The Book Thief

I am reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.   It is about a young girl, Liesel Meminger, who is in a war stricken Germany, with Hilter as a leader.  She is the foster daughter of the Hubermanns, Rosa and Hans, whose parenting styles differ extremely.  Rosa believes in punishment in the degree of yelling and hitting, usually with wooden spoons, Hans likes to nurture Liesel by giving her love and might yell a little, but only if it is helping her grow.  I think that Ruth, from The Color of Water is a good mix of these two parenting styles.  It mentions that sometimes she gives them slappings or hits them with a belt, but she is also very loving towards them. 

This book is extremely interesting.  At first I didn’t think that I would enjoy it but it talks more about Liesel than what is happening during the time period. I like that the narrator tells us what the characters feel but also his opinions, and I like that the story jumps a little because it’s realistic, no one ever gets through a whole story without being interrupted or changes to a different story or gives background about their story.  I also like the narrator because his balance of humor and tragedy Is good.  

Blog Post #9

This week, I got The Book Thief  by Markus Zusak from the book swap.  I have read about 50 pages so far.  Let me just say that I am loving it.  Usually, I am not one to like third person type books, but this has kind of a mixed first and third person point of view which I think is very interesting.  I think that having the book all from third person would have been boring, and all from first person would have been too depressing.  I think that the narrator, a weird soul carrying after death person, has a perfect combination of telling you the facts, and having sympathy for poor Liesel.  I also enjoyed that in the prologue the narrator referred to the three different events with colors, and that the colors were different then what I would have assumed them to be.  I also loved that he put the different colors together to give the reader a great idea of the setting, time period and even some insight to the characters feelings about what is happening. 

Another thing that I really liked about the book is that every so often, the narrator pauses the story to give us: more information about the characters, an overview of what just happened, helps us recognize and connect with the different words of the time period, or just a general observation. 

Some Examples are:

• “SOME FACTS ABOUT ROSA HUBERMANN
  She was five feet, one inch tall and wore her
   browny gray strands of elastic hair in a bun.
  To supplement the Hubermann income, she did
  the washing and ironing for the five if the wealthier
  households in Molching.
   Her cooking was atrocious. 
  She possessed the unique ability to aggravate
  almost anyone she ever met. 
  But she did love Liesel Meminger. 
  Her way of showing it just happened to be strange. 
  It involved bashing her with wooden spoons and words
   at various intervals.” (35).
• “A SPECTACULARLY TRAGIC MOMENT
  A train was moving quickly.
  It was packed with humans.
  A six-year-old boy died in the third carriage.” (19).
• “A TRANSLATION
  Himmel = Heaven” (26).
• “AN OBSERVATION
  A pair of train guards.
  A pair of grave diggers. 
  When it came down to it, one of them called the shots.
   The other did what he was told. 
  The question is, what if the other is a lot more than the one?” (23).
  Yes, I did type that right.  This book seems to be philosophical too, among other things.

                I am very pleased with this book choice, and am not surprised that it is popular and was made into a movie.  I am very unhappy when I have to put it down, and can’t wait to read more. 

 I thought that this character sketch was very interesting.  Enjoy!

      Text-to-Society Memoir Connection

    Megan and I are reading First Love:Just Once in a Lifetime:A Memoir by: Violeta Barrett.  Through this book, we realized that love, no matter what form it takes, is extremely powerful.  In our memoir, Violeta, a Wall Street investor, takes a once in a lifetime trip to Mexico to relieve the stress of her job and recent divorce.  In Mexico, Violeta meets her handsome tour guide, Jorge, and they start a romance whilst in Mexico.  As they visit all of the incredible sights,  they grow close and Violeta learns about the cultures of the different places they visit. After Violeta has to leave, they continue their romance with love letters. 
  Love is powerful. This message is one that many people are familiar with, whether they are talking about a romantic love, a sibling love, a mother to her child love. It is seen again and again in all types of ways.  Our book shows this in Violeta's and Jorge's relationship that even though they are miles and miles apart, they still are in love and show that love through their letters. The article talks about how having and giving love is just as important as receiving oxygen, that we need it in order to survive. This image is showing how love and power are interconnected.