A Kestrel for a Knave is a fitting parable for modern times
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Version 0 of 1. As a teacher there were three literary passages that forced me to work hard at maintaining my composure while reading them aloud in class. First, that moment in To Kill a Mockingbird when Scout Finch regains consciousness and says “Hey, Boo” to the neighbour who saved her life. Second, when Macbeth realises all that he has lost in his “troops of friends” speech towards the end of his life. And, just as powerful, that bleak scene in A Kestrel for a Knave when Billy Casper, after discovering his brother’s killing of Kes, takes flight to the wrecked cinema because that’s where he knew happiness and security with his absent father. Barry Hines (Obituary, 21 March) vividly captured the unvarnished realities of a working-class adolescence in his great book: the futility of school life, the good and bad teachers, the untapped potential and curiosity in boys too easily dismissed by the system, the poverty and the cruelty. Today, I have let my tears flow without restraint – because of the author’s book and his decency but also because I empathise with Billy Casper as much as ever in a country where so much is either closed down, gutted or out of reach.Mike DalyBognor Regis, West Sussex • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com |