This review is more of me as a reader trying to sort out my thoughts than a summery and "read this!" or "don't read this!" argument. So.Anwell met Finnigan and he scratches his name backwards on the fence. Makes boyhood pact "you be good, or the angel, aka Gabriel, I'll be the bad, Finnigan." Oh no! Finnigan is an arsonist! He sets alight valuable items of those who have wronged (usually by bullying) Anwell/Gabrial. Why is he bullied? He accidently killed his older handicapped brother Vernon. His parents are "kooks", so he's an outcast. Note on parents. They are abusive bastards. Mother is always "ill" and "why do you do this to me Anwell?" and dad is overbearing control freak. None of the reviews I've read mentioned the possibility that Vernon is Finnigan in the Anwell's mind, which I find strange because it was strongly hinted at. In his room, Anwell sees Vernon scratching his name backwards on the window. Other notes: Anwell/Gabriel kill parents with hatchet? Finnigan kill policeman Eli (something-or-other) with a wooden stake in his sleep? "You betrayed Anwell. He was your only friend for a while. Did you forget that? Do you even know what his father would've done to him if he knew there was a traitor in the house? Surrender: Finnigan- Surrender was always mine. Anwell- I could never bear to chain him up despite his wild side... Finnigan (after Anwell hints at chaining Surrender up)- You are your father’s son. Ouch. Surrender is too wild, killing livestock and whatever. Father is going to kill him. Anwell unchains him and runs into the woods, away. Gives Surrender to Finnigan. Surrender is Finnigan's Achilles Heel. "You know the price of giving him to me." What does this mean? Father makes Anwell shoot Surrender. Implies that Anwell unchained Surrender and ran off into the woods to psychologically "spiritually" give him to Wild and free Finnigan. The dog he is to shoot now is only a shell. He gets punished by parents for running off? He slices them open with hatchet? Committed to mental institution from there? Says "I don’t' want my parents to visit."... so...Anwell: Guilt and loneliness manifests itself into evil alter-ego Finnigan (the wild-child resulting from his oppressive bullied existence by parents and all others) who was actually Vernon in disguise (the guilt part). There's a thought. Fringe Brilliance: Anwell=Angel... sound symbolic? Like dog’s name Surrender also symbolic. For surrendering blah blah obvious.Evangeline: Anwell's major crush. Good side Gabriel- Finally a good thing in my life. It is a secret from parents, I'm edgy and nervous as usual, but this is a good, untainted thing in my life. Bad side Finnigan- She's using you. She laughs at you behind your back. Why is your friendship such a secret? Not even a relationship. A pet-like "friendship". You will get your heart stomped on. Leave her. "Gabriel" resists and openly disagrees with his bad side for once Which explains why Anwell freaked out and went to her house. "Evangeline you're in trouble, HE knows about you. HE's going to come after you... to kill you!" Doorbell rings, it's Anwell's MOM, and Anwell is actually relieved. Epiphany- I'm more afraid of Finnigan than my bastard mother! Which means Finnigan is very bad and dangerous. So I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill Finnigan before he can hurt the one semi-happy thing in my poor pathetic life. Results in self-inflicted illness and him dying.Sarah- What? Who is she? Loving aunt? Just a caretaker. A nurse who cares about Anwell. Why? Never looked into. Anwell is described as struggling against his bonds- mental asylum. Finnigan visits again after an entire year passes. "Gabriel" calls him out as a bastard who has always had control over (Anwell's) life, and Finnigan reacts by destroying the room. Sarah says once "remember the last time I loosened your bonds?" which implies that Anwell/Finnigan did it himself in a psychological skitzo battle. How is this possible when "Gabriel" is too weak to blink his eyes? Sarah calls Anwell Gabriel- she knows his good alter ego? Nurse isn't Aunt Sarah. Nurse is a nurse, turned into aunt by Anwell's mind. They found the bones in the woods. You know what that means. Blame the policeman. Don't tell them about me and you. WHAT IS THIS??? WHO'S BONES? Symbolic for they can maybe see that it's you?The End: Vernon visits Anwell in the institution where he is. Cold, small like a refrigerator Anwell? No forgiveness. The demon that has plagued Anwell since the moment that the event happened, 13 years ago. He drags Anwell away, to death, presumably, dragging him to hell. Anwell wrenches away, unfurls angel wings (how symbolic) and soars skywards. Represents his death, finally, his sacrificial death that kills Finnigan is redemption. He can finally go to a better place.
http://setinmotion1.wordpress.com/201...Sonya Hartnett is an award-winning Australian novelist who creates stories that look innocent on the outskirts, but always seem to reveal a deeper meaning. In the same way that Australian horror movies always seem to be set in the outback or in a country town, population 1000, Hartnett’s novels seem always to be a tad sinister, with a placid, country town as its backdrop.Surrender follows the life of Anwell, seven, a lonely boy who lives in a prestigious but cold family; his mother is frequently sick and distant, his father is unsympathetic and cruel. After a horrifying incident two years previously, Anwell has been kept on a very tight leash – he has no friends, he isn’t allowed to leave his yard, and all the children at school bully him for being part of an odd, elitist family.One day Anwell makes friend with Finnigan, a rogue boy who appears to run wild in the bush lands surrounding the small country town. One day he promises Anwell to ‘do only good’ and go by the name of Gabriel, while he will make sure to do only bad.After the town is ravished by fires caused by an arsonist, Anwell soon learns how volatile and unstable Finnigan truly is. And when things at home go from bad to worse with the inclusion of an errant family dog, Surrender, Anwell learns that loneliness and despair can lead to terrible consequences.If you’ve ever seen or read Fight Club, aspects of this plot may sound familiar to you: Finnigan is the alter-ego of Anwell. Anwell is made up of two personalities: Gabriel, who wants badly to please his strict parents, and Finnigan, a boy who has been so scarred by his upbringing, he wants to ravage and destroy the town that has led to his misery.Surrender is set in present day – Anwell is slowly dying of a terrible disease – but it largely relies on flashbacks from when Anwell first meets Gabriel. Hartnett clearly knew what she was doing – this way of telling the story only heightens the suspense and the growing belief that something terrible has happened and it’s soon to be revealed.When I was reading this book, a man from the writers festival (where I’m currently volunteering – yay for books!) commented on it that it almost has a horror feel about it, and I completely agree. At first, Surrender simply comes across as a novel about an unhappy boy in a country town, having to deal with everyone knowing your entire family’s business (coming from a country town myself, I can relate). Yet as the plot unfolds, it becomes more apparent that there is something deeply wrong with Anwell, and that while we’re seeing things from his perspective, it’s clear that what we’re being shown isn’t the reality.The other outstanding part of Surrender is how well Hartnett depicts what can happen when someone is lonely and completely deprived of love. Not only does Anwell have to deal with the grief and guilt of something he did when he was only five, but he is surrounded by family members, people who are meant to care for him, who are trying desperately to distance themselves from him, largely because of the shame they feel towards themselves.Sonya Hartnett’s Surrender isn’t light reading by any stretch of the imagination, in fact, it disturbed me so much that the next time I want to the bookstore I struggled to find anything to read, desperate to make sure I picked something up that didn’t involve death, despair or derailment. (For the record, the next book I chose ended up having all three.) But it is also an engrossing read that reveals, piece by piece, the extraordinary depth of the characters that Hartnett has created. Will it give you nightmares? Perhaps. But like all good thrillers, you’ll enjoy the ride right until the last page.
What do You think about Surrender (2007)?
This is a mysterious story that had me scratching my head in spots and peeking out from behind my hands in horror in others. Anwell is a young boy growing up in a small town, Mulyan. His parents are regarded as being the ‘kooks’ of the town, and as a result, he doesn’t have any friends. His parents are in fact more than kooks—they are nasty, cold and negligent parents, but more about that later.The story opens with Gabriel, at the age of 20, dying. He reflects on what led him to his current situ
—Emma
Surrender is a work of Fantasy/Science Fiction. This book received the Michael Printz Award in 2007. It is designed for the A: Advanced readers (ages 14 to adult).Surrender was about two young boys named Finnigan and Gabriel who are life-long friends. As Gabriel reflects on his life, he shares the struggles of he and Finnigan. I rated the book with 4 stars. I enjoyed the book because each chapter made me want to continue on to see what was to happen next. At the same time it seemed to me that the book was above the age of a 14-year old. The word choice was very mature and seemed that young readers would have some difficulty understanding what the story was about. I did, however, enjoy reading the book because the characters and the plot were interesting. The way the chapters highlighted Finnigan and Gabriel and how the story bounced back and forth made the reader want to know how the story was going to connect in the end. If I had to use this story in a class, I would bring up the themes that seemed to occur in the story. For example, peer pressure. The fact that Gabriel was friends with Finningan when he really didn't want to.
—Errin Tucker
“I am dying: it's a beautiful word. Like the long slow sigh of the cello: dying. But the sound of it is the only beautiful thing about it.” One of the best book everyone should read.Finished it in a day. And liked it. And when it sink into you that what really happened, it will be like oh !! It was happening and i did not see it .Any thing i say about the book will be a spoiler.So less story and more about writing.And writing is just wow. Different metaphors. Poetic lines. Relate-able thoughts. And dashing dialogues and all.“I am Gabriel, the messenger, the teller of astonishing truths.” “Time crawled past on leaden hands and knees.” “Every atom in me feels composed of lead. This is what dying is: a pull to the ground.” And there is two point of view. One chapter from Gabriel a.k.a Anwell. Then the next one from Finnigan a.k.a (view spoiler)[ himself. dark side of Anwell (hide spoiler)]
—Faizan
