Book Review

A Loss of Sanity
Written by Jonas Weaver
For Mrs. Garcia's American Lit. Class

A world where nothing is hidden. Sure, people hide things and objects from others, but a world where no one's thoughts are hidden. Thoughts are unable to be hidden from others on New World. They can be buried, they can be drowned out by an overwhelming noise, but they can't be hidden. This is the setting, of the book The Knife of Never Letting Go. Written by Patrick Ness, this book tells the story of a boy named Todd. Todd, can't wait to become a man, officially. He counts the days and weeks till he becomes one. The story picks up with his dog Manchee and him walking through a swamp near his town, Prentisstown. As they walk, they feel a silence in the Noise. The Noise is what everyone's thoughts are. There is not supposed to be a blank area in the Noise, but there is. From there he has to run away from the town he has lived in his whole life. He Meets a girl name Viola, the significance of this is that he has never seen a girl before now. He can't hear her Noise but she can hear his.
The thing that makes this novel great, is that, one it is told from first person, but the grammar is not perfect, nor is it beautiful. When you read the grammar and the way things are spelled, it may disgust you since you may be used to fine polished literature. Oddly, this novel despite the imperfect grammar, due to the character, who also happens to be the narrator, turn out be very beautiful. The beauty is found in the originality of its premise and plot, and in the rugged syntax of the story. It draws you in.
The characters are almost unlikeable at first. You want to cheer for Todd, but you see how cruel he is deep down. You want to cheer for someone and you only really get to at the halfway point when Todd slowly becomes likeable. The character you cheer for, most of the time is Todd's dog, Manchee. Manchee represents a child's fragility. Not in a bad way, but in a way that shows how a young child, is not exposed to the realities of the world, and its depravity, but is still in its own little world where everything is right, and when something is wrong it is easily rationalized. Manchee also represents a sense of innocence, not found in the other characters. The other characters, Todd, Viola, and the violent pastor Aaron, all have a sense of unease at what they have seen.
The book is a good one and definitely worth the read. Once read it makes you think about the issues it raises. Such as, what if our thoughts could be heard by everyone? What would we do to protect our sanity? It also raises the issue of hypocrisy and conformity in the church. Aaron represents the church that is legalistic, and has twisted what God has said to their own meaning. Sadly, it is never resolved what exactly Aaron represents and what his full agenda is. This book is not for those who are looking for a happy read, it is an intense novel with a not-so-happy ending. So what would you do for the sake of your sanity?