The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking, #1) in 2017 Reading Challenge

Dec 19, 2014 Page rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-kidlit, fantasy, 2015challenge

This book was difficult to put down, as the story moved quickly, and the author is extremely skilled at pacing, often leaving chapters at cliffhanger endings.

Initially I wasn't at all sure what to do with a book that opens with a conversation with a dog who needed to go poo. Happily, the story kicked into gear after a couple of scene-setting chapters. The basic premise is that on this planet, you can hear the thoughts of men and animals. The title of the series is taken from the lead character' ...more

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Oct 05, 2016 Mickey rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This book, being the first one of a trilogy, is a difficult one for me to review. This is entirely due to the nature of a series and not in any way a problem with the book. I’ve always responded to the spaciousness of a trilogy; there’s just more room to explore and live in. My usual sweet spot in a story is the middle installment when the world-building has already occurred, all the main characters are introduced and their personalities are established, and now, (Brace yourself in anticipation! This book, being the first one of a trilogy, is a difficult one for me to review. This is entirely due to the nature of a series and not in any way a problem with the book. I’ve always responded to the spaciousness of a trilogy; there’s just more room to explore and live in. My usual sweet spot in a story is the middle installment when the world-building has already occurred, all the main characters are introduced and their personalities are established, and now, (Brace yourself in anticipation!) it is the time to play and get into all kinds of trouble. This preference is pretty standard. My favorite books in the Harry Potter series were the fourth and the fifth books out of the seven. I preferred Back to the Future II with its internal self-referencing to the original movie, and I rate The Empire Strikes Back with its bleakness and revelations as the pinnacle of the series. It could also be that there is no natural letdown as there naturally is when you have in your hands the end of a series. While there are exceptions to the rule (Stephen King’s Bill Hodges trilogy peaked in the last book “End of Watch” and no other following book in the series came close to the perfection of “Anne of Green Gables” by L.M. Montgomery), I feel I have to point out a natural predilection because I’m already anticipating a difference in the enthusiasm between this book and its follow-up, of which I’ve read about 30 pages so far.

This book does its job of teeing up the action, but as a standalone and its own experience, it’s a bit thin and light. It’s the soup course during a feast when you’re famished. As flavorful and excellent as that soup might be, you’re basically waiting for the main course to come so you can completely satiate yourself. But it is somewhat unfair to rate a feast, which is a series of carefully planned dishes meant to complement and play off each other, based on only one of the dishes (unless it’s a total disaster-like giving everyone food poisoning).

The story follows two kids who are abruptly taken from sheltered conditions and their immediate fumblings towards maturity. They have to come to understandings about anger, loss, hope, hatred, and self-control all while running from an army whose ultimate intent is unclear, making it all the more menacing. The deepening relationships between Todd and Manchee as well as between Todd and Viola in the face of this danger is probably where Ness shows his greatest skill as a writer. Todd’s ability to function in a relationship shows a sharp improvement as he goes from rather self-absorbed and petulant to being able to function in sync and in symbiotic fashion with others. Todd’s realization towards the end of the book that he knows Viola’s thoughts despite the fact that women and girls are not infected with the noise germ is worth the price of admission and was so beautifully written that I cried.

The greatest strength in Patrick Ness’s writing is his ability to express the emotions of his characters. He shows here that he does not need fancy words or a sophisticated awareness in order to explore the rawness and sublimity of human emotions. Todd, as a barely literate farm boy from a distant planet, is as perfect a vehicle to express the human condition as Hamlet, a Danish prince, was for Shakespeare, and that’s entirely due to the skill of the writer. (Yeah, I’m comparing Ness to Shakespeare in that aspect.)

What Ness is not skilled at (or what I have never seen from him) is the ability to deal with ideas as adroitly. The idea that this book deals with a theme like feminism (and I’ll admit I’m not a proponent of it, which may color my perception) is not accurate. What was explored about it? What realizations did the characters come to? Perhaps this will develop later in the series, but for now it is not a full-fledged theme, in my opinion.

In all fairness, I think I will come back after I have read more of the series to make sure that my impressions at this time do the book justice.

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