More Than This book review
More Than This is a book by Patrick Ness. The Main character is Seth. In the book Seth dies. His shoulder is ripped from it’s socket by the sea's waves. His head is smashed into the cold hard rock by the unforgiving sea and he closes his eyes to this world for what should be the last time, knowing that he should never be able to open them again. However, he does open his eyes again, and what he sees is the suburban street in England that he used to live in when he was a little kid. At first he does not recognize the street, but pain stricken, thirsty, and covered in a strange metallic tape, he is drawn to the house he once lived in and as he stumbles inside, he is struck with a different kind of intense pain because he starts to remember some of the things he wished he still forgot. His family left that house for a reason and they had no intentions of returning. At first Seth focuses on survival in the eerily abandoned town even though he partially believes that he has wound up in some unpleasant after life. Eventually he wills him self to go into more of the house despite his traumatic experience in the place.
As the story progress and Seth must sleep, he dreams of bits and pieces of his past connecting to the traumatic event that happened in the house and and about his life after he moved to Washington. Although he does not definitively give an answer to what happened at the house, he pretty quickly establishes that it has to do with his brother who did not always have brain damage and the prison behind his house which was not always empty. He also makes it clear that he blames himself for what happened to his brother. In Washington, Seth at least makes a few friends, who he runs with on the cross country team. He even falls in love with one of them and finally he is able to get some reprieve from the thoughts and repercussions which have plagued him sense the traumatic incident that happened, but like many good things this reprieve and the relationship can not last. As the memories bring us closer to learning about what happened, the descriptions of the present help bring us answers about the place where he ended up after.
Overall I thought the book was interesting. I considerably enjoyed the suspense he put into the book by giving small details to major elements or answers in the story which I thought was satiating enough just to make me more curious as to what was really going on in this supposed afterlife or what really happened to Seth in the past. For example, the appearance of the metallic tape making me question it’s role in this supposed afterlife. I also appreciated the author’s expert use of imagery which appears through out the book, but I think is most prominent and well written in the very beginning of the book. In addition, I like how he consistently goes into the past of Seth in order to give a suspenseful backstory so I feel like I know the character better, and care more about what will and has happened to him. I also find it to be a nice way to break up the story and a nice layer of intricacy to the plot. Overall I would rate this book a 8/10 star. Although I found it to be a really interesting read, I did have a couple grievances. For one, I thought the explanations for the supposed after life was a little lacking and although he gave explanations for a lot details like the use of the tape and he probably did not wat to get to bogged down in details so that he might bore the reader. I also think there are still some details which just do not add up and he left some details as to the mechanics of this supposed after life unanswered, which I will not go into for fear of spoilers. I also found it annoying that while philosophizing about where he ended up Seth kept thinking about being in a story and how things would probably work out if he was a character in a book. However, I would recommend this book just maybe not as my favorite read.
-Annie
This book sounds really interesting. I have not read many books about characters that died. It sounds like an interesting way to talk about a character’s life and past. I really like your points! I think that characters in books often talk about what they would do if they were characters in books and I agree that it can be annoying. You gave me an idea of what the suspenseful style of the book might be like without giving away spoilers and I am curious to find out more about the plot of the book and the metallic tape! Great job!
ReplyDeleteThe book definitely sounds unique, from your description. The discovering of the main character's memories is an interesting subject for the author to take. I think you worded your review very well, as it makes me curious about Seth's past and story.
ReplyDeleteI have never read a book about an interpretation of afterlife and the story sounds very mysterious. The whole plot with visiting his old memories is interesting, but also a little bit confusing to me. I think your review is well written considering that! I like how you included both good and bad things about the story. I might check this out sometime! Nice job!
ReplyDeleteLike others have said, this book sounds like it has a different take on death than what I've read. The closest I've come to this is an epilogue at the very end of a trilogy, so to hear that there's an entire book about it is intriguing for me. I'm glad to hear that Ness actually provides reasons for all the small details--too many times I've noticed things that can easily be expounded, but they aren't.
ReplyDeleteI cannot be sure if it is just the way I read this, but this post seems to suddenly smack the reader in the face with information--and I love it. I see the author, and the main character, but then-- "in the book Seth dies." That sentence really hit me, then I had to read more. Your overall description of the book seems interesting, even if the way I read it made it seem quick and brief. I was also interested in the title of your blog post, "More Than This Book Review." Of course, it is simply the title of the book combined with "book review," but it also forms an intriguing phrase that could suggest a double meaning. I assume you did not intentionally make the title to have multiple meanings, but I'm sure there is some analogy that fits the post title--maybe something about the suggestion of an "afterlife" in the book? I have not read the book, so I cannot fully figure one out, but as someone who has considerable experience with metaphors, I can confidently say that there is probably something in the book that would match with your title. But anyway. I probably spent more time thinking about your title than your actual review...
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