Honesty is a very attractive thing; atleast to most of us. If its got a tinge of a child like innocence to it, then it would be even more heart warming. But I doubt how many of us would really be able to accept this book right from the start, considering its quirky and weird writing style and presentation.That is why I couldnt digest it in the begin; but the more I read, the more I got to realize that it was not crazy but honest writing with a beautiful application of words and a spectacular gamut of emotions.
The author gives us another view of the Nazi Germany.
“Of course, I'm being rude. I'm spoiling the ending, not only of the entire book, but of this particular piece of it. I have given you two events in advance, because I don't have much interest in building mystery. Mystery bores me. It chores me. I know what happens and so do you. It's the machinations that wheel us there that aggravate, perplex, interest, and astound me. There are many things to think of. There is much story.”
This quote needs to be essentially mentioned here because that was how the book was written.
The book is narrated by Death that gives insight into the life of a little girl ,Liesel Meminger living in Nazi Germany with her foster parents. Liesel's brother died in the train journey during their travel to meet their foster parents with their mother.And it was on that day that Liesel successfully attempted her first act of thievery; which later on develops to an extend of casual flicking of books from the mayor's wife's library, for whom her foster mother had worked for. Her first book being 'The Gravedigger's Manual' which was partially hidden in the snow, was noticed when she attended to her brother's funeral.It was a life changing moment where her love for words begin to get recognised which eventually shapes up with the help of her accordion playing foster father and a hidden jew at the basement of her new home, who prepares two books for her during his stay as a refuge in their basement.
In this novel, the writer strokes the Death narrator with human emotions.Death narrates the story in a very unusual way often referring to states of mind like anxiety, from a dictionary quoted meaning;explaining what the character is going through at that moment.. It also gives out the end of a particular incident from the start and then brings out the story as to how it ended up as stated.
“I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.”
This book gifts you magical moments which tug at your heart strings. One such moment was when Liesel had quoted the above , introspecting about how a man (Hitler) ended up dragging a whole world into war, all by the power of words.
It was a strong and rich experience. It had a powerful usage of words, thought provoking, insightful where such a gross topic could be handled with such wonderful finesse, it almost reminded me of 'The Diary of Anne Frank'.
It was an avant-garde yet soulful experience, indeed!! And trust me, those words were not used in a casual manner.
The author gives us another view of the Nazi Germany.
“Of course, I'm being rude. I'm spoiling the ending, not only of the entire book, but of this particular piece of it. I have given you two events in advance, because I don't have much interest in building mystery. Mystery bores me. It chores me. I know what happens and so do you. It's the machinations that wheel us there that aggravate, perplex, interest, and astound me. There are many things to think of. There is much story.”
The book is narrated by Death that gives insight into the life of a little girl ,Liesel Meminger living in Nazi Germany with her foster parents. Liesel's brother died in the train journey during their travel to meet their foster parents with their mother.And it was on that day that Liesel successfully attempted her first act of thievery; which later on develops to an extend of casual flicking of books from the mayor's wife's library, for whom her foster mother had worked for. Her first book being 'The Gravedigger's Manual' which was partially hidden in the snow, was noticed when she attended to her brother's funeral.It was a life changing moment where her love for words begin to get recognised which eventually shapes up with the help of her accordion playing foster father and a hidden jew at the basement of her new home, who prepares two books for her during his stay as a refuge in their basement.
In this novel, the writer strokes the Death narrator with human emotions.Death narrates the story in a very unusual way often referring to states of mind like anxiety, from a dictionary quoted meaning;explaining what the character is going through at that moment.. It also gives out the end of a particular incident from the start and then brings out the story as to how it ended up as stated.
“I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.”
This book gifts you magical moments which tug at your heart strings. One such moment was when Liesel had quoted the above , introspecting about how a man (Hitler) ended up dragging a whole world into war, all by the power of words.
It was a strong and rich experience. It had a powerful usage of words, thought provoking, insightful where such a gross topic could be handled with such wonderful finesse, it almost reminded me of 'The Diary of Anne Frank'.
It was an avant-garde yet soulful experience, indeed!! And trust me, those words were not used in a casual manner.
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