Hedvig & Dominique - The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking #1)

[Dominique]

Greetings,One and all are welcome to engage into this discussion but please do keep in mind to use spoiler tags. (It would suck if you don't)

[Hedvig]

I have started the novel and so far I like it. I´ve read 99 pages of 469 (kindle version).
(view spoiler)[I like how he is able to describe what the noise is like. When I read about the novel I couldn´t quite understand what the noise was, but the way he describes everything from Tod´s perspective makes it clearer. Sometimes there ´shut up´is written in brackets and this I don´t get. Is he talking to himself or to the general noise around him or is it meant for the person talking to him? The background story is still a bit fuzzy, but I like that; I like when novels are like a puzzle where you have to add a piece at a time and slowly get the whole picture. Since we know that everything Tod knows about the past is/might be false, you get to speculate about what might really have happened. I also wonder about the girl. Why would she be coming to this world with only her parents? It seems a bit unlikely that you should travel in space with only three passengers and why a family? (hide spoiler)]

[Dustin]

Hedvig- (view spoiler)[I also love the fact that Ness has the ability to describe the 'noise' with the utmost precision. The entire novel fascinates me!
As for 'shut up' being in the brackets, I took that as being part of Todd's thought process. (hide spoiler)]

[Hedvig]

Up to ch 29...
(view spoiler)[ I still like the novel but it's a bit slow right now. Todd is running, he is sick, hurt an aching all over - which is repeated over and over again. I am waiting for something new to happen. The problem is I don't see something new building up. (hide spoiler)]

[Dustin]

Just keep reading, it definitely builds momentum, IMO. By the end, you won't want to stop.

[Hedvig]

Up to ch 37.
(view spoiler)[ I have finally been told all that happened in Prentisstown, no surprises there. In a way it is good that you had to read most of the bool before getting the full story, because you get a deeper understanding for what the noise does to people.

The thing I found most interesting is how the other settlements reacted. I have wondered how the mayor kept everyone with him, but now I understand that he is their only chance for survival. It's him or living as parias the rest of their life, struggling to survive. (hide spoiler)]

[Dustin]

(view spoiler)[Exactly, Hedvig! The deeper understanding you get as you get further into the book is almost essential, IMO!


I've always suspected the the major had some sort of hold over them. I see where you're coming from though, too, and I think you're probably right. (hide spoiler)]

[Hedvig]

I finished the novel a while ago, but haven´t had a computer nearby to write about it.
(view spoiler)[ As a ya novel I liked it. It brought up some interesting topics and in many ways I thought it quite original. Personally I would have liked it to be a bit more complex. I thought the characters a bit flat. The beginning of the novel I enjoyed the most. I thought the long journey got a bit tedious. (hide spoiler)]

[Dustin]

Hedvig wrote: "I finished the novel a while ago, but haven´t had a computer nearby to write about it.
[spoilers removed]"

I'm sorry to hear that it kind of fell flat for you..:(

[Hedvig]

I still think that the novel is well written. I will recommend it to students in my classes who like fantasy/SF. I know it is translated into Swedish with a different title - Tystnaden i bruset (=The Silence in the Noise).

[Dustin]

Hedvig wrote: "I still think that the novel is well written. I will recommend it to students in my classes who like fantasy/SF. I know it is translated into Swedish with a different title - Tystnaden i bruset (=T..."

I'm glad we agree!