The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
My first book of 2012, already finished! My friend Wendy, pusher of kiddie lit, sent me this book for Christmas, and once AGAIN, she was right about it being a perfectly great book on it's own for adults as well as teenagers.
When I first started reading, I wasn't so sure about The Book Thief because:
* it's YA. (I know, I know, I'm learning to love it.)
* it is set in Nazi Germany, and I'm not the only one who suffers from quite a bit of literature fatigue concerning Holocaust books, even if that makes me sound callous.
* the narrator is Death - that's right, Death. He says he doesn't really carry a scythe.
* the prose is kind of flowery and artsy at times, and I was afraid it was going to get very old very fast.
However, I kept reading and it was well worth it in the end. The plot is actually quite good; Death himself says he doesn't enjoy trying to work up the suspense when you probably kind of know what the outcomes are likely to be anyway, so the story ends up not feeling like forced excitement but just kind of spins out in a nice way. The journey is more enjoyable than the destination, which seems kind of rare in fiction pacing these days. The characters are the best part of the book: relatable and real and still lovable. Death ends up making some quality points without being too heavy-handed, and the poetic posey of words serves the voice and atmosphere more than it distracts. A quick read and a good recommendation for people who love words.
No comments:
Post a Comment