An Amazing Book
I have just read the most amazing book. It is called "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak. The story is narrated by Death, and he tells of a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany during WWII.
Of course, I am always attracted to WWII literature. In particular, I love stories of ordinary people during the war; their personal accounts of survival, of struggle against one of the greatest evils this world has ever known. These fascinate me.
"The Book Thief" is one of the rarer finds, a story from the perspective of a German. It tells about the things that ordinary people did to survive. The most heroic Germans fought against the Nazi machine. Even if the fight was covert, as it often had to be. Sometimes the rebellion only existed within the heart. If it existed at all, it was a sign of hope. Hope that goodness and decency would prevail.
Have you considered how much more heroic it would have been to fight the Nazi atrocities if one was a German? To live with the knowledge that your neighbors, your friends, maybe your family was the enemy? There was nowhere to hide. No one to protect you. How much easier it would have been to go along with the madness! To be safe, to keep your children safe. Even if that safety was an illusion.
These are some of the issues which Zusak addresses so eloquently. Between Death and the innocence of a child, the story unfolds.
Of course, I am always attracted to WWII literature. In particular, I love stories of ordinary people during the war; their personal accounts of survival, of struggle against one of the greatest evils this world has ever known. These fascinate me.
"The Book Thief" is one of the rarer finds, a story from the perspective of a German. It tells about the things that ordinary people did to survive. The most heroic Germans fought against the Nazi machine. Even if the fight was covert, as it often had to be. Sometimes the rebellion only existed within the heart. If it existed at all, it was a sign of hope. Hope that goodness and decency would prevail.
Have you considered how much more heroic it would have been to fight the Nazi atrocities if one was a German? To live with the knowledge that your neighbors, your friends, maybe your family was the enemy? There was nowhere to hide. No one to protect you. How much easier it would have been to go along with the madness! To be safe, to keep your children safe. Even if that safety was an illusion.
These are some of the issues which Zusak addresses so eloquently. Between Death and the innocence of a child, the story unfolds.
posted by Juanita at
7:53 AM
5 Comments:
Wow - if this book inspired this post I am going to read it!
I just picked up The Widow of The South - only have read a chapter and am in love with it - google it - I think you may like it. I did not see the website till after i bought it and its one hell of a book I can already tell!
Do you read X Dell's blog? He's covering the rise of Hitler right now. (He's on my list of links)
Did you ever get to see "The Sorrow and the Pity"? It was precisely about that...how the Resistance was made up of society's margins...the poor people, the homosexuals, the outcasts...because they had nothing to lose they could risk it all.
Hey Baron, I already have "Widow of the South" but I haven't gotten into it just yet. And Laurita, of course I saw "The Sorrow and the Pity" That was a good, if not exactly uplifting, documentary.
I am going to the Plaza this weekend to get this book - thanks - I am so glad you already have Widow - its awesome!
You, on the Plaza? You're practically at my HOUSE! I should walk down to B&N and try to find the Baron. I do not think you will regret your purchase, even though it's fiction. (I have a little non-fiction bias.)
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