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    Dying to Know You: A Novel
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    Dying to Know You: A Novel
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    Dying to Know You: A Novel
    Ebook259 pages2 hours

    Dying to Know You: A Novel

    By Aidan Chambers

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    A teenager discovers his voice in this contemporary love story from “one of young adult literature’s greatest living writers” (Booklist).
     
    Shy teenager Karl is desperately in love with his girlfriend, Fiorella, a literary enthusiast who’s asked him to write her a letter in which he reveals his true self. There’s just one problem . . . Karl is dyslexic.
     
    Convinced that his attempts to express himself with words will end in disaster, Karl tracks down Fiorella’s favorite novelist and begs him to take up the task. The famous writer unexpectedly agrees, but on one condition: Karl must participate in a series of interviews so the author can pen an authentic portrait of his affections. What follows is a series of misunderstandings, a startling revelation, and an unusual bond that will change all three of their lives.
     
    A moving story of love and friendship, Dying to Know You is the perfect novel for “that cloudy expanse between older teenager and younger adult, a novel that doesn’t pretend to advise, but merely sees its characters for who they really are” (The Guardian).
     
    “This quietly understated performance captures the wistfulness of music in a minor key.” —Kirkus Reviews
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateApr 23, 2012
    ISBN9781613122983
    Unavailable
    Dying to Know You: A Novel

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    Reviews for Dying to Know You

    4/5

    43 ratings10 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Dying to Know You is driven by the conversations between the characters, so it is a very brief read. From the beginning, though, it definitely captured my attention. Chambers does a lot of interesting things here, and, while very odd, I definitely wanted to see just where the story was going and how Chambers would get it there.

      The only comparison I can come up with off the top of my head for a similar book is Adios, Nirvana. The style and mood of the two novels is quite disparate, but they both center around a young man learning from an old man. Through a series of interviews, the young men grow as individuals, overcome something with which they have been struggling.

      I really respect Chambers for trying something different narratively from the usual YA fare. That said, Dying to Know You could be a tough sell, because it is just very much not like what I would have expected. For example, the book, though marketed to young adult readers, is told from the perspective of an old man, and not one looking back on his own life. There are several occasions where he describes his old man problems, rather than focusing on Karl. I think I would have preferred to see this done from multiple points of view, rather than just the writer's.

      Additionally, I wasn't a huge fan of Chambers' writing. The story is interesting and unique, but his simple prose did not appeal to me, nor did his characters. No one in this book seemed to brim with life particularly, which is really a shame. There were some nice quotes and I enjoyed the coverage of the book's themes, but I just never felt invested. Also, I've never really been a huge fan of the novels that purport to be about real events; they generally turn out rather awkward.

      You might like this book if you like sparse prose, a lot of dialogue and YA books with a unique perspective.
    • 4/5
      This is the story of the unlikely relationship between a young man and an older man. I was surprised at how fast I read it because I usually like more action.
    • 4/5
      An interesting read for me after just finishing Verlyn Klinkenborg's book on small perfect sentences that mean what you say - as this book starts out with a young adult struggling (through his dyslexia) to express himself in written words. The old-young connection also reminds me of Barry Jonsberg's Being Here -- though different circumstances.
    • 5/5
      This is an unusual book, in that it's marketed as young adult, while it's narrator is a senior citizen who sometimes talks about his aches and pains. I loved this story about, ultimately, a special friendship between a young man and an old man. I loved both characters and was sorry to end the story. Nevertheless, I wonder how many young adults would be attracted to this book.
    • 4/5
      This was a very difficult book to rate and review, and even now I keep going back and forth between a 3 and a 5, so I've settled on giving it a 4.There were parts of this book I absolutely loved. The relationship between Karl and the writer (who is never named) is so touching and felt believable. Both were in need of someone in their life to fill a gap left by the death of a loved one. This is the main focus of the book, so I feel Chambers accomplished this amazingly. There is a questioning about why they need each other, but by the end it was pretty obvious that not only had managed to fill an empty space inside of them, but they found something more as well. Chambers also does a nice job of dealing with the issue of Dyslexia (an issue close to my heart). He shows the struggles children with Dyslexia face not only as a side effect of their disability, but also due to the misunderstanding teachers, parents and the public have about it.What makes me hesitate to give this the higher rating is that it's told from the point of view of the writer, who is an older gentleman in his seventies. We don't feel Karl's struggles and depression, because the old man doesn't feel them. He can remember and understand what Karl's going through but he looks at the situation through the eyes of experience. I was also very hesitant to rely on the writer and his relationship to Karl because of the title of the book. I definitely went in with the assumption that someone was going to die and I didn't want to start caring for a character that was going to kick the bucket.While the fact that the book was narrated by an old man didn't automatically deter me from reading Dying to Know You, I do think it's a harder sell for a younger audience. There are going to be some YA readers who love it, some who don't mind and others that will hate it, but I for one am glad I read it. It's a beautiful story of friendship bridging the generation and education gap.
    • 5/5
      First the story. The story line is compelling and the writing is subtly beautiful. At first you just want to know, what is so great about this Fiorella that makes this plumber Karl, who obviously has a lot inside of him, seek out her favorite author and ask for his help. And the author agrees. On condition. Karl is a hard character to get to know, to both the author and to us. He doesn't like to give anything away, only what is asked for, but Fiorella has a huge list of questions she wants him to write in letters to him. She is basically demanding that he reveal himself to her in letters, love letters, so that she knows all about him. Karl is a quiet man, only 18, but already has a trade and we learn more about him in the silences than we do in the conversations he has with the author.The story is told through the author's point of view and his observations may or may not bias us towards certain people. But he does give us a lot of insight into the other characters in the novel and himself. He is clever in seeking the answers to the questions Fiorella has asked and good at writing the letters in a way that it sounds like Karl would have written them. The pace is kind of slow, but this wouldn't be a story you could rush. It's like the unfolding of a map as Karl, with the help of the author, Fiorella, his mother and others slowly learns who he is and isn't. The author and Karl have much in common, the loss of someone dear to them, depression, doubts about who they are and what they are doing in life. But the author has the luxury of experience, so he has answers. But he doesn't want to feed them to Karl, he wants Karl to discover them on his own, learn from his mistakes. Whenever the author starts in on something about himself, he writes, "but that has nothing to do with Karl's story," and leaves off anything about himself. So we don't know too much about the author and yet we do by knowing Karl. It's not an exciting story, but a slow enjoyable story about Karl discovering himself. It gave me pause to think many times and I smiled many times as I read. I love the relationships Karl formed with the author and the one he had with his mother and his boss, who had been his father's best friend. I absolutely hated Fiorella! She was not deserving of Karl and even though we don't see much of her, we read about her a lot and she's just shallow and cruel. The fact that she demands these letters alone was a sure sign that I wouldn't like her.The ending is so unexpected and warranted that I was sorry it was over. But I was left with a feeling of peace and contentment, that it was the right way to end it. I realized that it was the way I felt throughout the novel. Peaceful and assured. I felt like the author, in the story, was guiding everything toward this particular ending and that I had just been along for the ride.Just a note-When I say author, I mean the person narrating the story. I don't remember ever getting his name and as I thumbed through, his name wasn't ever revealed. So, the author could have been Aiden Chambers or it could have been a character in the novel. There is a reference to how hard it is to publicize books after you've written them, that writing them is the easy part. It felt like Aiden Chambers was speaking directly to us, his audience. It was very cleverly written as if it all happened to Aiden Chambers himself.There is talk of suicide and sex in this novel so use your discretion.
    • 5/5
      This book is awesome. It's one of those books that it doesn't describe everything around the main characters. I'm glad it doesn't... it would take away from the story. Even how it starts off is simple and quick. A man and a young man speaking. At the very beginning you find yourself curious.The deeper in you go the more intrigued you get. I don't want to type any more it would just give away a good story. Definitely a worth while read.
    • 4/5
      A nice story about recognizing yourself in another. The story is told by an older gentleman and an author (whose name we never learn) and Karl an young love-sick man. Karl is dyslexic and wants the author to write letters to his girlfriend, Cyrano de Bergerac style. I thought the book would focus on the doomed love affair but infact, focused on karl finding his way and greiving the loss of his father.
    • 5/5
      I just love Aidan Chambers. He continues to amaze me with his thoughtful characterizations, authentic dialogue, and refreshingly philosophical approach to life. This story went places I didn't expect, and I really appreciated that.In this story, physical and shy Karl is wild about literary Fiorella who demands he writes her letters about his innermost feelings. Feeling trapped but wanting to please her, Karl begs one of her favorite authors to help. An older gentleman, the author feels compelled to agree to Karl's request. Its from his perspective that the reader learns about Karl, Fiorella, and the author himself. I love that a book written for the YA audience is told from the perspective of an elderly man. Thank you, Aidan Chambers, for not only showing teenagers themselves but allowing them to see themselves through wiser eyes. Recommended especially for fans of John Green.
    • 4/5
      You expect different from Aidan Chambers and Dying to Know You fits the bill. Karl’s girlfriend, Fiorella, has given him a list of questions he must answer in writing so she can get to know him better. But he’s not a writer. So Karl enlists the aid of one of Fiorella’s favorite authors to ‘wordsmith’ his responses into ‘good, grammatically correct English’. Is it subterfuge? While the concept of ghostwriters in literature is not new, Chambers puts a new spin on it. Karl is young, while the writer is in his 70s. Their life experiences are dramatically different. Their views on life and love are different. You’ll immediately like Karl and his compatriot and take an active interest in their relationship. Each man brings to the table something needed by the other and, in the process, alters the other’s life. Dying to Know You is a quick and rewarding Young Adult read.