A Monster Calls

A Monster Calls
First edition cover
Author Patrick Ness
Illustrator Jim Kay
Cover artist Jim Kay
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Genre Adult's fantasy novel
Publisher Walker Books
Publication date
 5 May 2011[1]
Media type Print (hardcover)
Pages 214 pp (first edition)
ISBN 978-1-4063-1152-5
OCLC 754586643
LC Class PZ7.N43843 Mok 2011[2]

A Monster Calls is a low fantasy novel written for children by Patrick Ness, from an original idea by Siobhan Dowd, illustrated by Jim Kay and published by Walker in 2011.[1] Set in present-day England, it features a boy who struggles to cope with the consequences about his mother's illness. He is repeatedly visited in the middle of the night by a monster who tells stories. Dowd was terminally ill with cancer herself when she started the story and died before she could write it.[3]

Ness and Kay won the Carnegie Medal and the Greenaway Medal in 2012, the "year's best" children's literary awards by the British librarians (CILIP). A Monster Calls is the only book whose author and illustrator, whether two persons or one, have won both Medals.[4][5][6][7]

The novel was adapted into the 2016 film of the same name.

Origin

Siobhan Dowd conceived the novel while she had cancer. She discussed it and contracted to write it with editor Denise Johnstone-Burt at Walker Books, who also worked with Patrick Ness. After Dowd's death in August 2007, Walker arranged for Ness to write the story. Later, Walker and Ness arranged for Jim Kay to illustrate it, but Ness and Kay did not meet until after it was published in May 2011.[3][7]

After winning the Carnegie, Ness discussed the writing with The Guardian newspaper:[3]

I wouldn't have taken it on if I didn't have complete freedom to go wherever I needed to go with it. If I'd felt hampered at all – again, even for very good reasons – then that harms the story, I think. And I did this not for egomaniacal reasons, that my decisions were somehow automatically right or some such nonsense, but because I know that this is what Siobhan would have done. She would have set it free, let it grow and change, and so I wasn't trying to guess what she might have written, I was merely following the same process she would have followed, which is a different thing.
...
I always say it felt like a really private conversation between me and her, and that mostly it was me saying, "Just look what we're getting away with."

Kay was selected based on illustrating one scene, solicited by art director Ben Norland:[3]

Due to other commitments I had a weekend to produce an image, and I very hastily created the scene of the Monster leaning against the house. It was a technique I hadn't tried before, dictated to some degree by the time constraints, which in hindsight may have helped.
...
I imagine the story as a moving film or piece of theatre, and I start building the props and setting the scenery around the characters. I love the atmosphere, and I guess that's what I wanted to contribute. If I'd been left alone I would have avoided all of the key scenes, I was nervous about dealing with them, but Ben was fantastic in giving the book structure and, thankfully, insisting that I should tackle the explosive, energetic elements of the book.

Plot

Thirteen-year-old Conor O'Malley awakens from the same nightmare he has been experiencing for the past few months, "the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming".

At seven minutes after midnight ("12:07"), a voice calls to him from outside his bedroom window, which overlooks an old church and its graveyard sheltered by a yew tree. Walking to the window, Conor meets the monster who called, a towering mass of branches and leaves formed in a human shape from the yew tree. The monster is intrigued that Conor is not afraid of it and insists that Conor summoned it. The monster claims to be a version of the green man and warns that it will tell Conor three true stories, after which Conor must tell a story of his own, and if it is not true, the monster will eat him.

The monster continues to meet Conor, almost always at 12:07 am or pm, to tell its stories, which all involve other occasions the monster was summoned.

Between its tales, which aim to demonstrate the complications inherent in humans, it is revealed that Conor's mother is undergoing chemotherapy and has been afflicted with terminal cancer for the past year. Conor is isolated and alone. His flaky father uses his new family in the USA as an excuse to be detached and unsupportive. His distant relationship with his pushy and cold grandmother provides no comfort either. Conor is a victim of bullying at school and he has distanced himself from all social contact other than that of the monster. As the story progresses, his mother's condition worsens and Conor's encounters with the monster have escalating consequences. The story also mentions an alleged "Pit Monster" and "Sky Monster".

At the end of the book we find out why the monster has been coming and about the nightmare Conor is so afraid of, which is him holding onto his mother’s arms gripping her tightly as she’s about the to fall off a cliff and Conor loosens his grip, let’s his mother fall purposely, though he could have held on to her longer. The monster came, for Conor to confess the truth to his mother about how he wanted her to die so she didn’t have to suffer and he wouldn’t feel so isolated and to end all pain for them, and by doing so Conor could finally let his mother go.

And at 12:07, the time the monster usually came, Conor’s mother passed and so did all their pain.


The Four Stories

The first story

An old king who has lost his entire family, except a young grandson, remarries a beautiful young woman many claim to be a witch. He dies before the young prince has come of age, leaving the step-grandmother as regent. She rules well and fairly, but—not wanting to hand over the kingdom—plots to marry the prince and remain queen.
The prince, who has a lover, runs away with his chosen bride, planning to flee to the neighboring kingdom. There they will marry and wait out the time until he's of age to claim the throne. They stop and sleep under the yew tree (the monster), but in the morning, the young woman is dead, having been murdered, and the shocked young prince is covered in blood.
He reasons to the villagers that the queen must have killed his bride out of jealousy in order to keep her throne. Enraged, the commoners rally around the prince to storm the castle, and the monster follows. They capture the queen and condemn her to burn at the stake.
The monster arrives to snatch her from the fire and carry her away to a far-off land where she lives out the rest of her life.
While disagreeable and a witch, she was not the one who had killed the girl. The prince had murdered her under the yew tree in order to inspire his people to back him into overthrowing the queen.

This story also discusses the need for humans to lie to themselves, such as the prince who wholeheartedly believes that the queen is responsible for his fiance's death despite her being murdered by his hand, and their willingness to believe those lies for their own comfort and happiness.

The second story

A greedy, ill-tempered apothecary who follows the old traditions and beliefs constantly pesters a parson to allow him to cut down the yew tree in the church yard and use it for medicinal ingredients.
The apothecary becomes less and less popular and is nearly ruined, aided by the apothecary's own foul nature and the parson's active condemnation of him from the pulpit.
When a sickness sweeps the land and many die, the parson goes to the apothecary and asks him to save the lives of his two ill daughters after all other resources are exhausted.
When the apothecary asks why he should help a man who has turned people away from his skills and denied him the yew tree, his best source of healing ingredients, the parson begs. The parson promises to give him the yew tree and deliver the parishioners to him as patients. In response to the parson's promise to revoke his beliefs and give up everything if only his daughters are healed, the apothecary says that he cannot help the parson and the girls die.
The monster awakens from the yew tree to destroy the parson's house and raze it to the ground as punishment.
While the apothecary was a nasty, greedy man, he was a healer and would have saved many, including the girls, if the parson had given him the yew tree when first asked. The parson, however, was a man who lived off of belief, but had none of his own and changed beliefs as it suited him and convenience. His disbelief of the apothecary's skill caused many to die, even his children. The healing traditions followed by the apothecary require belief in order to work; without the parson's, the apothecary was unable to treat the two girls.

At the end of the story, Conor participates as the monster destroys the parson's house, to waken and discover that he has vandalized his grandmother's sitting room, shattering many valuable and beloved items beyond repair.

The third story

There was a man who was invisible because no one ever saw him. Tired of this, he summoned the monster to ensure no one forgot to see him again. The monster made them see, but there are harder things than being invisible.

As this story is told, Conor is briefly possessed by the monster and physically and violently assaults Harry, the school bully, throwing him across the dining hall, putting the boy in the hospital.

The fourth story

Conor must confront his nightmare to tell the fourth story or face being eaten.

His mother has been pulled from a cliff by a terrifying creature from the darkness below and Conor must hold on to her hand to save her from being dragged down by the creature. Eventually, his grip fails and the creature claims his mother.

Critical reception

A Monster Calls received widespread acclaim. Philip Pullman, author of the fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials, praised the novel as "compelling ... powerful and impressive", Similarly, New York Times critic Jessica Bruder wrote "this is one profoundly sad story" and called the novel "a potent piece of art," applauding Kay's illustrations.[8] Daniel Hahn from The Independent also praised A Monster Calls, saying that it was "brave and beautiful, full of compassion," and that "the result trembles with life."[9] Publisher's Weekly gave it a starred review and called it "a singular masterpiece."[10]

Awards

Ness and Kay won the Carnegie and Greenaway Medals for writing and illustration, recognising the year's best work published in the UK.[4][5] The double win alone is unprecedented in more than fifty years since the illustration award was established.[6][7] A Monster Calls also won the British Children's Book of the Year, voted by an "academy of 750 book industry experts";[11][12] the Red House Children's Book Award, overall, a national award voted by British children;[13][14] and the Kitschies Red Tentacle award for speculative fiction, best novel published in the UK.[15] In the U.S., the American Library Association magazine Booklist named it the "Top of the List" for 2011 youth fiction.

Daily newspapers including The Independent,[16] Chicago Sun-Times,[17] and The Wall Street Journal[18] named it to year-end "Best" lists.

Film adaptation

On 5 March 2014, Focus Features bought the film rights to the book and at the time committed $20 million in P&A (prints and advertising) to release the movie.[19] On 9 April 2014, it was announced that a film based on the book would be released by Focus Features on 14 October 2016.[20] The film was directed by Juan Antonio Bayona and written by the book's author Patrick Ness.[21] On 23 April 2014, Felicity Jones joined the film to play the boy's mother.[22] On 8 May, Liam Neeson joined the film to voice the Monster.[23] On 18 August, Sigourney Weaver joined to play the boy's grandmother.[24] On 19 August, Toby Kebbell also joined the film to play the boy's father.[25]

The film premiered on September 10, 2016 at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. It was released in Spain on October 7, 2016 and was released in the United States on January 5, 2017.

Stage production

On 24 October 2017, Patrick Ness announced via Instagram[26] that a stage adaptation was being made. Sally Cookson was later announced as the director. The play was previewed at the Bristol Old Vic on 7 July before having its first run at The Old Vic, as part of their 200th anniversary season, from 17 July.

References

  1. 1 2 "A Monster Calls / By Patrick Ness, Siobhan Dowd / Illustrated by Jim Kay". Walker Books. Retrieved 2012-07-29. This presentation by the publisher includes excerpts from book reviews. Archived 3 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ "A monster calls: a novel" (first U.S. edition). Library of Congress Catalog Record. Retrieved 2012-07-29.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Ness, Patrick and Jim Kay (14 June 2012). "How we made A Monster Calls: As their book wins the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway medals, writer Patrick Ness and illustrator Jim Kay explain how they worked together, without ever meeting, to unleash a monster hit". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  4. 1 2 Carnegie Winner 2012. Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners. CILIP. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  5. 1 2 Greenaway Winner 2012. Archived 23 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners. CILIP. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
  6. 1 2 "Releases for 2012 Awards" Archived 6 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine.. Press Desk. CILIP. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  7. 1 2 3 Prendergast, Lara (14 Jun 2012). "A Monster Calls". Lara Prendergast. The Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  8. ↑ Bruder, Jessica (14 October 2011). "It takes A Monster to Learn How To Grieve". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-11-05.
  9. ↑ Hahn, Daniel (10 May 2011). "A Monster Calls ...: Nightmarish Tale Goes Like A Dream". The Independent. Retrieved 2011-12-07.
  10. ↑ "Children's Review: A Monster Calls". Publisher's Weekly. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 2012-04-16.
  11. ↑ "Winners 2011". National Book Awards. nationalbookawards.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  12. ↑ Flood, Alison (4 November 2011). "Alan Hollinghurst puts Booker snub behind him with Galaxy triumph". Alison Flood. guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  13. ↑ "Past Winners". Red House Children's Book Award. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  14. ↑ Jones, Charlotte (18 February 2012). "Children vote A Monster Calls best book of 2012". Charlotte Jones. guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  15. ↑ "The Kitschies: The Red Tentacle" Archived 12 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine. (current year). The Kitschies. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  16. ↑ Tucker, Nicholas (23 December 2011). "Tall tales for tots or teens: The year's best books for young readers". The Independent. Retrieved 2011-12-30.
  17. ↑ "Our favourite books of 2011". Chicago Sun-Times. 25 December 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-30.
  18. ↑ Gurdon, Meghan Cox (17 December 2011). "Setting an Imagination Alight". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2011-12-31.
  19. ↑ Fleming, Mike. "Focus Features Makes $20 Million Deal For 'A Monster Calls' Movie". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2014-04-09.
  20. ↑ "Focus Features Sets A Monster Calls for October 14, 2016". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 2014-04-09.
  21. ↑ "Focus Dates 'A Monster Calls' For October 2016". Deadline.com. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2014-04-09.
  22. ↑ "Felicity Jones To Star In Juan Antonio Bayona's 'A Monster Calls'". deadline.com. 23 April 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  23. ↑ McClintock, Pamela (8 May 2014). "Cannes: Liam Neeson Joins 'A Monster Calls'". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  24. ↑ "Sigourney Weaver Joins High-Profile 'A Monster Calls'". hollywoodreporter.com.
  25. ↑ "'Fantastic Four' Actor Toby Kebbell in Talks to Join 'A Monster Calls'". variety.com.
  26. ↑ "A Monster Calls is coming to the West End". Instagram.com. 2017-10-24. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
Awards
Preceded by
Monsters of Men		 Carnegie Medal recipient
2012		 Succeeded by
Maggot Moon
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