After a very long time I am doing a review of a book.
First thing first, this book is narrated by death, but it does not play a major part. Death just provides an omniscient point of view to the story. The first time through, as usual I rushed through it. It is roughly 550 pages and I intend to read it again but this time a little more seriously.
Death has a personality. If something bad is about to happen, Death warns you ahead of time. My favorite part is when “he” stomps on a framed picture of Hitler on his way to retrieve a thousand souls from a bomb raid. Death is trying to understand the human race as much as the humans are. When “his” job becomes unbearable, he watches the color of the sky as he gathers the souls and carries them away. The descriptions of the sky are like nothing I’ve ever read.
And one awesome excerpt from it
There was once a strange, small man. He decided three important details about his life:
1. He would part his hair from the opposite side to everyone else.
2. He would make himself a small, strange mustache.
3. He would one day rule the world.
…Yes, the Fuhrer decided that he would rule the world with words.
I do agree to the fact that this is a strong story. It is a fast paced story, but on reading I realized this that it was a good ploy to tell the story through death. Death auspicates constantly, so we know a bit about which of the characters will die. Surprisingly this did not reduce the shock value, rather it heightened the anticipation. I for now thin this is exactly how people would feel during war. They know they will lose some of their loved ones. It is excruciatingly painful to wait and see how it turns out.
All the stories on holocaust are told from the point of view of the oppressed. This is the flip side of the coin. This is a take on the story that focused on the question that were all Germans alike, were even the little girls also members of the hate faction.
It is the story of an orphaned German girl living in Hitler’s birthplace. (SPOILER—>) When Liesel’s adopted father is shipped off to war, however, Liesel creeps through the house to see Rosa sleeping with her husband’s accordian strapped around her waist. Rosa’s changes prove one of the greatest reasons to read good literature– to get insight into the type of people we don’t usually give a second chance.
I would love a sequel, to see how Liesel got from Germany to Australia, and to confirm the guess that she married Max. Come on, Mr. Zusak! What are you waiting for?
If you want a fast read, this book is not for you. If you only like happy endings this book is not for you. If you don’t like experimental fiction, this book is not for you.
If you love to read and if you love to care about the characters you read this book is for you.
-Vikas
P.S:
How does this theme look ?Please do tell.
@sanskar and others: what about goa ? we didn’t talk about it.
Arbiitians Unplugged 