Bibliography:
Ness, Patrick. September 2008. The Knife of Never Letting Go. Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press. ISBN: 9780763639310
Plot Summary:
It would not be incorrect to say that this is the story of a boy and his dog. If that boy lived in a settlement on another planet and the dog could talk that is. Todd Hewitt lives with his foster parents in a place where everyone can hear each other’s thoughts all the time. Well, all the men can anyway. All the women are dead. He is one month shy of his thirteenth birthday when he will become a man, when he discovers something in the swamp that puts him in danger–a place of complete quiet. Now his whole world is turned upside down and he must go on the run with his dog and hope that he can survive.
Critical Analysis:
Normally, this is where I would write some well reasoned thought out critique of the book. However, this time, I want to tell you how this book made me feel. The intensity of this book grabs you and, as the title says, “never lets you go.” It has a relentless pounding pace that matches the feelings of the main character as he travels across country and encounters proof that what he was taught was wrong. There is a real sense of pathos, of feeling what he is feeling, of confronting baser instincts and trying to figure out what is the right thing to do. At the same time, it has a real sense of humor. There is something very funny about finding out that when dogs are able to communicate, they talk about things like poo and food, and not even in complete sentences. I enjoy all kinds of books, but am not usually drawn to science fiction, but this is a book I would give to anyone who wanted a good story with characters that make you care about them. I am not someone who cries much when reading, and I don’t know that anyone would call this a tearjerker, but I cried at two separate places in the story.
Now for a little critique. At first, the style and tone of the narrative are a little hard to read and it makes the story start off slowly. The author is writing exactly like Todd thinks and speaks, with asides and bad spelling and incorrect grammar and all. But once the story takes off, this becomes very natural and adds to the understanding of both the character and the world in which he lives. While there are moments of joy and relief in the story, for the most part this is a downer of a story. As a reader, I kept hoping for Todd to get ahead, but he does not seem to be able to catch a break. It makes for an emotionally exhausting read, made worse by the fact that this is the first in a series, so the ending definitely leaves you hanging for the next installment. When I was reading, I was all caught up and swept away by the story, but afterwards, I was left thinking also that the author had been deliberately manipulating the reader’s emotions in the story. Is that a problem? Probably not, really all fiction sets out to manipulate in some way. I guess I am left wondering, after pondering the story for some time, whether or not such manipulation was necessary or effective. It does fit with the one of the themes of the book as a whole, as it turns out the Todd was being lied to and manipulated for someone else’s gain. Perhaps that is the whole point.
