A Monster Calls – Patrick Ness
Julie: I love books, obviously. But it's rare that I find one I love so much, I want to stand in crowded spaces and shout at strangers passing by, "READ THIS BOOK! I MEAN IT! READ IT RIGHT NOW! YOU WON'T REGRET IT!" That is exactly how I feel about Patrick Ness's A MONSTER CALLS. It is beautifully designed and beautifully written, full of heart and wonderfully flawed, fully envisioned characters. It made me cry. It kept me guessing. It has a monster as a main character--I don't typically like books about monsters--I don't care. This book is marvelous. I know you loved it too, Mia, and that's a good thing. Because what if you hadn't? This blog would've had to take a particularly long hiatus, because surely I would've felt compelled to put you in a reading timeout.
Marirosa Mia: I. LOVED. IT. (You know it's true because I used all caps and dramatic punctuation, folks.) As soon as I finished it I did three things. I walked into the head of our School & Library department's office, and we both gushed about Patrick Ness for a good 10 minutes. I accosted anyone who walked by my desk with "Did you read this book?" And finally I emailed my sister (who is illustrating my own novel) and told her to buy the book immediately because it’s imperative that we use it as research for our own collaboration. From its quite charming first lines (The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do.) I was hooked! I knew I was reading something special. Julie, I'm a huge sucker for stories within stories (darn you, THE PRINCESS BRIDE!). Did you enjoy how Ness weaved storytelling into his own tale?
J: Before I answer that, let me give a little background. A MONSTER CALLS opens with the first visit to thirteen-year-old Conor by a monster in the shape of yew tree. It "tower[s] thirty or forty feet above him, breathing heavily in the night air." "‘Who am I?’" the monster roars. "‘I am the spine that the mountains hang upon! I am the tears that the rivers cry! ... I am everything untamed and untameable! ... I am this wild earth, come for you, Conor O'Malley.’" To which Conor skeptically replies, in a perfect illustration of the wry exchanges between the two: "‘You look like a tree.’"
The monster explains that he will come to Conor on further nights and tell him three stories "‘from when I walked before.’" Conor responds with disbelief: "‘How is that a nightmare?’" And the monster replies, "‘Stories are the wildest things of all. Stories chase and bite and hunt.’" Later, in the same vein, the monster says, "‘Stories are wild creatures. When you set them loose, who knows what havoc they might wreak?’"
Of course I love that message about the power of stories. And the monster's stories do end up having an unexpected, slow-boiling, intriguing sort of power. I love that they surprised me and Conor alike. I love the choice of stories. And you?
M: Very much so. I loved that the stories were old school fairy tales; the kind where happy endings are hard to come by and you aren't quite sure what you're supposed to be learning right off the bat.
Can we talk about secondary characters? I was surprised by how much I was interested in the school bully Harry. In the course of the story he went from being just a one-note bully to a bit more...unsettling as his understanding of Conor grew. How about you, Julie?
J: The character portrayals are virtually universally fabulous. The mom, the grandmother, the dad, the monster--everyone feels so real, and they're all struggling in such different and heart-tugging ways. (Well, nothing about the dad is heart-tugging, exactly; but it's a tribute to Ness that I'm not thoroughly repulsed by the man.) I like the bully, Harry, as well. Although by the end it becomes clear that Ness is using Harry to make a point, it doesn’t feel annoyingly didactic--likely because of the weaving in of the monster's stories. Ness buys himself some moral-making leeway with those stories, I think. Does that make sense? Also, we haven't even noted yet that Conor is grappling with his mother's sickness. Any concern that the book overall feels too heavy?
M: No. I think it's hard not to be heavy when you are talking about cancer, and I think overall the book does a great job of depicting Conor's anger and fear such that we don't feel the topic is overdone in any way. Does that make sense?
J: Again, I think the fantasy element helps. The recurring presence of the monster, the mystery surrounding him, the humor in his interactions with Conor, and the puzzles posed by his stories all prevent the weight of the mom storyline from becoming overbearing.
Can we talk about the book’s design a little? I think this might be my favorite book design ever.
M: I see what you mean about the fantasy element, Julie, though I’m not sure if that’s what was keeping the heavy topic well-balanced for me. Sometimes I think I connect more with fantasy and magical realism elements than actual real life!
What about the illustrations did you particularly like? For some reason I was really drawn to the images that worked with the text itself--the ink creeping into the pages and so on. Not that the separate illustrations weren’t magnificent, but there was something about the way they bled into each other in those particular sections that I really enjoyed.
J: I also love the margin illustrations and think they intensify the tone of the book. But I can't say that I prefer them, because some of the full-page illustrations and two-page spreads are so spectacular. Pages 182-83, for example, and pages 193-94? Gorgeous. I love the texture of each illustration, and the shadings. They all contribute brilliantly to the book's atmosphere, without ever distracting from the text. I love that virtually every illustration makes me wonder, how did Jim Kay (the illustrator) capture that effect? I see now, on the book jacket, that he used "everything from beetles to breadboards to create interesting marks and textures." Beetles and breadboards! It's all so interesting and beautiful.
M: I'm not saying I preferred the margins--or maybe I am--but there was something about the ink sneaking in ... like it couldn't be contained. I love that.
Well, I think we could talk about this book for quite some time; but I think we should let our readers go and perhaps...purchase the book! Go!
J: Yes! Go!
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