Skellig Response

I was very torn about this book. I kept having this conflict as to whether I liked it or not. I think there are two factors: I had difficulty suspending belief and I kept waiting for something to happen. Everything just happened so calmly and peacefully that I expected some form of tense conflict whenever I turned the page. I was wrong.

The question I ask myself, then, is was it a good book? Yes. It was. It was a really good book. But, for some reason, I had difficulty getting into it. I had a problem turning the pages and wanting to know what came next. To me, it felt like a story that passively unfolded and then tied itself up in a nice bow. There is no more supernatural left to explain at the end of the book; yes, Skellig is still a mystery, but Michael and Mina just accept he is a positive mystery and move on with their lives.

I think I also did not love the book because I read it as a text with religious undertones. Personally, whenever I interact with a text (film, TV show, book, etc.) with a mysterious, helpful being that might be an angel (but also might not be), I always am a little put-off. I associate these texts with cheesiness (even though Skellig was not cheesy) because they usually have the ‘I am a human and I can’t do anything for myself; why have I been trying all these years?’ motif to them. Skellig, thank goodness, did not have this as all the confirmed humans in the story really didn’t need Skellig, but he did provide support. Just because Skellig had the ‘Is he an angel or not?’ question to it, made me automatically put it in the same category. I suppose it’s my loss for being inflexible while reading it. It’s my loss because, even though I know it is a beautiful and well-written story, I just could not enjoy it on a personal level.

When I look at Skellig critically, I have many more positive things to say about it because I can fortunately take myself and my opinions out of it. I can see why Skellig won the Printz award; it is so unlike any story I have read, especially a story meant to be read by a younger crowd. I want to compare this story to Out of the Dust, because it is one of the very few novels where I can tell each of the words were carefully chosen. David Almond paid great attention to the aesthetics of the words. He uses simple vocabulary and sentence structure, but he arranges the words in such a beautiful way. The description on the back said it’s told in lyrical prose; I’m not sure I would ever be able to identify it as that, but I can see some of the techniques that give this book both a distinction (Printz award) and a category of lyrical prose.

For example, Almond uses alliteration (“I held my hand to my heart.” on page 141; honestly, though, you can open up to any page and find an example) and lyricism (“We sat on the front wall waiting for Dad’s car to turn into the street”). The whole book sounded like and felt like a song.

Beyond the sound of the book, this book had a very adult feeling that I believe young adults would enjoy. This book’s main character was only ten, but the book dealt with adult themes (life, death, humanity, nature) and general things young people do not have much experience with, such as William Blake, ornithology, and decay.

Though, this brings up the question, is it over their heads? Perhaps, at first, but I do believe if students have initiative to do some research about some of the unknowns in the book, or if adults answer questions for students, they will get a lot out of this book. They will get more out of this book than I did. I hope so, because it is a beautiful book and I hope more people like it more than I did.