2 posts tagged “wwii”
Borrowed from: the Sacramento library
My Rating: 9 out of 10
Synopsis (from Amazon): Death himself narrates the World War II-era story of Liesel Meminger from the time she is taken, at age nine, to live in Molching, Germany, with a foster family in a working-class neighborhood of tough kids, acid-tongued mothers, and loving fathers who earn their living by the work of their hands. The child arrives having just stolen her first book–although she has not yet learned how to read–and her foster father uses it, The Gravediggers Handbook, to lull her to sleep when shes roused by regular nightmares about her younger brothers death. Across the ensuing years of the late 1930s and into the 1940s, Liesel collects more stolen books as well as a peculiar set of friends: the boy Rudy, the Jewish refugee Max, the mayors reclusive wife (who has a whole library from which she allows Liesel to steal), and especially her foster parents.
My Review: It's not often that I'm able to say that a book is like nothing I've ever read -- but I can definitely say this about the Book Thief. Zusak's prose, especially the syntax, was really original and I found myself stopping and rolling the words around in my head. For example: "Trust me, though, the words were on their way, and when they arrived, Liesel would hold them in her hands like the clouds, and she would wring them out like the rain." So pretty! The only gripe I had with the book is that every once in a great while, the language felt forced. But overall it was stunning.
The book was narrated by Death, who was a very sympathetic character. The rest of the book's characters were really interesting as well. I generally avoid books that take place during WWII because (I think I said this in my review of the Welsh Girl earlier this year) that Nazs totally freak me out. I just cannot comprehend such out and out genocide. And yes, I realize it happens today in places like Darfur -- I avoid those books as well. But I'm really glad I picked this one up. It was poignant, funny, and incredibly sad. I cried. Definitely recommended to anyone who likes their books a little on the bizarre side. (Finished 6/5/09)
Have I mentioned I love the audio book (oh shut it. I know I go on and on about it.). I have such a craptastic commute that I get between an hour and two hours of extra "reading" time a day than if I only read the paper versions. Three cheers for the audio book!
For some reason, A Separate Peace came up in more than one blog / booklist / library something-or-other in a very short period of time. When I saw it on the audio book shelf on the library, I thought I'd take a listen.
Scott Snively was the reader, and it was quite a shock to hear such a deep New England no-accent male voice after ten hours of a lilting southern fourteen-year-old girl's voice for The Secret Life of Bees. Snively did a good job, although the main character of Gene seemed to always end his sentences as questions?
The book itself was pretty good. It definitely felt like something that should have been on a high school summer reading list. It takes place at Devon, a fictional boarding school in New Hampshire, during WWII. It centers around two friends: Gene and Finny (Phineas). Finny is incredibly charismatic, is good at everything he does (outside of classes), and can talk himself out of any problem. Gene is a great student and is admired by his pals. Both boys seem codependent on each other in different areas, but it's clear Gene lives in Finny's shadow, and he has a love/hate relationship with him. Sometimes he adores and respects him, other times he envies and plots against him. In one of his "hate" moments, Gene causes Finny's life to change forever, for the worse.
I thought Knowles greatest strength was how he wrote Gene's internal conflict. Half the time Gene was sure that Finny saw the two of them in constant competition, and the other half of the time, Gene was sure that Finny was oblivious to the battle between them. I don't read may books from this time period, nor am I a boy, so it was interesting to see the year or so in the lives of these boys before their inevitable time in the armed services. The backdrop of WWII is a good setting for the invisible fight between Gene and Finny, culminating with these thoughts by Gene about WWII:
"I never killed anybody and I never developed an intense level of hatred for the enemy. Because my war ended before I ever put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time at school; I killed my enemy there. Only Phineas never was afraid, only Phineas never hated anyone."
My Rating: 7 out of 10 for being something I should have read a long time ago because I would have enjoyed it a heck of a lot more than the Grapes of Wrath.
