Nearing the Middle of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

         I am completely and utterly entranced by this novel in so many unexplainable ways! This is because it is so true and so heart breaking to hear the Holocaust story from the narrator talking about a little girl named Liesel Meminer. She is such an unfortunate child because her brother has just passed away, and now her parents are shipping her off to a foster home in the hands of her foster father named Hans Hubermann. I can see this story gradually gaining speed when Liesel picks up a fallen book from one of the gravediggers burying her dead brother, and is suddenly interested. This is probably the introduction, or beginning of her travels and troubles with book thievery during the Holocaust. I am definitely anticipating what happens next with Liesel because she is refusing to get out of the car to go into her new foster home, but I personally don't blame her, I would be pretty stubborn if all that had happened to me too!

      Although this book has definitely peaked my interest, there are a few things that I don't understand, or could use some revision. I am not very clear on the point of view of this book, because it is not from the point of view of Liesel, or any of her relatives. But if I were in Markus Zusak's shoes, I would base it on Liesel's reference. This is because it would be very interesting to find out how children related to the Holocaust and how they coped with all the harsh treatment based on race. I also wish that the author would emphasize Liesel's family a bit more because there has to be a huge reason why they are giving up their last child to a foster family. This underlying reason would also help the development of Liesel and her past. Other than these small changes, I am completely loving the structure of The Book Thief. 

      To finalize this blog post, I would love to discuss the movie based upon this book. I would love to see the visual of this mature topic and how the director sees the characters interacting. A few things that I definitely want present in the film are a corrupted society that definitely displays the ideals of the Holocaust and the importance of knowing how to change the future. Another aspect is a very shy, and reserved character to represent Liesel. And then later in the movie, a burst of her true curious self sparkles through her soul. Although I am not allowing myself to see the movie until I complete the book, I am still looking forward to how the author and director share common ideas!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816442/

A Brief Beginning/ Overview of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

            I have just begun the wonderful historical novel of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, and I am extremely intrigued by the main character. I was reading the prologue, and I came across an interesting line that reads "Personally, I like a chocolate-colored sky. Dark, dark chocolate. People say it suits me. I do, however try to enjoy every color I see-the whole spectrum. A billion or so flavors, none of them quite the same, and a sky to slowly suck on. It takes the edge off the stress. It helps me relax" (Zusak, 4). This quote hits me really hard in the chest because of the underlying truth that it displays. Colors are what humans really react to, a sad color like blue, or a spunky color like pink, and apparently a dark and mysterious color like chocolate. I love the immediate development of the main character and I hope that more of this specific detail of this character is yet to come.


           Although I have just started this book, I skimmed through before fully reading and saw that the chapters, or segments, are extremely short. I found this very compelling because my previous novels had very long extensive chapters. My prediction is that it is to give little snippets of information, and suspense, so that the reader wants to keep reading, even when the idea of the chapter has been dismissed. I am very excited for this type of writing because I know it will keep me interested for longer periods of time and it will definitely be efficient when I need to get ahead in the book. The only aspect that I am worried about at the moment is that those chapters will be too short and not give enough information to keep the suspense rolling. If this does happen, I will try to move past the mistake, and look more into the awesome characterization.


           To conclude this blog post about my new book, I would like to make a few predictions for the future, as I always do. I think that the overall message of this book will be to let your own actions define your character, because it is about a girl steals books from the Nazi book burnings, and since it is in the Holocaust time period, it is illegal the read as a Jew. These acts of defiance will define her as a rebel, and maybe even a hero. I am not very familiar with the rebels of the Holocaust, so I am very curious to find out how they found out the truth in such a hidden world. Another prediction is that the main character will have more family that supports her in this act, and that they will all eventually pay for it with possible death. I am anticipating the end so much that I can't wait to start reading again, and I hope that the suspense never stops rollin'!






















http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_Thief