Before I finished reading the book, I took a look at a few reviews that complained about confusion, and the story not becoming clear before page 100. Now this isn't Shakespeare, but like reading Shakespeare, you have to get into the cadence of the writing. There is a lilt to it that's necessary for the reader to fall into, which I found quickly and loved. Toby and his talking dog Manchee discover a "Quiet" near the swamp and when they do, all hell breaks loose and his world is never the same. The Quiet, turns out to be Olivia, who's scouting vessel crashed on the planet killing her parents. Toby wants to be hard and grown up, or what he considers a Man. But what he discovers is that he already is a Man by taking on the responsibility of protecting Olivia from the men of Prentisstown and himself from being what they want him to be.
I loved this book. The funny thing is I almost never read it. I had read about it a year ago when it first came out, but thought it sounded odd from the descriptions I was able to read at the time. But over the past year, it kept popping up in my search of material and I finally read a starred review in Publisher's Weekly for THE ASK AND THE ANSWER. So, I decided to go for it anyway and read the material fulling expecting not to like it.
Some of the best surprises come from where you least expect it. I didn't say much about the story because anything I do say would give it away. I just say to anyone who may come across this mini review. Do yourself a favor and read a book by an incredibly good writer.
No comments:
Post a Comment