Stephen Kelman Livres

An unforgettable story of faith, forgiveness and second chances, Man on Fire is a powerful and touching novel from the Booker and Guardian-shortlisted author of Pigeon English

Newly arrived from Ghana with his mother and older sister, eleven-year-old Harrison Opoku lives on the ninth floor of a block of flats on a London housing estate. The second best runner in the whole of Year 7, Harri races through his new life in his personalised trainers - the Adidas stripes drawn on with marker pen - blissfully unaware of the very real threat all around him. With equal fascination for the local gang - the Dell Farm Crew - and the pigeon who visits his balcony, Harri absorbs the many strange elements of his new life in England: watching, listening, and learning the tricks of inner-city survival. But when a boy is knifed to death on the high street and a police appeal for witnesses draws only silence, Harri decides to start a murder investigation of his own. In doing so, he unwittingly endangers the fragile web his mother has spun around her family to try and keep them safe. A story of innocence and experience, hope and harsh reality, Pigeon English is a spellbinding portrayal of a boy balancing on the edge of manhood and of the forces around him that try to shape the way he falls.

Eleven-year-old Harrison Opoku, the second best runner in Year 7, races through his new life in England with his personalised trainers - the Adidas stripes drawn on with marker pen - blissfully unaware of the very real threat around him. Newly-arrived from Ghana with his mother and older sister Lydia, Harri absorbs the many strange elements of city life, from the bewildering array of Haribo sweets, to the frightening, fascinating gang of older boys from his school. But his life is changed forever when one of his friends is murdered. As the victim's nearly new football boots hang in tribute on railings behind fluorescent tape and a police appeal draws only silence, Harri decides to act, unwittingly endangering the fragile web his mother has spun around her family to keep them safe. From Autumn 2015, Stephen Kelman's deeply funny, moving idiosyncratic and unforgettable novel will be an AQA GCSE English Literature set text.

John Lock ist nicht nur nach Indien gefahren um der leisen Verzweiflung seines Lebens in England zu entkommen, der Bedeutungslosigkeit seiner Arbeit oder auch nur dem Geheimnis, das er sich nicht getraut seiner Frau zu erzählen. Nein, er ist auch nach Mumbai gekommen, um einem einzigartigen Mann seine Hilfe anzubieten. Bibhuti Nayak ist Inhaber mehrerer Weltrekorde. Er hat sich auf das Ertragen extremer Martern spezialisiert und ist darüberzu einer kleinen Berühmtheit geworden. Sein nächstes und letztes Vorhaben: 50 Baseballschläger sollen an seinem Körper zerbrochen werden. John will ihm bei diesem hochriskanten Rekordversuch assistieren und wird in Bibhutis ungewöhnliche Familie aufgenommen. Er begegnet Tischtennis spielenden Mönchen, einem furchtlosen siebenjährigen Kampfsport-Krieger und einem alten Mann, der auf den Monsun wartet, damit der ihn hinfort spült. John lernt mehr über Leben und Tod und all ihre Zwischenstufen, als er je zu träumen gewagt hätte.