The cover-blurb really does this story a disservice, making it seem boring and trite. However, in reality, this novel was full of WIN!
To begin: the story focuses on a young boy named Todd Hewitt as he goes to collect some apples with his dog. And very early on, you realize things are wrong in the community of Prentisstown. Settlers from another world settled on the New World some 20 years ago. Since that time, there are no women: they were all killed in a plague that caused all the men in Prentisstown to be able to hear one another's thoughts. This plague, or perhaps a war with the indigenous Spackles resulted in all the other settlers dying except those in Prentisstown. What's more, is that on every boy's thirteenth birthday, they boys are made "men" in an ominous ceremony. As there are no women, Todd is the last remaining boy.
Except very little of that is true, which Todd begins to discover when he finds a quiet spot in the swampy area of Prentisstown. Not only can the men hear one another's thoughts, they can also hear the thoughts of all the animals on the planet as well. Proximity increases the Noise, as its called, as well as emotional distress.
This is a YA novel and the issues it tackles are multitudinous. However, the way the story is telling is compelling and vivid and amazing. I stayed up way to late on a work night reading this because I wanted to know what the big secret was. And its a doozy.
Some of the focus issues: how do you live a private life when everyone around you can hear your thoughts? There are some methods of dealing with or tamping down the Noise, but if anyone really listens to you, they can hear you thinking. What is individuality, when you constantly live in one another's heads? What role do individuals have who can hear your thoughts, if you can't hear their thoughts. This is central to the theme of the book, and to a degree mimics the xenophobia the settlers feel in regard to the alien Spackles. And, how could you stand to hurt someone if you feel and hear their pain? This is just a tiny portion of what this novel tackles. And when I finished it, all I could think of was DAMN! I'm not ready for it to end!
