The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak
Go check this book out or buy it right now. Or the audio version - the reader (Allan Corduner) is wonderful. I started out listening to it in the car but I soon realized that this book had a lot of visual elements so I checked out the book and I started reading it. But then I missed Corduner’s voice so I started listening to sections after I’d read them. Now I’ve finished reading it and am listening to the end and it haunts me.
The book thief is a girl named Leisel Meminger and her story is organized according to the books she has stolen. Each one is significant in its own way. Her story is narrated by Death which sounds ridiculous but it really works. Death doesn’t enjoy his job, he endures it. War is the boss constantly pushing him to get more work done. Death distracts himself with colors and the sky so he doesn’t get bogged down by the humans. Humans scare him and fascinate him. Sound familiar? Oh, and there is no scythe, and the black hooded robe is only if it is raining.
This is set in Nazi Germany and covers so many things that a summary would feel a bit ridiculous. What is more important is the characters and the way they are described, the way this stunning book is written. Hans Hubermann is warm silver metal and a cart of paint and an accordion. Rosa Hubermann is a cardboard wardrobe with a wooden spoon and an iron fist. Rudy’s hair is lemon-colored and Max’s hair is like twigs when he first arrives but after a bath it is like feathers. You see?
I didn’t want to finish this book, I dragged out reading the end slowly because I didn’t want it to end. I knew what was going to happen because Death tells us well in advance. He himself questions why he spoils the ending this way. But it doesn’t ruin it. It makes you savor each bit leading up to what you know is coming that much more.
What a beautiful book, this one will linger with me a long time, I can tell. I’m officially going to add this book to my mental list of my favorite books of all time. I believe this author has another book out which I will be requesting promptly. But really, go read this book.
You’re Not You: A Novel
by Michelle Wildgen
Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve gotten around to blogging. I actually read this book back before this semester started and life got crazy so it’s been a while but I’ve got a few minutes to jot down a few thoughts. I couldn’t put this book down and the two main characters were amazingly well written. They were believable and human.
Kate is a sophisticated woman nearly completely paralyzed and dying quickly from ALS. She and her husband hire Bec, a somewhat apathetic college student to help care for Kate when her husband, Evan isn’t there. Bec is having an affair with a married professor and we quickly realize that Kate and Evan’s marriage isn’t in as good of shape as it initially appeared.
Kate and Bec grow incredibly intimate and begin to go beyond their roles of sick person and caretaker to something deeper and more intertwined. They make decisions and choices that change their lives that they may not have made without the influence and support of the other.
I thought the ending of the book was very well done and I found myself thinking about the characters awhile after I’d finished the book. That’s when I know it’s a good one. My mom thought this one was a bit too depressing but I tend to like that kind of gloomy modern lit that turns some people off. Give it a try if you like intricate contemporary novels that look at the darker side of life.
Cockeyed: A Memoir
by Ryan Knighton
This is the best memoir I have read since J.R. Moeringer’s The Tender Bar. Knighton is a writer by profession and so this is just as much a beautifully crafted story as it is a story of a guy going blind. But even if it weren’t so masterfully written, this would still be a great book because of the material. Knighton began going blind in his teens due to retinitis pigmentosa. Now, at age 33, he has only 1% of his vision remaining. Cockeyed is the story of his life so far and it is at times hilarious, at times heartbreaking, but a page-turner from beginning to end.
I heard Knighton being interviewed on NPR a while back just after the book was published and immediately requested the book because his story was so compelling and he was so entertaining to listen to. The book follows suit beautifully. He describes his initial unawareness that he had a problem, moving towards denial that he had a problem, to eventually getting a cane, and so on. Some of Knighton’s stories are laugh out loud funny. Trying to find out where a bathroom is and being told “over there” he asks, “where is there?” He is told “at the back of the restaurant.” He asks, “where is the back?” “That way.” That’s not the exact dialogue, that’s just what I remember but you get an idea of how he is able to make fun of the way sighted people use language vaguely and often overuse phrases and metaphors related to vision. “Out of sight!” “See you around!”
At times, Knighton’s story is incredibly sad. His struggles to accept blindness are moving. His adventure teaching English in South Korea while faking vision is at first funny but increasingly sad as it negatively affects his relationship with his girlfriend and his own independence and confidence. The sudden, shocking death of his brother is a crucial moment in the book and it had me in tears.
Near the end of the book, Knighton tells the story of his visit to “blind camp” and this had me laughing so hard I was crying. He describes in detail the fire drill on the first day of camp - need I say more? He wonders why blind people aren’t better at communicating with each other. He describes a meal with blind people as similar to a scene from Taxi Driver with one person after another asking, “You talkin’ to me?” Knighton reflects that they should know better but then realizes that none of them are used to being around blind people. And then there is the scene where he helps his new blind camp buddy find his dentures. Just priceless.
Cockeyed is not only funny and moving, it is also philosophical at times and Knighton’s skill as a creative writer shines throughout the book. A wonderful book in every way, go get it from your library or bookstore today.
Night Fisher
by R. Kikuo Johnson
I had heard a lot of good buzz about this one and was really looking forward to it which perhaps set my expectations a bit high. The illustrations are beautiful and done in black and white. The Maui setting was fascinating for me having recently been there on vacation. Nuggets of local history are interspersed throughout the book quite effectively. Another great thing about this book is that it felt like a realistic high school coming of age story, as opposed to so much of the sugar-coated crud that is floating around these days. But somehow the ending felt unresolved to me. I know it is probably meant to feel this way, meant to be a metaphor to real life which isn’t ever resolved in neat little packages like mainstream pop culture would have us believe. But still, at the end of this book, I wanted more. And I guess that is a good thing in a way, but also quite frustrating in another. In any case, the book is definitely worth a read for any graphic novel fan and I look forward to seeing what Johnson does next.
Vampire Loves
by Joann Sfar
I reluctantly gave up on this one finally. It sat on the table and I’d read a few pages here and there and I think I got about halfway through and renewed it about five times from the library. I hate to give up on a book halfway through it but there are so many books piled up around the house and this one just wasn’t doing it for me.
I was surprised that I didn’t get into this book because I have loved other works by Sfar that I’ve read, notably The Rabbi’s Cat, and his two Little Vampire books. Ferdinand, our hero in Vampire Loves is not Little Vampire grown older if you were wondering. In fact, Little Vampire is Ferdinand grown younger. You’ll have to read it to find out how that works but it was one of my favorite snippets of what I read. Which is really why this book didn’t hook me, I think, it is a lot of snippets instead of a continuous story line. I realize that a lot of comics and graphic novels are written this way, but I prefer the ones that have one basic plot and story that carries throughout the book. Vampire Loves has more of a theme (Ferdinand and his romantic woes) than an actual plot and that just wasn’t enough for me to be anxious to pick it back up again.
A lot of people will like this book, the artwork is vivid and beautiful, as Sfar’s artwork always is and the characters are enchanting and indescribably unique. If you’re a graphic novel reader who likes episodic books, this is for you. Maybe I’ll pick it up again someday, who know. On a side note, this is another one from the First Second Books publishing imprint that also published Deogratias.
