Two Thoughts and a Line to Share

Since I've gotten fairly far into The Book Thief, I suppose that I should finally post something!  I have two thoughts and a favorite line so far to share.

First, I've never thought of death as a character, but rather as an event that we all are appointed to face before entering eternity.  The way that Zusak makes a character out of an event is interesting; the remark that death hands souls off to the conveyer belt of eternity I think helps retain the "eventness" of death.  Death comes, and then eternity.  Death as a narrator certainly gives the book a grimness that fits the setting of a poor family in WWII Germany.

Second, reading books is one of my favorite past-times.  Particularly when I was little, I liked rainy days during the summer so that I could have an excuse to stay inside and read.  However, I never considered stealing books, and I was fortunate to be able to attend school and learn to read at an early age, unlike Liesel.  Liesel also has a thirst to read, but her actions remind me of what humans can be driven to do in desperate circumstances, although I admire her for "stealing" a book from a Nazi book burning.

Finally, one of my favorite lines thus far is on page 211.  "Imagine smiling after a slap in the face.  Then think of doing it twenty-four hours a day.  That was the business of hiding a Jew."   

Merry