This is a book i was a bit apprehensive about when i bought it. The premise is a great one, but i wasn’t sure how i would like it, hearing a story from Death himself.
i finished it. Actually, i looked forward to reading more about Death each time i opened the book. Death is such an interesting character in this story. Zusak has created a Death who is more human than many humans throughout history has shown themselves to be. And because of who Death is in this story, you believe it and are drawn into it that much more.
Of course, Liesel is the main character and i was wholly immersed into her world and her reality, which was a really harsh one, from beginning to end. i love how much books played a part in making her life more bearable; how they gave her strength and was a tool for her to reach the people around her.
Zusak has given a perspective of the Second World War which i think not many have stopped to consider before; certainly, i haven’t. He makes you so aware that no matter which side you are on in a war, there are innocent casualties on both sides; that life became hard for people on both sides, that children on both sides do suffer the most in conflict.
i’m not going to say anything about the storyline because i think it is a story worth discovering for yourself. i think it suffices to say that i was sad, i was horrified, i smiled a little, my heart stopped a couple of beats, my faith in humanity was at the same time destroyed and restored.
i hope and pray that we will never see war on such a scale ever again and i pray really hard that all the conflict currently afflicting our world will end somehow, as soon as possible. i pray for those who are currently affected by the horrors of war and i ask God to bring them peace in the midst of terrible circumstances.
syc
trippingdifferently 