When thinking about reading a biography from a ten year oldÃÂs perspective this book is far away from whatever you would have imagined. It is written in a poetic and grown-up way.
You cannot say the narrator is omniscient since all it knows and talks about is the head character JohnÃÂs thoughts. You could say that John is the narrator but the book is not written in I-form. It seems the author has wanted it to sound more like a description of his childhood than the actual childhood. Maybe it was more comfortable writing about a ÃÂheÃÂ, getting the feeling of that it was someone elseÃÂs biography. Anyway, I like this way of writing, it is comfortable to read.
This little boy, John ÃÂ the author himself, is a very intelligent child and knowledge is for him particularly important in life. To always be the best in class is obvious to him.
Man thinking on a train journey.
Negotiations to End Apartheid in South Africa
John_Deere_4630_Tractor.jpgWhen he at one time meets a worthy opponent in class he is devastated. ÃÂThough he says nothing about it to his mother, he is preparing for the day he cannot face, the day when he will have to tell her he has come second.ÃÂ He is aware of his intelligence and that he is more mature than his classmates. He does not have any close friends and most of the time he spends on his own, thinking or reading books. He thinks of himself as an extraordinary child and is convinced that so do the people around him, even his own parents. His mother loves him inconceivable and he is afraid that she will find out that he is not normal and therefor stop loving him. He finds his relation with his mother complicated. He loves her because she protects him and lets him do what he...