I originally was going to make a much more in depth post today, but the day just seemed to get away from me. Between work and other things, I didn’t quite have the time to do research for a more elaborate post, so we’re going to go with a list of quotes from one of my favorite authors!
Patrick Ness didn’t float onto my radar until I was in graduate school; I had maybe heard mentions of him here and there, but nothing substantial. Then two things happened my second year: A Monster Calls and Chaos Walking. I read Chaos Walking in the summer between the two years in my graduate program, as research for my thesis (and it ended up being a substantial portion of my thesis). That year, we also passed around A Monster Calls at the Writing Center; a beautifully crafted graphic novel that will absolutely pull at all your emotional heartstrings.
Quite honestly, one of the things I love most about Patrick Ness is that none of his books can really be classified in one genre. He just writes the story that he feels like writing (and said so when I saw him speak last fall (eeeeep)). This leads to some breathtaking quotes that will make you want to go and pick up all his books (and pre-order the one coming out this fall!)
1. “Hope may be the thing that pulls you forward, may be the thing that keeps you going, but that it’s dangerous, that it’s painful and risky, that it’s making a dare in the world and when has the world ever let us win on a dare?” —The Knife of Never Letting Go
2. “A book…it’s a world all on its own too. A world made of words, where you live for a while.” —More Than This
3. “Stories are wild creatures, the monster said. When you let them loose, who knows what havoc they might wreak?” — A Monster Calls
4. “And there. The power of a word. That’s where it all changes.” —Release
5. “People see stories everywhere….We take random events and we put them together in a pattern so can comfort ourselves with a story, no matter how much it obviously isn’t true…We have to lie to ourselves to live. Otherwise we’d go crazy.” —More Than This
There are two More Than This quotes, but that’s okay, because that might be my favorite, if I had to pick a favorite. Seriously, go pick up a Patrick Ness book. You won’t be disappointed.