Customer Reviews

Gay Neck: The Story of a Pigeon

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3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
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Being a bird lover, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. It was a little far-fetched, which added to the romance. There was adventure, some excitement, and wonderful insights on bird and animal behavior given by way of the yarn. The author uses English in such an artistic manner that you aren't aware that he wrote especially for young readers. He gives a wonderful perspective on the Great War and life as he knew it as a boy in India. A slant you don't get from history books or tourists. I finished the book with a sense of wishing I had known the author. Now I am going to order the other books he wrote!

Gay-Neck: The Story of a pigeon literally is the life of a pigeon, but what makes it different from other animal stories is that it's so thrillingly told you can't put it down. At first, it talks about Gay-Neck's birth and training less thrillingly, but when you get to Gay-Neck's first experience against a hawk, you'll want to know what happens next, and soon you get so engrossed in it you'll actually fell Gay-Neck's experience like when he was shot and when he was healed by the lama's wisdom (the lamas are Buddhist monks in India).
Now, when I first looked at a picture of the book on a poster, my eye caught the author's name, Dhan Gopal Mukerji, and I was thrilled.
Why? Because that name was an Indian name and my heritage came from India. But enough of that. Gay-Neck's story had been told so movingly that you'll never forget some of Gay-Neck's adventures. Read this book, which has been weaved together so beautifully you can't help but like it.

This is the highest quality of writing that I have seen to date in a children's book. I have been talking to my older son about using "10 cent words" in his writing as opposed to "1 cent" words. After reading this book he was inspired to use his words to paint a picture for his readers instead of just telling them what happened. He wanted his readers to experience what he was trying to convey as he had experienced what Dhan Gopal Mukerji had written. His writing has improved 150%.

Not only does Dhan Gopal Murkerji not write down to young readers; he also does not shy away from tackling complex life issues in his books. We enjoyed the discussions that were sparked in the course of its reading. Both of my sons really enjoyed this story and we look forward to reading another one of his books.

Gay-Neck the Story of a Pigeon by Dhan Gopal Mukerji is literarily a story of a pigeon but much more captivating than a normal realistic fiction book.

What makes this story different from other animal stories is that it's so amazingly told that you can't put it down. This story is about a boy in a high caste (Indian social classes) and a beautiful pigeon. At first, it talks about Gay-Neck's birth and training less thrillingly, but when you get to Gay-Neck's first experience against a hawk, you'll want to know what happens next. Soon you experience the battle field tension as Gay-Neck goes to war as a carrier pigeon for the first time. You can almost actually feel Gay-Neck's experience when he was shot and then healed by the lamas (the lamas are Buddhist monks in India). Dhan Mukerji's describes this story in such a great way. Imagine the distress to find out Gay-Neck's dad had perished in a rain storm after all Gay-Neck and his dad has gone through: pain, frustration, stress, and joy. For a few days Gay-Neck and his mother only sat on the tall roof top looking up at the sky through rain, sand, and wind storms waiting and hoping for a miracle that wouldn't come. Read this extraordinary novel. You'll love it.

Being a bird lover, I really enjoyed the story. There was adventure, some excitement, and wonderful insights on bird and animal behavior. The author uses English in such an artistic manner that you'd think it was for young adults. He gives a wonderful descriptive story of the war life because he was a boy in India, something you don't get from history books. Sometimes I didn't really like it because it wasn't suspenseful enough and the chapters were too long. But other wise it's a great book!

Alec X.
Grade 6
Ms. Kawatachi

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 by Dhan Gopal Mukerji 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.

This is a delightful narrative, written in the beautiful language of the early 20th century, which gives readers a glimpse into the incredible personalities of pigeons, and the heroic deeds they've done for centuries on the battlefields of the world. Definitely tugs hard on the heart-strings!

I enjoyed reading this tale because it's not to often that I travel through Himalayan jungles or traipse across the Indian countryside. I'm sure anyone would like reading about sleeping high up in a tree and listening to all the wild animals in the jungle. Gay-Neck encounters many adventures that test his will. He overcomes his fear of flying time and again with the help of a dutiful owner and nearby Buddhist monks. The end of the book has a beautiful moral that all could benefit by reading.

This book, which won the 1928 Newbery Medal for best contribution to American children's literature, is the story of a carrier pigeon raised in India who is used by a Bengal Regiment in France during World War I. Some aspects of the book appear illogical and I doubt that I would have cared for the book had I read it when I was young. But, I am probably in the minority.