Todd Hewitt, at thirteen, is almost a Prentisstown man, the last in the town. The catch? In Prentisstown, everyone can hear the thoughts of everyone else in their Noise- a constant projection of their private thought- and Todd has found a patch of silence. Worse still, he's found a girl, and now he's on the run.
The majority of the book is set during this chase, which is also where my one, large, dislike of this book lies. Ness' characters seem trapped in a cycle of near-death experience and skin-of-the-teeth rescue. While I'm sure there are many other books that do this too, The Knife of Never Letting Go is over four hundred pages long. It's grating after a while, and almost lessens the impact of the final cliff-hanger. All the same, I am intrigued enough to continue with the series.
The characters who have this misfortune thrust upon them, however, are endlessly enjoyable. Todd's Noise provides narration, and, although he starts the story annoying and naïve, he grows quickly in Viola's company. For a boy having his world ripped apart, he seems quite collected. We see less of Viola, as she is the patch of silence, but she is just as important (the extra short story at the end of my copy added another layer to her backstory). Initially I felt that she was going to be a passive character, but she pulled through for Todd- and for me.
Finally, this may be a kids' book, but it touches on some very dark subjects. Viola and Hildy give us a look at feminism, while the horribly insane Aaron lets us look at religious fundamentalism. And the Noise, for me, was a firm reminder of the age of information we are living in. There is no privacy any more, simply how you use your compulsory publicity.
Despite all this Noise though, the reader learns at the same pace as Todd, and there are secrets in their hundreds. Ness withholds infuriating amounts of information to incredible effect until the last few pages.
So, perhaps a touch repetitive, or maybe just overlong, but readable, and with more to say than first meets the eye. I would recommend.
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Book Reviews
No FicciónCarried over from my Tumblr, this is a personal project tracking what I read through time, largely because of my awful memory. These aren't long reviews, but the books are varied, and the opinions are honest, so I hope you enjoy.
