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268th out of 336 books
—
68 voters
What the Birds See
Entwining a tale of missing children with the story of a lonely little boy, Sonya Hartnett captures the tenderness and dread of childhood in a work of exceptional storytelling.
The year is 1977, and Adrian is nine. He lives with his gran and his uncle Rory. His best friend is Clinton Tull. Adrian loves to draw, and he wants a dog. He’s afraid of quicksand, shopping centers,...more
The year is 1977, and Adrian is nine. He lives with his gran and his uncle Rory. His best friend is Clinton Tull. Adrian loves to draw, and he wants a dog. He’s afraid of quicksand, shopping centers,...more
Hardcover, 208 pages
Published
February 1st 2003
by Candlewick Press
(first published 2002)
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I am debating whether to give this book a three or a four. I really like the idea of the juxtaposition about a suburb's obsession with three children who have gone missing - through the eyes of a child who nobody seems to want.
On one hand, Hartnett's prose at the best of times can be so achingly acute and drive an emotion straight home: "She watches him a minute, thinking it is strange - strange how love coexists with hate, how they render one another mute, how the swilling to them together mak...more
On one hand, Hartnett's prose at the best of times can be so achingly acute and drive an emotion straight home: "She watches him a minute, thinking it is strange - strange how love coexists with hate, how they render one another mute, how the swilling to them together mak...more
This author can write. I mean, there are writers who just put words down on paper, and then there are artists, creating entire worlds, interior and exterior. Sonya Hartnett is an artist.
The story is haunting, a mystery of sorts, nearly lyrical in places. Many places. I'd not want to give anything away. The perceptive reader will pick up on clues as it is.
As it is, we have the tale of a nine year old boy who does not, well, how do you say it... just doesn't come prepared to handle the tasks and t...more
The story is haunting, a mystery of sorts, nearly lyrical in places. Many places. I'd not want to give anything away. The perceptive reader will pick up on clues as it is.
As it is, we have the tale of a nine year old boy who does not, well, how do you say it... just doesn't come prepared to handle the tasks and t...more
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I have never read such a gloomy book. It was 100% sadness. I have also never read such a well written book. Although i hated the story, I didn't stop reading it because it was so beautifully crafted.
1 star for the story
5 stars for the writing.
1 star for the story
5 stars for the writing.
YA Hartnett
This dark little book focuses on a young boy who doesn't quite fit in at school, and who lives with his artistic but reclusive uncle and his uptight grandmother. In the background of the book is news of the disappearance of 3 siblings, who went to get ice cream and never came home. Adrian becomes friends with his new neighbors and the plot revolves around his relationship with the oldest of the 3 children who move to his neighborhood.
While this book is beautifully written, the plot se...more
This dark little book focuses on a young boy who doesn't quite fit in at school, and who lives with his artistic but reclusive uncle and his uptight grandmother. In the background of the book is news of the disappearance of 3 siblings, who went to get ice cream and never came home. Adrian becomes friends with his new neighbors and the plot revolves around his relationship with the oldest of the 3 children who move to his neighborhood.
While this book is beautifully written, the plot se...more
This book was rather dark and depressing. Within the first few chapters, three children go missing, a young boy lists the things he finds frightening (including sea monsters, getting lost in grows, being forgotten at school, and spontaneous combustion), a young man dies in a car crashed by his best friend, and a father dies of cancer. The book is powerfully written — you get a strong impression of who Adrian is and what concerns him day by day — but the conclusion is dark and dreary. I’m not sur...more
Another book for the DO NOT READ shelf. I've read a couple of books lately from what I am calling the "oversensitive child" genre. It must come from adults having too much therapy or something. And from not having any real children. Can you say "Cipher in the Snow," only beautifully written? Beautiful writing is no excuse for morose, completely hopeless, depressing content. Sorry! but I've seen real children suffer excruciatingly and survive--this is not real, it's just depressing. Put down the...more
Of a Boy is a moving tale of a boy trying to make sense of his world. One word describes this book for me – sadness. I read this book quite some time ago and when I began to write this I had a chance to go back and back and re-read this fabulous book. A few pages in and I quickly remembered the pure pleasure of reading this five star novel.
The book is set in 1977 and tells the story of Adrian McPhee, abandoned by his parents and left with his grandmother and uncle. Adrian is a shy boy scared of...more
The book is set in 1977 and tells the story of Adrian McPhee, abandoned by his parents and left with his grandmother and uncle. Adrian is a shy boy scared of...more
May 11, 2010
My Inner Shelf
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
contemporains
L’histoire débute par la disparition inexpliquée de 3 enfants, avant de se recentrer sur Adrian, petit garçon timide élevé par sa grand-mère. Le personnage d’Adrian est terriblement attachant, on ne peut que ressentir une profonde empathie à son égard. Se sentant mal aimé, abandonné de tous, Adrian est un enfant digne mais solitaire, préférant la solitude à la mauvaise compagnie. La grand-mère, qu’il surnomme Grand-Monstre, illustre l’un des nombreuses peurs et angoisses d’Adam. Sa grand-mère, v...more
May 26, 2009
Kathleen Hagen
added it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2009-audio-books,
2009-fiction
Of a Boy, by Sonya Hartnett, narrated by Humphrey Bowers, produced by Bolinda Audio, downloaded from audible.com.
This is a book taking place in Australia written by an Australian author. It is classified as a young adult or children’s book. Well, this is a children’s book in the same way that Andersen’s and Grimm’s Fairy Tales were children stories. Adrian was seven years old and lived with his grandmother. His own mother had abandoned him and took drugs. His mother’s sister wanted nothing to do...more
This is a book taking place in Australia written by an Australian author. It is classified as a young adult or children’s book. Well, this is a children’s book in the same way that Andersen’s and Grimm’s Fairy Tales were children stories. Adrian was seven years old and lived with his grandmother. His own mother had abandoned him and took drugs. His mother’s sister wanted nothing to do...more
This is a strange book... and I think I don't get Sonya Hartnett's books. I wish they were quirky and odd but there's something about them I don't quite get. This is the second book of hers that I read and it is just as weird (though in a different way than
The Ghost's Child
); it is depressing and leaves me feeling bereft somehow. Makes me wonder why she wrote it...
Maybe I find the world around me depressing and sad enough that I don't also want to read about abandoned and lonely children who c...more
Maybe I find the world around me depressing and sad enough that I don't also want to read about abandoned and lonely children who c...more
I think Hartnett explores the beauty in hopelessness. I don't have another way to explain how she writes the most amazing descriptions, ones that make me feel and smell and even taste images of my past, good memories...and still leaves me completely devastated. I read and reread the paragraph of Adrian touching the cherub - could almost feel it myself (page 31), and his experience in the park, with the green grass (pg 46) reminded me of the Green Grass where we played as children. It was near an...more
Jan 20, 2010
Nicole
rated it
1 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
those with a stronger constitution than I
I KNOW that Sonya and I never see eye-to-eye. So why the hell do I keep picking up her books??
Because she's a talented writer with gorgeous prose and she always always always pushes boundaries. By all accounts, we should be BFF. But mostly she just makes my skin crawl...and not in a good way.
And so with the highest personal respect for Sonya as a writer, I vow here and now not to let myself feel pressured to read any of her books ever ever again.
Because she's a talented writer with gorgeous prose and she always always always pushes boundaries. By all accounts, we should be BFF. But mostly she just makes my skin crawl...and not in a good way.
And so with the highest personal respect for Sonya as a writer, I vow here and now not to let myself feel pressured to read any of her books ever ever again.
The copy I have is titled Of A Boy and I am still haunted by this book. Sonya Hartnett is masterful with words and there are so many quotes that will stay with me, somehow the author puts a few words together and they then create this physical reaction when you read them - amazing. It touches on many raw nerves as a parent and many memories as a child.
What the Birds See tells us a simple story and life of a young boy, and I really enjoy these kinds of novels because the characters seem so pure, but have amazingly deep thoughts. The author, Sonya Hartnett, writes things that make you think, and it's very interesting to me how thoughtful people are, and how many different troubles life can bring us.
I liked this book, but is was so sad. No child should ever feel like they are not wanted or that they have no place. It made me realize that kids feel things more deeply than I imagined even if it doesn't show on the surface. I will defnitely pay more attention to what my kids are feeling in the future. It was a quick read.
I was completely caught up in this story & could not put it down - read it in one sitting. Thought it was fantastically written and the air of impending doom throughout was brilliantly done. I'd add this into what I term "Australian Gothic" only instead of the "the bush" as the sinister external setting/character, this is suburbia - the schoolyard, home, the streets & park take on a dreadful aspect. Adrian is heartbreaking in his lonliness & how abandoned he is by the adults in his l...more
May 02, 2012
Dee-Ann
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
australian-authors,
five-star
What a range of emotions going through this simple book, and it ended with me thinking WTF (and I never swear!). The ending blew me away, I was not expecting it, but as harsh as it was, it was a plausible ending. I enjoyed reminiscing parts of my childhood along with Adrian ... I remember my first slinky, Young Doctors on television and the school yard. I would perhaps have liked a little bit more after the end, maybe!
This book got me hooked. Like Adrian I had a lot of fears (and I was also terrified on the thought of being locked up in a mall then) but some of them aren't real. It was kind of depressing. There was truth on this book and it is how fragile a child heart is.
Another book that makes you want to know what is going on and kept me reading, but solves nothing in the end and left me quite confused. Reminds me of a book I would have to read for an English class and then write essays that debated what we thought.
I have always been a fan of Sonya Hartnett and this novel only reinforces my admiration for her as a writer. This is an exquisitely written story about a young boy trying to make sense of a world that doesn't seem to want him.
The character of Adrian is a beautiful and tragic one: I kept wanting to give him a hug. He wants to understand why his community seems so caught up in the disappearance of the three Metford children when he seems to be invisible in plain sight. The themes of betrayal, del...more
The character of Adrian is a beautiful and tragic one: I kept wanting to give him a hug. He wants to understand why his community seems so caught up in the disappearance of the three Metford children when he seems to be invisible in plain sight. The themes of betrayal, del...more
Feb 28, 2008
Marissa The barbie doll
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people who can read big words
that its okay to be afriad and that somethings cannot be explained .. also i learnt that alot of childern are abducted and disappear. because they are varnable. and that everyone has their own issues and that not all familes such as adrian's is perfect and not everyone lives with mum or dad, some live with Grandma, Grandpa, uncle etc.....
Ioved this book it had alot of big words which i like verrry good usage of words which is good i liked the poem at the end which was quite good. I really liked...more
Ioved this book it had alot of big words which i like verrry good usage of words which is good i liked the poem at the end which was quite good. I really liked...more
The way it was written was very interesting but I thought the ending was a bit lacking? (or perhaps I missed a part of the story?). It does, however, capture the childish innocence well. =)
I thoroughly enjoyed 'Of as it was simply written yet intricate with the outside events of his society connecting to the main character, a young boy,and how his life would pane out. As he was only a young boy the complications of his family life were uncertain to him, the innocence of his voice and personal thoughts of the world are intriguing as in doing this Hartnett makes you highlight on thoughts or ideas that you hadn't connected to the understanding of the story prior. Of a boy is a intere...more
Amazing depth and description for a novel billed as a teen read.
Short but very fulfilling. Far more about Adrian's everyday experiences than about the missing children. They are a backdrop, perhaps emphasising that it can feel like there are worse things that can happen than disappearing. Or that one can disappear while still being present in body.
Hartnett skillfully and painfully portrays the harsh realities of school life, shifting friendships, the outsider perspective. She shows how children...more
Short but very fulfilling. Far more about Adrian's everyday experiences than about the missing children. They are a backdrop, perhaps emphasising that it can feel like there are worse things that can happen than disappearing. Or that one can disappear while still being present in body.
Hartnett skillfully and painfully portrays the harsh realities of school life, shifting friendships, the outsider perspective. She shows how children...more
i just love this book.. that's all i can say.. hahaha
*i was in my college years when i read this i guess.. haha i forgot the date lol. :)
*i was in my college years when i read this i guess.. haha i forgot the date lol. :)
Hartnett's books are pretty dark generally, but this book is _bleak_. Compellng, brilliantly written, but really really bleak.
Devastatingly heartbreaking. Harnett definitely does not conform to the "all books for young people must have a happy ending."
I read this many many years ago and quite enjoyed it. Gave it another go this week and it didn't do anything for me.
A simple story with a twist that you can see coming, but hope like hell doesn't happen.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK and US title | 1 | 4 | Apr 17, 2009 12:10am |
Sonya Hartnett (also works under the pseudonym Cameron S. Redfern) is, or was, something of an Australian child prodigy author. She wrote her first novel at the age of thirteen, and had it published at fifteen. Her books have also been published in Europe and North America. Her novels have been published traditionally as young adult fiction, but her writing often crosses the divide and is also enj...more
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“...it's stupid to be that way, so easily hurt; it's better to be like a plank of wood, an emotional mule. It's best not to feel,...best to have your nerve endings cauterized.”
—
3 people liked it
More quotes…
Jun 12, 2011 09:33am