Death wants to tell you a story. Okay, so maybe Death from Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief says it amuses him how humans identify him with skeletons and scythes—how in truth he looks just like us—but I really can’t help it! :P The skeleton keychain I have seems to want to tell a story. lol
A beautifully moving novel by Australian author Markus Zusak. We both loved the book, full of strong symbolism and wonderful language at every page. Something everyone should read. With so much insight and wonder on every page, we promise you it is a book you will never forget.
(Source: hopefullymedicine)
“I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her that she didn’t already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race—that rarely do I simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant….I am haunted by humans.”
-Death (The Book Thief by Markus Zusak)
Set in the backdrop of Nazi Germany,in 1940s,when Hitler started to waver with his preaching,when Germany ferociously crusaded against her loathsome frenemy to secure the icy domains of Soviet Russia,comes a hearty tale of a little girl amidst the shrapnel and devastation.
At an initial glance,one may perceive the story to resonate the heart wrecking wrath that lavished the Jews,however,it also depicts the suffering of below average German families,torn between morals and racial pride.
Another forte of this piece of literature is the potent narration,of death,cloaked in dismay of his job description,sans the scythe and the aura of a grim reaper.
“Even death has a heart”,he beseeches.
It is also an agglomerate of tiny stories,beginning with the simplest act of book thievery,planting in motion of the corresponding events to come, bridging over the incredulous power of words with agony of millions of families and finally,exhibiting the irrevocable love of a foster father and his daughter.
The author’s style of breathtaking descriptions using the most prosaic metaphors like coffee stains,cement gray is one to look out for,as he snatches away your breath. He also paints a lifelike picture on how death gently plucks soul of its occupied bodies,observing the hues around him,as a distraction of the oddest job he is employed for. Even the most sentimental lines,Zusak delivers it with a laid back slumber,as though he was talking about the weather.
To sum it up,this book is full of irony as death himself is haunted by humans.
I wrote this a few months ago, it’s inspired by one of the more heart shattering chapters of my favourite book.
The Book Thief’s goodbye
The accordion sounded silent
Papa’s silver eyes had dried to rust,
Mama’s mouth breathed no blaspheming;
Her lips lined white with dust
And the lemon haired boy,
Who painted himself black
He’d never again ask her for her lips,
They’d never race around the track
She said her goodbye to him
With a clashing of the teeth:
She placed her lips upon him
And he lay broken underneath.
She had the colours of the world
Waiting at her feet,
As her tears soaked through the pages
That belonged to Himmel Street.
