Dying to Know You
1st Edition
Published on 26. April 2012
288 pages
978-1-4481-2031-4 (ISBN)
Description
Karl, aged seventeen, is hopelessly in love. But the object of his affections, Firella, demands proof, and poses him a series of questions regarding his attitude to the many sides of love. But Karl is dyslexic, and convinced that if Firella finds out, she will think he is stupid, and unworthy of her, and leave him.
So Karl asks a local writer to help him construct his replies - and an unlikely, but extremely touching, friendship develops between the two men. They both come to learn a great deal about about life from a very different perspective, and when an act of violence shatters their calm, they find their respective appraisal of life shifting in profound ways.
So Karl asks a local writer to help him construct his replies - and an unlikely, but extremely touching, friendship develops between the two men. They both come to learn a great deal about about life from a very different perspective, and when an act of violence shatters their calm, they find their respective appraisal of life shifting in profound ways.
Reviews / Votes
Deliberate in pace and carefully insightful in its investigation of character, Chamber's latest is a work of art that repays multiple readings -- Michael Cart * Booklist * Packed to the brim with challenging ideas, the latest from Chambers is simultaneously an acutely observed and surprising love story. An organic yet intricately crafted story of self-discovery . . . This is a generous gift * Publishers Weekly * This is a teasingly provocative and touching cross-generational story, written with a rare candour about love, sex, thoughts of suicide and growing old -- Julia Eccleshare * Guardian * Chambers is so skilled, so calmly truthful in his writing. What emerges is not just a moving, unexpected story of the complexity of teenagers, but also a story of later life, of ageing and loss, and what experience really means -- Patrick Ness * Guardian * It takes a writer with the superb skill and sensitivity of Chambers to adapt the Cyrano de Bergerac story and turn it into a modern tale of grief, growth and acceptance . . . Great tenderness, authentic dialogue and elegantly crafted plotting. A book to be read and re-read -- Sally Morris * Daily Mail * A wonderful book about friendship, words, and our deepest, most hidden selves. Elegant, precise prose and wonderful dialogue in which space has as much to say as words. This is a book to return to * The Bookbag * A heart-warming contemporary love story * Booked Up! * Dying to Know You is a thoughtful and insightful novel and after turning the last page I was left with the impression that just maybe this writer's story could be Chambers' too * So Many Books, So Little Time * A gentle tale stuffed full of drama, elements of coming-of-age, dealing with grief and first love that make it irresistible * My Favourite Books * This book is interesting, fun, and very insightful. Chambers takes an inventive approach to his writing * Examiner.com *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Random House Children's UK
Target group
Children/juvenile
Young adult
Interest Age: From 12 to 17 years
File size
0,35 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-4481-2031-4 (9781448120314)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Aidan Chambers was born in County Durham in 1934. After national service in the Royal Navy he became a teacher and then, for seven years, a monk. His young adult novels have been widely acclaimed, with POSTCARDS FROM NO-MAN'S LAND winning the prestigious Carnegie Medal and the US Michael L Printz Award. With his wife Nancy he ran Signal magazine and he has served as the president of the School Library Association. His devoted services to children's literature were recognised by his receipt of the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2002.
