Stone Cold by Robert Swindells

match cutting is a novel aimed at young adults, and was written by Robert Swindells. The books basic plot revolves around the life of 16 twelvemonth-old marry, born in Bradford in 1977. joinings real name is not specify at either point throughout the course of the book. The book begins with joinings life in Bradford, with his mothers new buff Vince moving in to the household (Links father had disappeared) and taking a firm, cruel stance towards Link.The tension in the home begins to make the kindred of the young teen and his mother strained, and plaintually, after a peculiarly heat argument, Link is locked outside of the house by Vince, and starts to sleep rough on the streets of his hometown. After a while, Link becomes increasingly indep stopent, and after the Christmas season, he decides to progress Bradford for London, to encounter work and start a new life, away from the roiled place back home. Stone Cold is unusual in monetary value of books aimed at younger read ers, as it has a feature known as a dual narrative.This means that the base is told from two perspectives, in this matter existence Link, the main protagonist, and another character known only as nurse. He is the primary antagonist of the book. cling to is a army veteran, by chance around the age of 45, and was suspended from his recruitment post at the British Army on what is only described as medical grounds. The more specific reason is of course unknown adding to his already mysterious tendencies until now it is evident that he has an unstable mental condition, and wont accept this and feels it is his job to clean up the streets of the unsettled.To do this, he takes his military background and makes his own army, the Camden Horizontals. The one difference between this army and any other regular army is that the Camden Horizontals are all dead homeless people, killed by Shelter in cold blood. The book reflects on the hardships the homeless have to face daily, and e ffectively demonstrates this life by its use of the first-person setting, and the antithetical perspectives of both Shelter and Link.It shows people at their worst, in the case of Shelter and his perverse thoughts and meticulously calculated and calm way to dispose of homophile life, which he describes as rubbish. It also demonstrates the importance of truth, as at the end of the book, Link is no better off than he used to be, even though he thought he had met someone special. On the whole, I enjoyed the book, and found it interesting and captivating in the way it described Links quest to get through life on the streets.Stone Cold by Robert SwindellsStone Cold by Robert Swindells Stone Cold is an absorbing novel by Robert Swindells which follows Link, a sixteen year old boy from Bradford, England. The novel tells you about his life over the bygone two years, how he leaves his violent home and lives on the street, first in Bradford and then in London, where the story starts to ta ke shape. The novel also follows Shelter, an ex-military man who served for twenty nine years, discharged on medical grounds. In my essay, I will aim to analyse Swindells success in paper an absorbing novel. In 1991, when Link was fourteen, his father ran off with a receptionist.He told us how that mucked up his school work for quite a while. He goes on to say that that is not the cause for him being where he is now, the streets. He tells us that it was in fact his step-father, Vince, who was the real cause. He recalls coming back from a friends one night, to find that the door to the house had been locked by Vince. Vince wouldnt permit Link in, so he had to go round and spend the night at his sisters, Carole. When he went home the next day, Vince started slapping him around the organize for going off and worrying Mum.He decided to make himself homeless. Now on the streets, the novel gives us a real taste of what it is alike to be on the streets. So you pick your spot. Wherever it is ( unless youre in a squat or a derelict house or something) its going to have a floor of stone, tile, concrete or brick. I other words its going to be hard and cold. peppiness is a very good friend of Links. After being robbed and kicked out of his doorway, Link found Ginger and instantly became friends. Ginger is Links first friend on the streets.Ginger also shows Link the basic principle to being on the streets, like the best places to beg and good places to eat. We cumulate Gail further on in the book, after losing Ginger. As Link is academic term in a cafe, he sees the best looking dosser hes ever seen. Gail is Scottish and not just a dosser. Shes actually a reporter looking for a story on what its like to be homeless. Gail came over to sit next to Link, either eye in the place following her. He describes how he feels as Gail sits next to him. I was acting so cool it was unbelievable but thats all it was acting.In the real world the blood was pounding in my ears an d it was as much as I could do to keep from goggling at that fantastic face. Shelter, the ex-military man, is portrayed mainly by his use of address. His speech is presented very to the point, army like. Daily Routine Orders is how Shelter unceasingly starts his part of the story, suggesting he lives his everyday life in a militaristic lifestyle. In many of his sections, shelter dwells on his days in the army, and how things like national service would take the dossers and teddy boys and turn them into real men.The story definetly gave the message to never judge somebody you see on the street, as everyone has their side of the story. I think Robert Swindells is very sympathetic towards homeless people, particularly young homeless people as it affects their future, as in jobs, social, family etcetera The ending is quite a depressing ending as you find out that Gail has been using Link as a piece for an term on homelessness. This leaves Link feeling betrayed and angered.