This is more of a brag post. I think I did a haul blog last night so why not? I finished Noggin last night. This morning. It was after 5am that I finished and the darkness of night was easing up. But I finished. I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve finished a book in one day—a real book—so I want to brag about that too. But mostly I want to sing the praises of Noggin. I didn’t actually get any sleep today so if I wander through life in a catatonic zombie state, this is why. And it was well worth it.
Noggin is the story of Travis. Sixteen year old Travis had lost his battle with cancer and in a last ditch effort agreed to a medical experiment to cryogenically preserve his head. Maybe in the future, science would be able to bring him back to a life he could live. Five years later, his head is grafted on the body of a teenage boy who died of a brain tumor. Travis returns, a visitor in a familiar world that looks so much like the life he lived but in those five years, a lot has changed.I had thought “oh, this reminds me of Unwind by Neal Shusterman but it’s not. It’s not at all. Neal takes readers on some science fiction fantasy—not fantasy like unicorns and monsters but fantasy like rich imagination—that tries to dissect—pun intended—the ideas of what makes a person and the arguments around pro-life and abortion philosophy. (Unwind: all of a minor can be used for organ transplants. Unwanted children become banks of spare parts)
Whereas in Noggin has a greater focus on the interpersonal relationships, on what happens after we lose someone. Perhaps this is because the world Noggin is set in is a much more contemporary world than Unwind.
I feel the need to share but apparently I’m in a very exclusive club.
— David Yenoki (@davidshead) August 6, 2013
That’s a reference to Noggin; I’m one of the few people who have rated the book on goodreads and also a line in the book. Which I cannot quote. Smiley face.