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Summary and Notes Black Swan Green
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This document gives a summary with side notes of the book Black Swan Green. It summarizes each chapter.
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Black Swan Green Summary and NotesFirst impression: too much names and the language takes some very long getting used to.
Chapter 1
Main Character: Jason Taylor, sister: Julia, father: Michael
Friends: Moron, Squelch
In the first chapter we get a bit of an inside in the mind of Jason, which is hectic to say the least. It
starts with the phone ringing in his dad’s office. He goes to pick it up, even though he is not allowed
to. The other line is quiet. Then he goes with his friend who he calls Moron, to the lake. They play
British Bulldogs with a bunch of other kids. Afterwards he wanders through the forest and stumbles
upon the House in the Woods. The old lady who lives there is very weird towards him, talking about
the butcher’s boy and her brother.
At dinner we learn that his sister has had the same incident with the phone as Jason. He then goes
outside to skate on the lake alone. Opposite of him, skating with the same speed is another boy. If
he looks at the boy for too long his vision starts getting black. After trying to have a conversation
with him, he trips and falls, hurting his ankle.
He goes towards the House in the Woods were the lady treats his ankle and gives him something to
drink which makes him pass out. The whole house is cold, dark and locked up, so he goes towards
her bedroom to wake the lady so she can get him out.
Chapter 2
Therapist: Miss de Roo
We learn that Jason stammers and goes to speech therapy for it. He gives his stammer almost a
physical body, by naming it Hangman. This because of an incident when he was younger and the class
played hangman. The word Nightingale was on the board and Jason wanted to say it but found out
he couldn’t. He says it’s like having Hangman squeezing his throat shut or immobilizing his tongue. So
he talks around his stammer. Words with a S and a N are the most difficult. Jason has to read
something at school in front of the class but is excused thanks to some help from Miss de Roo.
Chapter 3
Uncle Brian Lambs and Aunt Helena
Old to young: Alex, Hugo and Nigel
Family from mother´s side comes for a visit. Jason wants to impress the middle son, Hugo. Dinner is a
bit boring, with their dads talking about Driving and then the economy. They discuss where Julia is
going to study. The Lamb boys all go to a posh school and their dad brags about their
accomplishments. They bring up the price Jason won with his poem, which makes Jason thoroughly
embarrassed. After dinner, they play darts, but Hugo bullies his brother Nigel a bit. (I thought it was
mean and a little sad). Jason does almost everything Hugo wants him to, because he doesn’t want to
appear gay or boring. They bet some money on who wins the dart game
After that, they go into the Arcade (I think? The transition was vague and sudden) and Hugo wins a
new record on a game. Everyone thinks Hugo is the coolest. Then they go buy some coffee for
Jason’s mother and Hugo steals a few things from the shop. Some cream eggs, fishermen and smokes.
Again, Jason is being talked into smoking and he hates it so much he throws up.
,Black Swan Green Summary and Notes
Personal note: I think Hugo is an ass.
Chapter 4
Jason is home alone, his parents and sister gone to London. After doing typically boyish things at
home, he decides to follow the bridlepath to discover a hidden tunnel. He encounters this crazy man,
who threatens to feed him to his dogs. Apparently he is also a teacher and rumour has it that he
actually did feed a student of his to his dogs. Walking further, he stumbles upon Grant Burch with a
few other boys, including Squelsh and Moron. They are waiting there for Wilcox, with whom Burch
had an argument with and they agreed to fight it out there. Burch ends up losing, breaking his wrist
and Jason walks away with Moron. He, too, wanted to follow the bridlepath. They stay at a barn and
talked a bit. Moron tells that his father drinks very heavily sometimes and turns violent.
Jason falls asleep and when he wakes up, Moron is gone. He decides to follow the path on his own,
but stumbles upon Dawn Madden. She shares a pastry with him and it appears he has a bit of a crush
on her. When walking further, he climbs in a tree to engrave his initials and Dawn´s into the bark. The
brother of Nick Yew with some girl decide to have sex under the tree and Jason witnesses it.
After they’ve both gone, he walks further and finds Moron again (who played a trick on him, scaring
him to death). They stumble upon a madhouse and they get something to drink there (lemonade was
left unattended outside) when the people come out. One woman starts talking to Jason and cries
very loud.
Chapter 5
The chapter begins with news about the war (?) it is unclear which war they meant. Argentina
attacked a British war ship. The whole town is anxious, since Nick Yew’s brother, Tom, is over there
on the ship the Coventry .
Meanwhile, Jason’s parents argue. His mother wants a rockery, a sort garden decoration and his
father is against it. His mother searches through their finances and finds out his father took a second
mortgage. They argue some more but it seems his mother wins. Only the rocks are delivered too
early and they lie on the driveway, blocking the way to the garage. This goes on for a few weeks,
before they get some help from someone in town and they all work together to build the rockery
with pond. His mother even buys some Koi fish for it, but they get eaten by a Heron.
The Coventry was attacked and Tom Yew did not survive the attack. His brother does not come to
school anymore. Their headmaster held an emotional speech.
Chapter 6
As a dare, Jason has to tie a cord to the knocker of Mr. Blake’s house. He succeeds and the kids knock
on his door, from a distance. Mr. Blake suspects them but he can´t do anything about it, since he
hasn’t seen them.
The next day at school, Jason is treated like he’s suddenly super popular. He even receives an
invitation to join the Spooks, this secret ‘gang’ that’s been around Black Swan Green for quite some
time. No one knows who’s in it and who’s not.
At dinner, his mother announces she got a job offer at a shop with a gallery.
, Black Swan Green Summary and Notes
When Jason goes to the meeting place, the graveyard at eight, he finds Moran there as well. Turns
out he also got an invitation. After waiting for a while, they find the other members of the Spooks.
Their task is to cross the backyards of a few houses. Everything goes okay for Jason, who makes it just
in time. But then they hear glass breaking. Moran fell through the glass house in Mr. Blake’s backyard.
The others tell him not to bother, but Jason goes anyway, thinking that Moran wouldn’t have left him
behind had the situation been reversed.
Chapter 7
This chapter describes a bit more about Jason’s poetry. His pen name, or pseudonym, is Eliot Bolivar.
Jason receives an invitation in his mailbox, to visit the house of the vicar. Turns out not the vicar but
an extraordinary Belgium woman lives there with her husband (who Jason mistakes for a butler). Eva
van Outryve de Crommelynck. She tells him what is wrong with his poetry, talks about the definition
of beauty and what true poetry is. True poetry is truth, she says and he has to tell her a bit about his
life. In return she tells him about her life, shows him a photo ablum and talks about her father who
was a composer etc.
She tells him to read the real books, from all across the world and asks him to translate the first
chapter of a French book Le Grand Meaulnes. He gets high hopes, wanting her to teach him French
and visiting France one day.
There is one sentence that vaguely hints at what he calls, ‘the Mr. Blake incident’. Moran is trouble
now, or so his parents think. He is also kicked out of the Spooks.
When Jason goes back to Crommelynck, the door is opened by the real vicar. Apparently they are
sent to Germany.. Because of some trouble, which I didn’t really understand.
Chapter 8
A holiday chapter. The first bit covers Jason’s holiday with his father to Lyme Regis. His father is there
for work and Jason can do what he like. He searches the town for antique shops, hoping to find a
replica of his Grandfather’s Omega (which he broke in January). Jason buys a magazine with the
pocket money he got and goes to the arcade. He meets a girl there with whom he chats, but after her
friends tease them, Jason flees.
For dinner, Jason has to spend some time with a colleague of his father, Danny. They buy a kite, the
talk and eat. His father had promised him to go to Chariots of Fire with him, but has been held up.
Jason is mad at his father, who leaves again to go to a pub. Jason shaves himself with his dad’s razor.
His dad comes back drunk.
The next morning before dawn, they fly the kite together and buy a fossil.
The other holiday with his mother is to Cheltenham. Again, Jason got some pocket money and goes
off to find antique shops. When he wanders in one, an African woman offers him melon and says she
knows someone who might have the watch. She’s right, but the watch is too expensive for Jason.
He then visits the shop/gallery where his mother works. Three girls walk in and they steal something.
Jason notices and warns him mother. They get caught before they could get away with it. After that,
Jason and his mother go to Chariots of Fire. He is a bit embarrassed to go with his mother, but the
way he put it, he loves doing stuff with his mother more than with his father (own opinion though).
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