Review: Ness, P. (2009). The knife of never letting go.

LSSL 5385: Required Novels

Ness, P. (2009). The knife of never letting go. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.

The Knife of Never Letting Go is the first installment in the Chaos Walking trilogy, and from the beginning the odd cadence and dark mysterious implications draw the reader into the plight of young Todd Hewitt, who will soon be reaching manhood at the age of thirteen. Soon we realize, however, that as a settler of New World, Todd leads an odd existence on a distant planet, where only the men have survived, and he is the youngest of his village--though he would have been over fourteen in Earth years already. He accepts the way he has been brought up, hearing the unwanted “Noise” of every man and animal he encounters, a constant hum in his consciousness; however, his simple understanding of this unpleasant life unravels quickly as he begins to realize that he has been repeatedly lied to regarding the “sad history” of his people, and must run for his life.

In this unnamed future, people have left an overcrowded home planet for a number of reasons, but it seems they were unable to escape humanity’s basest instincts. Todd’s lack of formal education shows through his mental first-person narration, which includes a number of spelling and grammatical mistakes, and frequently lacks punctuation, though this adds to the realism of his every thought as it plays out. The novel asks the question of whether any individual could be a potential killer at heart, and of whether we are the products of our basic natures, or our environmental circumstances. It puts forth the theme that war truly has no winning or righteous side, and is always a futile endeavor, not unlike The Hunger Games series. Additionally, it draws heavily on the themes that we must always hold onto hope in our hearts, and that this, as well as loyalty to those we call our family, is vital to not just surviving but maintaining our humanity.

The length of the novel as a first installment--479 pages--as well as the intricate plot and sheer number of developed characters does hint at the author Patrick Ness’ prior experience in adult fiction. It is necessary to the story arc that the protagonist be young, approaching traditional manhood per the traditional Jewish age; however, his youth and frequently mentioned “innocence” are not typical of contemporary young adult readers, but rather a dark, vicarious supposition. His sometimes uncontrolled thought process--his Noise--does read true to an adolescent voice, such as when he mentally rambles without punctuation, or uses abbreviated spellings like “cuz”--both of which are typical to text messaging, and the steady stream of information flowing through our lives due to modern-day technology, a noted inspiration for the story line.

For further awarded reading by Ness, try A Monster Calls, an emotionally-charged novel suitable to younger audiences.