Noggin - John Corey Whaley

Published by Simon and Schuster UK Ltd: London, 2014.

This is a weird book that's been on my classroom library shelf for quite a while. The main character, Travis, had terminal cancer five years ago, and agreed to have his head cryogenically frozen, in the hope that in the future it would be possible to attach it to a donor body. Now, he has woken up, only the second patient to successfully have the procedure complete, to find that everyone in his world, including his parents, his best friend and his girlfriend, have lived five extra years of life.

Travis is sixteen, and the difference between a sixteen-year-old and a twenty-one-year-old is a much bigger difference than it would have been had Travis been an adult. Also, his girlfriend Cate is now engaged to someone else. The difference between a sixteen-year-old and a twenty-one-year-old is also small enough that it is conceivable that Cate and Kyle (his former best friend) would also still be keen to in-some-way have Travis back in their life.

Travis slots back into highschool, but is obsessed with continuing his relationship with Cate, no matter how unrealistic it may be. This obsession continues throughout the novel, with Travis at one point explaining to Cate that: "You all got five years that I didn't get. Stop expecting me to be caught up to you. All I did was wake up. That's it." (page 337).

It's an odd book. It doesn't have much in the way of plot, but it doesn't try to. The 'plot' is that Travis is trying to adjust to life five years in the future, with people who have already grieved him and moved on. Plot-points include seeing what has happened in his parents' relationship, confronting Kyle about his sexuality (that Kyle had confessed to Travis but still hides five years later), discussing life with the one other head-transplant survivor, and - of course - negotiating his new relationship with Cate. All of this is interesting, and seems to fit how someone could act if such an event took place. 

The event itself also gave me a slightly unsettled feeling throughout the book. It's such an odd procedure. Kinda creepy. Trying to put myself in Travis' shoes is an uncomfortable prospect, and the amount which some people would openly attack such an operation is also considered.

I don't really know what to say about this one.

Interesting. Weird. A slice-of-life in a very unusual life that was sliced short.

Probably won't revisit it.

Completed 18 October 2024.

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