Seth is drowning. He isn’t going to survive, there is no out for him. He drowns. But death is not the end, he wakes up in his childhood home in England. He is all alone, and wrapped in strange bandages. The world is covered in dust and dirt. All the food has gone off, and even the water is funny. Seth knows where he is. Hell.
I can’t say that I loved Ness’ last book, The Crane Wife was great in many ways but it never gripped me the way his other books did. But this one. This one is great. I loved Seth, he is so real and believable. The book is his journey, from being a self obsessed teenager to realising that the world is what it is, and that it doesn’t revolve around anyone. I don’t mean that Seth doesn’t have problems, and should be self obsessed. Every teenager should, its part of how we find our place in the world and how we fit in. After all everyone is the hero of their own story aren’t they?
I’m trying to figure out what to say about it that doesn’t spoil anything, because I really do think that the best way to approach this book is to know nothing about it in advance.
If however you have read it then you won’t have to worry about spoilers and can read on :)
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I loved the way that Ness plays with the whole idea of what is a story. As the story progresses Seth begins to wonder what is and isn’t real. He knows how the story would play out if it were a movie, all the cliches that make a satisfying fiction, and he seems to be living them. Is he the hero of a fiction created by his own mind? Or an online reality? The reader of course, is aware that on some level, yes Seth is a fictional hero, but at the same time he isn’t, not inside the world of More than this.
Some people might not like the Matirx like plot thread, but the whole online reality trope didn’t start with The Matrix even if it has become shorthand for that now. And what Ness does with it is what makes the story. Did people really choose to live their whole lives online? To abandon reality for a virtual life? And if so why did they bring all the minor irritations of life with them. If they are really online then why do they need to have jobs and money worries? I also wonder about the rest of the world outside England. Did they go online too? I’m guessing from the American setting that at least some Americans did, but what about outside the rich countries of the world? And if so, why did Tommasz’ mother attempt to reach Britain?
I loved the fact that Seth was gay, and while that did provide some plot element it wasn’t the be all and end all of the story. It was integral to Seth’s character, obviously, but while it seemed to be the reason, initially, for his death the reader soon learns that it wasn’t that at all. Well, the reaction of other people was part of the reason, but mainly it was fact that he was so isolated at the moment.
I think part of growing up is distancing yourself from your parents. When you are a child you don’t really think of your parents as real people, with their own lives and dreams, fears and failings. They exist, in many ways, to serve you1 . But as you grow up you realise that no, you are not their entire world. And that is how it should be. Seth’s parents take things to the extreme here, I’m not saying they are a good example of parenting at all, but they suffered a trauma and never recovered from it. And that caused them to ignore Seth in a way that isolated him from what should have been the centre of his world at a young age. Its okay to grow up and discover that your parents have a whole heap of stuff going on in their lives that you might not have known about or even considered, but to be a child and to know that you are merely the supporting cast in your family. That’s gotta hurt.
This is more of a ramble than a review, and its gone on too long, so I’ll stop here and just say that you should read this book.
Other reviews : The Book Smugglers ; A bookish heart ; Things mean a lot
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