Name: Dying to Know You
ISBN: 9781849416757

Aidan Chambers

Karl, aged seventeen, is hopelessly in love. But the object of his affections, Firella, demands proof, and poses him a series of questions regarding his attitude to the many sides of love. But Karl is dyslexic, and convinced that if Firella finds out, she will think he is stupid, and unworthy of her, and leave him. So Karl asks a local writer to help him construct his replies - and an unlikely, but extremely touching, friendship develops between the two men. They both come to learn a great deal about about life from a very different perspective, and when an act of violence shatters their calm, they find their respective appraisal of life shifting in profound ways.

Dying to Know You

In Dying to Know You, award-winning author Aidan Chambers has created an indelible portrait of a young man discovering his own voice in the world, and has constructed a love story that is as much about the mind as it is the heart. In this contemporary love story, a teenage boy named Karl enlists a famous writer to help him impress his girlfriend, Fiorella. She has asked him to write her a letter in which he reveals his true self. But Karl isn't convinced he's good enough with words, so he tracks down Fiorella's favorite author and begs him to take up the task. The writer reluctantly assents, on the condition that Karl agree to a series of interviews, so that the letter will be based on an authentic portrait of Karl. The letter, though effective, has unexpected consequences for Karl, Fiorella, and the writer.

Melissa Palmer

Book #46 Read in 2013
Dying to Know You by Aidan Chambers (YA)

Karl asks a local writer to help him communicate with his girlfriend, who has ordered him to answer her sheet of questions in grammatically correct writing. Karl has dyslexia and feels unsure about his writing and since the writer is one of his girlfriend's favorite authors, he thought that this may be a better way of answering her questions. The two men begin a friendship and begin to help and learn from each other. Both find in the other something that will fill the gap that has been in their lives.

This was a good, quick read. I enjoyed the thoughts of writing and books but I really love the two main characters and the relationship they developed. I enjoyed this book.

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Hannah Yang

The first few phrases immediately drew me in. Dying to Know You is an expertly written novel that makes you wish it didn’t end. As you read it, you ponder the wise questions- why are we ourselves? and think about our life. The feeling and passion that the atmosphere of the book gives off is mesmerizing. In other words, once I picked up this book I simply could not put it down.

When you read the blurb, you immediately think: this is going to be a love story about how a guy called Karl is trying to win the pretty girl, Fiorella’s heart. But really, it has little to do with Fiorella. The story is a bonding of a famous author and a dyslexic boy, and how Karl discovers himself. Whether it’s plumbing or sculpting, fishing or playing rugby, Karl’s life will change forever in this heartwarming tale.

I like how wise the book is in such a subtle way. I burst into a round of applause with the way the author makes the story so simple and captivating at the same time. The whole concept of Fiorella’s questions makes me think the author is trying to ask about the purpose of life - asking about your opinion on life, pondering about the things more abstract people wonder. It makes me wonder about the world, wonder if what is, is- as Karl says. What is the true meaning of love? What makes people like things? What is art really all about? 

The humorous parts of the story are worded carefully. The people who take the time to analyze what the author is saying will get the funny bits, and others will probably think the book is like a lecture. I love the constant repetition of how the author ‘consults a bush’, because it makes me laugh.

Dying to Know You is jaw-dropping. It's like a voice that calls to those who are lost. The stunning way Aidan Chambers is able to make you feel like you are watching every moment, how you feel so in-touch and close to the characters. I would highly recommend this book to any person who wants to read something that will make you smile.

Katie Day

An interesting read for me after just finishing Verlyn Klinkenborg's book on small perfect sentences that mean what you say - as this book starts out with a young adult struggling (through his dyslexia) to express himself in written words. The old-young connection also reminds me of Barry Jonsberg's Being Here -- though different circumstances.

Georgia Carr

Karl, aged seventeen, is in love. His girlfriend, Fiorella, wants him to write his answers to a list of questions, as she is a writer, however Karl is dyslexic and writing is near impossible for him. Fearing that she may break-up with him if she finds out, he enlists the help of her favourite author. Things very much do not go as planned. This book is told from the viewpoint of the elderly author, and moves at a steady pace. Whilst the major events in the story could be counted on one hand, the overall impact and message is completely unimaginable. The growth of the characters and their relationships with one another makes this book a must-read for everyone.

Elad Schulman

Dying to Know You by Aidan Chambers is a very good realistic fiction novel. It's pretty fast-paced, and written very well. For anyone that is looking for a good short, realistic fiction read. Written in the perspective of an old-aged author, the book follows the story of Karl, who is dyslexic, who comes to the author in help of writing why he loves his girlfriend, Fiorella.

Caitlin Berger

I hate leaving negative reviews as I know how much work goes into writing books. However sometimes I read a book and I can't help but wonder why the author wrote it the way they did.
This book started out very promising and slowly became, I'm sorry to say, boring and extremely uneventful. It's one of those books where you don't know why these peoples stories needed to be told, in the sense that there was barely anything remotely interesting to hang on to. It was full of a lot of psychological deconstructing which was quite dry, and the main character spoke like he lived a hundred years ago! Many many strange uses of words and common phrases, as if the author was out of touch with how people speak nowadays, even old people! 
In addition, every time there was a quasi-cliffhanger, it was resolved straight away. I didn't need to question what was going to happen next for more than about 30 seconds. You slowly realize the main character is literally just detailing events that have taken place recently and I must admit it was not an effective literary technique. I'm really not trying to be mean or blindly bash this book but honestly, there was nothing worthy to hang on to and be excited about. It was strange and one-dimensional and also had moments of narrow minded sexism with the young male character's mother (i.e. Saying how women just naturally have a mother instinct and also portraying the mother in an over-the-top one-dimensional way, where all she is is someone who makes food and worries about other people). 
All in all this book was just ... not in the same league as most any other YA novels out there.

Dying to Know You

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