I had come across the name Patrick Ness a couple of times via the copious amounts of book nerds I subscribe to on Youtube (you know the ones who stand in front of their overflowing bookshelves and post reviews and book shelf tours...yep...those ones). But it wasn't until I came across a review from booksandquills about 'A Monster Calls' written by Patrick Ness based on an original idea from Siobhan Dowd. Fast forward to a mere 3 days ago, sitting in a classroom in a children's literature lecture when we are given the instruction to go out and find a children's or YA (young adult) book to give a presentation on to the class. Cue to me flipping through the internal Filofax of children's books stored permanently in my head. I've got to be honest. I struggled to come up with one which was original, foreign amongst my peers and that was new to me. This was until I remembered the name which was popping up rather frequently in my life. Patrick Ness. So naturally I went on a hunt all over Sydney for this book and I finally found it in a small bookshop about 45 minutes away from my house. Fast forward another 76 hours and you've got me curled up in bed with my newly completed copy of A Monster Calls, reaching for another tissue whilst uncontrollably sobbing to my rather entertained mother. I had been reduced to emotions a book had never led me to before. This story is powerful and poignant and here is what I've got to say about it. The story begins with Conor O’Malley, a 13 yr old boy who lives with his ill mother. We assume through mentions of treatment and symptoms of chemotherapy that his mother is seriously ill with some form of cancer however not once does Ness mention the ‘c’ word. Conor has been having a nightmare and he awakes one night from such nightmare to a whisper of his name coming from outside his window. It is a monster. But not the one he has been expecting. This monster is different and it comes in the form of an old Yew tree from the graveyard behind his house. This monster is ancient and wild and is promising to share three stories with Conor as long as Conor shares the fourth. The fourth being the truth. Conor’s truth. The most dangerous thing of all. As the story continues we get to know more about Conor and his problems with peers at school, his relationship with his somewhat distant grandmother and his relationship with his sick mother. The monster’s purpose in the story is highlighted through the telling of the 3 fable like stories and as the story continues, so too grows the complexity of the characters and the tragic reality of their situation. There are so many reasons why I love this book and why I think you should read it. So I thought to myself "What is the best way to communicate how amazing this book is?" and of course it occurred to me. A list. 1. The Illustrations To be honest it was the illustrations which first drew me to the book. I mean look at this cover! From the very beginning, before you even open the cover the tone is set; dark and fantastical. This book is riddled with beautiful black and white illustrations by Jim Kay which cover double page spreads and leak into pages of text; symbolic of the movement of the monster in Connors life. These illustrations align with magical realism, an image of a homely cottage in the shadow of a great tree beast as an example. It helps to build the world of the text, the mood of the text and I believe that for younger readers (those in early high school years) this kind of visual stimulus would really enhance the reading experience. I know it definitely did for me. 2. The way Ness manipulates language. From the opening sentence Ness grabs you and doesn’t let you go until long after you have turned the final page. I do love my figurative language and this book is riddled with it…but there is no overkill. There is a part of the story where the monster is introducing himself and he says "I am the spine that the mountains hang upon. I am the tears the rivers cry. I am the lungs that breathe the wind. I am this wild earth, come for you, Connor O’Malley" (page 44). I love how Ness crafts his words with a particular skill to appeal to the senses. Not to mention the rhythmic nature of the writing which makes it almost seem like a crime not to read aloud. This can be seen in one instance when Ness introduces the monster to the reader. "As Conor watched the uppermost branches of the tree, they gathered themselves into a great and terrible face, shimmering into a mouth, nose and even eyes that peered back at him. Branches twisted around one another, creaking and groaning until they formed 2 long arms. The rest of the trunk gathered itself into a spine and then a torso, the thin needle like leaves weaving together to make a green, furry skin that moved and breathed as if there were muscles and lungs underneath" (page 15). Ness' use of language to describe the monster paired with the illustrations helps the reader to envisage this character in great depth whilst experiencing, through the senses, what it would be like to be in the company of such monster. In my mind this monster is much like Tree beard from Tolkien's The Two Towers. So much so that I read his dialogue in a Tree beard like fashion; with patience and permission to pause every few words. But I didn’t mind because this monster delivers some pretty powerful stories. Beautiful imagery is established through Ness’ choice of words so much so that I could see this as a movie being played out in my head. 3. The raw and honest truth. The roots of this story lie in rather heavy human truths. Death and its rather ugly consequences on the life in which its infiltrating is something that Ness does not shy away from in this story. It meets the truth head on but in the most profound way. We follow how Connor is dealing with his mothers imminent death by not dealing with it at all, juxtaposed with the adults in his life who are always wanting to “have that talk”. We travel along this journey with Connor and throughout the book we see how his mothers sickness is slowly eating away at him and how the Monster in the story helps him to heal in a way which the character nor the reader expect him to. For me this book was moving because I very nearly experienced a loss of a parent myself; making my reading experience that much more engaging and empathetic towards the feelings of the boy. It is told in subjective 3rd person and because of this we are able to engage with what Connor is feeling and thinking - making this story that much more personal. Its quick paced nature does not draw from the complexity of the characters nor the brilliance of the storytelling. A good story keeps you turning the page and this certainly did. The pace of the story never left me wanting to skim through and as soon as I started it, I had unfortunately come to the end. This has definitely got to be one of my most favourite YA novels I have read over the past few years and I am thoroughly looking forward to reading more of Patrick Ness' works. Yay! You made it to the end. It was a long one...I know... but as a reward here are some pictures I took of Kay's beautiful illustrations.
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April 2017
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