it's the telephone number to hell!'

John Hunt really captures Hillbrow of that time. I loved the references to Fontana...Estoril Book Shop and Casablanca Road House!

[Erica Smythe]

I was drawn into the story from the very first page to the last. The characters are beautifully crafted and the last three pages of the story will remain with me for a long time.
My book of the year so far.

[Smin]

There's something about books written from a child's perspective that make them magical and real at the same time. It was fascinating reading a book based in South Africa during the 1960's with a slightly ethereal twist.

[Kosie]

'n Vyfster-juweel.

[Fred Reyers]

Working through adversity and developing a mature world view

The descriptions of a tortured child’s view on the everyday events around him are stunning and one has to assume the author was reflecting his own journey or one of someone close to him.
Even to an atheist or agnostic, the religious view that shimmers through is totally credible and inoffensive.

[Elizabeth Espach]

Surprising and beautiful.

[Hiyoowi]

4.5 stars. One of my favourite reads of the year.