Words: Chaos Walking

So one of Zach's friends got me the Chaos Walking series (well, the first two books) by Patrick Ness, for Christmas, and I have started the second book.

(I actually didn't realize there was a third book until I was looking for an image of Chaos Walking...eeek.)

While this is YA dystopic lit (which I love always), it's not in quite the same vein as what has been flooding the bookshelves and bookstores of late (as in the past five to ten years).  For one thing, it's told from the perspective of young man (named Todd Hewitt) when so many YA books seem to be about young ladies these days.  There's also an element of traditional children's classics for boys--as in Where the Red Fern Grows, Tom Sawyer, and such--because he is on an outdoorsy adventure and the folks he meets are rather plain folks and he just wants to be a boy.

I'm doing a terrible job of explaining this book because I'm sooooo tiiiiired (like it's me that's been on the run or something).

So since I'm jumping from thought to thought, I might as well say it's a bit stream-of-consciousness since the whole foundation of the story is the fact that all of the males' thoughts can be heard, but females' cannot (though they can hear the men's).  That means a lot of times the protagonist, who is speaking from first person, is overwhelmed by the Noise he hears, but he is also put off by the silence of others.  Religion has come to darken how this scientific effect is received in this world (and let's admit it--like religion is wont to do), so there's that, too, not to mention it's philosophical, seeming to examine the idea of cogito ergo sum ("I think; therefore, I am").  What happens when you can hear the thoughts of some but not of others?  Well, we get that dichotomy, more properly a binary opposition, with men being the dominant (their Noise defining their Selves) and women being the other (or Other--especially since they can be so secretive, not spilling their dark, Eveish thoughts).

(Looky at me using those lit theory terms I learned so many moons ago!  Blah blah blah...)

Anyway, THIS is what I wanted to share.  Absolutely beautiful.  Stunning.  My photography, not so much--I hope you can read it.  And now I'm giving away spoilery things, so if you do want to check this out (and YOU DO), don't read this page!