It’s been a long time since I’ve written a post here. It’s
been a long time since I’ve read a book that took me a year to get into, but
then held me enthralled until the very last page. It ended far too quickly. Not
because it’s a happy book to read, but because of the way it is written.
Because of the writing I couldn’t “get” into it until almost
half way through, but once I got on board the author’s rhythm and allowed
myself to just read, I “got” it. I felt so much a part of the story that I didn’t
have to work at anything to believe, to feel, to follow, even though I thought
I wasn’t going to like the ending much. The writer is thankfully kind, and not in
the normal (Hollywood) way, but in the way of life, the reality of being human.
I guess “gentle”, as in “letting down gently” is the way to describe how I felt
the writer took me on this journey. No one was perfect. Everyone was human and
yet in such a way as to show the real story of love with all its “human-ness”.
I won’t give any spoilers. I won’t tell you to read this or
not, but “The Book Thief” pulled me in and held me like no other book that I’ve
read recently, in years I would say. I’ve read very good books lately so it was
a shock to feel this way.
If you choose to read The Book Thief, please take the time
to find the author’s voice and let it speak to you. Life is relationships. Life
is about having them and what you do if you do or don’t have them. This book to
me is all about relationships.
In the movie trailer they say this story is about a girl and
how she changes the lives of those around her. But I wouldn’t put it that way.
I would more likely say she is changed, she grows because of her relationships,
and the people in this tale are changing as she is because of what is happening
to and around them, and because they all allow the relationships to happen. Not
on purpose, but because in many ways there is no other choice.
Thank you, Markus Zusak, for sharing your vision. It was an
eye opener and a beautifully told tale…
