The Knife of Never Letting Go
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Manchee's Death
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Ben
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Dec 29, 2011 10:22AM

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But the rest of the trilogy is awesome! you should definitely check it out ;)



I definitely shed a tear or two, but I agree with Laman that Todd couldn't stop Manchee. He tried.
Question, though: What do you think Ness' motive for killing Manchee was? Did it serve some purpose to the novel other than to add emotion, did he not want Manchee to get in the way for the rest of the trilogy, was it random? Any speculation?
Question, though: What do you think Ness' motive for killing Manchee was? Did it serve some purpose to the novel other than to add emotion, did he not want Manchee to get in the way for the rest of the trilogy, was it random? Any speculation?

Question, though: What do you think Ness' motive for killing Manchee was? Did it serve some purpo..."
I think there was no use for Manchee in the rest of the books, he couldn't have survived everything that came on later. Plus, Ness added a lot of emotion by killing him, so that served to make people never forget the book.


I agree. It also killed the series for me. I thought it was an unnecessary and cruel - to both reader and characters. I even gave the book away, and havn't had any desire to read any more. Sad because I loved it up until then.



Manchee's death also shows how ruthless Aaron is - that unyielding hatred and need to always get his own way.


Maybe there was no other way, and it is a tragic thing that Manchee unfortunately died but it builds up the story to a whole new level.

^^ I agree









i totally agree and thats what i was trying to say in my commment but i couldnt get it across very well

i think your wrong yeh it was sad but its only a dog and its only a book its not real!

^^ I agree"
me too

no your not i feel totaly the same way

#1 be killed and one of the most important people in the world to you get likked too or have done goodness knows what done to them however your dog goes free
#2 let your dog die and get viola back and you servive
#3 you and your dog die and viola lives with knowone to defender her and to be with her to help her leaving her all on her own .
i'd go for #2 no question . yes it would be tough to leave your dog behind but thats life we all have to make tough decisions. but lets face it a human over a dog ? its just a dog .

Ok, I know we are all upset, and it's a tragic thing that manchee died, and its really upsetting but you're seriously going to let manchee death prevent you from reading the book. I avoided the book for a two days but continued reading because there always more to the story...and leaving the book...is something i don't regret.
thank you


Manchee's death is still the one thing that stands out in the trilogy for me - the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions 'The Knife...'. I was in a waiting room when I read it, and it was excruciating keeping those tears down!

Does anyone know how to stop getting posts about To-Read books? Because this was like a big spoiler:/ Very very sad now:-(
Please reply.
Please reply.


P.S. If you like loyal dog characters then read Califia's Daughters - best dog heros ever!

Really? Dogs that kids love die every day in real life. Maybe not in such a way, but die they do. Nothing surreal about it. Dark, maybe...but kids old enough to be reading this know that there is darkness out there. Some more readily than adults.
For myself, yep, I cried when Manchee died. To me, the reasons that Ness might have written it like this is one of the first real challenges that Todd has navigating the slippery slope of hurting people sometimes when you're trying to do things that are (greater) good. It's a theme of the books...maybe THE theme.

But I do feel a need to say that I don't think authors are upping the darkness a bit. It's always been there, sometimes very dark. Reading about the death of Ginger in Black Beauty was fairly traumatic, and given the age on that book...well it's always been there.
I work in the publishing industry and so this discussion has gone around quite a bit. There are certain things you 'can' and 'can't' do (and yes these rules get broken all the time). Death of an adult - in books it happens all the time. Death of a child - harsher. Almost never shown, and tricky when it does happen. But almost any editor will tell you "Don't kill a dog as that will turn a reader against you quicker than anything."
So here's the question to consider. What was the author trying to tell you? What made it so important that it was worth breaking the rules? Was this a straight shot to manipulation of your emotions as a reader or was there a deeper purpose to this? I think Dystopian might have had it right here. I'd like to hear what everyone else thinks.
OMG! I cried more than Marley and Me! I am a dog person. I get attached to dogs so easily and I truly thought Manchee was goin to survive with Todd to the end! I wish he didn't die - it was so sad. I cried pretty much for the rest of the book I was so sad. He was so young and sweet and innocent and beautiful and he always forgave Todd for yelling at him all the time and he was so protective and strong! I actually want to re-wright that part and make the boat move forward and they get to Manchee! I miss him :(


"
...A boy asked the question that every Nessochist was dying to ask ever since that chapter… you know… you know the one.
*deep breath*
Why did you kill Manchee?
You could have heard a pin drop.
I swear it.
But I remember exactly what Patrick Ness said so I’m going to use “quotation marks”.
“Every dog wants to be a hero” and “He would’ve wanted to go that way saving Todd”.
Well, good for Manchee. But what about us?! We didn’t want him to go that way!
It was lovely to hear him say that because Manchee is a hero. But it still doesn’t repair the hole left in my soul.
Also, he said that he knew it was going to happen before he wrote the book.
But it didn’t make it less sad for him to write.
"

I couldn't hate Todd for leaving Manchee. It was a heartbreaking choice, one he had to make within seconds. I can't really fault him for deciding as he did.

it was not easy for either one of them but it had to be done! This is one of my most favourite trilogies. I have had a few customers that have taken a bit of coaxing to continue but none have been disappointed!! Read on, you will not regret it.


It was one nail in the coffin for me. Not only did it stop me from reading any further in the trilogy, I actively recommend against it. Other reasons include Aaron's horror-movie-like ability to survive, and the ending of the first, where all the earlier sacrifices appear to be for nothing.
This book caused me to seriously question what "juvenile" fiction includes. If this was a movie, it wouldn't be PG.
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