Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon in Newbery Books

Jul 03, 2008 Wendy rated it liked it

Shelves: newbery

What a bizarre choice! The reader knows almost nothing about the human narrator and very little about the setting; it really is "the story of a pigeon", but not even an anthropomorphic pigeon, for the most part. It's sort of mesmerizing, and is full of Buddhist wisdom. The story picks up about halfway through, and the episode where the pigeon has post-traumatic-stress disorder is interesting. The illustrations are beautiful. ...more

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Jan 22, 2016 Kati Atwood rated it it was ok

Shelves: sort-of-blah, newbery-award, youth, newbery-challenge, 2016

I'm beginning to wonder if the Newbery Committee of the 1920's and 30's hated children. Actually, this wasn't nearly as horrid as Dobry - it was more boring. I was pretty stoked that the word 'bivouacking' made an appearance. Twice. ...more

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May 26, 2008 Ashley rated it it was ok

Shelves: own, blog, newbery-winners

Originally reviewed on my book blog, Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing

Although I do really enjoy reading book lists, and various award winners, you can't always trust the committees who pick the books. Sometimes, you get a 'bad' on in the bunch. Gay-Neck, the Story of a Pigeon is one such book.

While not a horrid book, Gay-Neck is also not a book I would recommend or reread. I picked it up because it is on the Newbery list, and it is one of only two books thus far that I truly disliked. (The Originally reviewed on my book blog, Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing

Although I do really enjoy reading book lists, and various award winners, you can't always trust the committees who pick the books. Sometimes, you get a 'bad' on in the bunch. Gay-Neck, the Story of a Pigeon is one such book.

While not a horrid book, Gay-Neck is also not a book I would recommend or reread. I picked it up because it is on the Newbery list, and it is one of only two books thus far that I truly disliked. (The other being Hitty: Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field.) It's been a little while since I read this one, so my memory of specific details, but the way the book made me feel is still pretty fresh. I was reorganizing my books for storage (sad, I know) and I saw this one, and decided to write my review now and get it over with while I was thinking about it. ...

The book is about a young boy in India who trains pigeons around the time of World War I. Gay-Neck happens to be one of his prized pigeons. Initially, our narrator is the young boy. Through him, we learn about the training procedures for carrier pigeons and what his life is like. Later in the story however, we get to hear from Gay-Neck himself as he goes off to war and a few other places as well. I have never been a big fan of animals being the ones to tell a story. There are a few exceptions, but for the most part, I rather dislike that.

There wasn't much that I liked about this book. The writing never grabbed me, the story never interested me, and the characters never moved me. I don't know what I'm supposed to feel when a pigeon starts making eyes at this pretty lady pigeon, but I definitely missed that one.

I respect this as an award winner, because there are very few award winners that are so obviously set in, or about other cultures beyond America. Not to say that the book has no merit on its own, but I believe the glimpse into another culture played a large role in earning this book the golden sticker. I can't think of another Newbery book set in India or written by an Indian author right off hand, and it's always nice to be able to add a bit of culture.

Although I wasn't a fan of this book, I can understand why some view it as a distinguished contribution to children's literature, and I've even been told that there are people out there who truly enjoyed this book. I haven't met any yet, but I'll let you know if I do! I think that this is a book with a very limited audience, and sadly, one of the Newbery winners that has not stood the test of time well. ...more

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Dec 23, 2014 Katie rated it liked it

Shelves: male-author, newbery, animals, ___asia

In Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon, Dhan Gopal Mukerji tells the story of his childhood adventures with his messenger pigeon, Gay-Neck. (Yes, it is quite a name in today's usage. It is a reference to the pigeon's colorful neck, and can also be translated as iridescence-throated.) Mukerji and Gay-Neck have a lot of adventures and scrapes with death in the Himalayas, and Gay-Neck is also sent to France to serve as a messenger pigeon with the army during World War I.

There was a lot I appreciated a ...more

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Apr 11, 2013 Annette rated it liked it

Shelves: newbery-medal-winners, newbery-challenge

This is not a book I would've chosen to read had it not won the Newbery, but I'm glad I did. I learned a lot about carrier pigeons, and other animals of the Indian jungle. I especially enjoyed the explanation given as to why male pheasants are more colorful than the females. I also enjoyed the wisdom of the Lamas. For example:

"If you pray for other people every morning you can enable them to begin their day with thoughts of purity, courage and love." page 51
"Here let it be inscribed in no equiv ...more

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May 12, 2012 Kathy rated it it was ok

Shelves: newbery

2.5 I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. There are bold black and white drawings and interesting insights into animal behavior better than Doctor Dolittle's and some lines worth quoting:
"It is a pity that we have to win our pigeons' confidence by feeding their stomachs, but alas! I have noticed that there are many men and women who resemble pigeons in this respect!"
"Such is the price of leadership--the other name of self-sacrifice."
"Can those who see buffalo in captivity ever conceive ho ...more

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Apr 06, 2008 Kristine rated it liked it

Shelves: childrens-chapter, kids-lit, newbery-medals, newbery-challenge

I think this may be one of the hardest books I've ever had to rate.

In the 1920s the John Newbery award was established to help encourage excellence in children's literature - a newly developing genre. From what I can tell this isn't too much later after the time (according to the James Garfield book I'm reading) families would sit down and the father would read Othello to his children at night.

So do I rate this book as it would have been ranked in the 1920s? Because its biggest barrier, the fo I think this may be one of the hardest books I've ever had to rate.

In the 1920s the John Newbery award was established to help encourage excellence in children's literature - a newly developing genre. From what I can tell this isn't too much later after the time (according to the James Garfield book I'm reading) families would sit down and the father would read Othello to his children at night.

So do I rate this book as it would have been ranked in the 1920s? Because its biggest barrier, the formality of the language and the vocabulary - very well could have been expected and accepted in its day. But in comparative modern children's literature...ugh. I suppose technology has ruined us for the slow pace of historical lit. I do have to say the black and white illustrations are gorgeous.

Gay-Neck (which is translated to brightly colored neck) is literally the story of a pigeon. The nameless narrator is an adolescent boy in India whose hobby is pigeon-ing. Apparently a pretty big hobby back in the day. We know very little of the narrator except for his observations of his pigeon. When his narrative fails to tell the whole story of the pigeon, he has Gay-Neck tell his story first person.

There is A LOT of bird stuff here. Bird flocks, bird training, bird food, bird fights, bird flights, and prey/predator interactions. For the bird lovers out there - they will eat. this. up. For the rest of us? I have minor interest as it served somewhat to move the plot along? And what is the plot? Well, the development of an exceptional pigeon into a WWI carrier pigeon war hero while working with the British-Indian forces across German lines, and then his recovery from the scars of war.

Overcoming fear is the overarching theme of the book, and I enjoyed the descriptions of the lamas and religious descriptions of the Hindu temples of meditation. I liked the philosophy and religion that was woven into the story of a pigeon.

The setting was sublime. I could feel the author's love for his homeland dripping off the words on the page. The author moved to America at 19 and settled and married, but continued to write about his homeland. He had a passion for trying to educate Americans about his homeland and culture. Unfortunately, he committed suicide at age 46. Which in a way makes this a tragic love letter to his homeland, (seemingly) his first love.

And how does one rate such a book?
...more

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Jun 15, 2011 Cheryl rated it really liked it

Shelves: newberry-awards

I seemed to enjoy this book a lot more than the average person on Goodreads! I thought the writing was almost poetic in its descriptions of things. I was fascinated by Mukerji's descriptions of Indian life and culture and more exposure to the Hindi faith. I learned a lot about birds and training of pigeons that was very interesting to me. I also had no idea of the role that pigeon's played as messengers during WWI. More than anything, I appreciated the wisdom the writer shares about how we shoul ...more

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Sep 15, 2009 Roberta rated it liked it

One of the Newberry winners. The winner in 1928. I can't see the young children of today reading this book. The concept and narration seems a bit patronizing. The words used then are now considered "big" today that our yong ones wouldn't understand (or is it couldn't?). ...more

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Oct 13, 2008 Sandy D. rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, kids-books, newbery-winners, asia-india

I was surprised by how much I liked this unfortunately titled book. And I don't really like pigeons at all; mainly I liked reading about India in Murkerji's poetic style. Here's my review for The Newbery Project. The illustrations are glorious. ...more

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