Quote of the Week #17

The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.

 

Harper Lee

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

HERE IS A SMALL FACT - YOU ARE GOING TO DIE. 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier. Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall. SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION - THIS NOVEL IS NARRATED BY DEATH. It's a small story, about: a girl, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. ANOTHER THING YOU SHOULD KNOW - DEATH WILL VISIT THE BOOK THIEF THREE TIMES

My Thoughts:
 
I’ve just finished reading this book and let me start by saying that IT IS AMAZING!!! It has a lot of great elements and the story is so rich and beautiful that it’s impossible not to feel (at least) touched by it.

I’ll admit, I was feeling a little hesitant about this book. I really wanted to read it but I was afraid it was going to be a bit depressing because of its setting and the fact that it dealt with such heavy issues. However I quickly realized my fears were unfounded because of the way the book was written and also for its amazing group of characters and unique perspective. I was also afraid the pacing would be somewhat slow but that wasn’t the case either. It’s true, this isn’t the best book to power through because there is so much to take in but – again – the writing style is so beautiful and the story is so compelling that you just keep on reading with the same eagerness throughout the entire novel.

As for the characters, what can I say? What a stunning group of characters! First there is Liesel, a young German girl that loses her close family at the beginning of the book and is taken by Hans and Rosa Hubermann, her foster parents; she is determined, strong and works hard, all great qualities that made me like her. Then there was Rudy, her best friend. He had a great sense of justice, of what was right and wrong and was such an endearing boy that it was impossible not to fall in love with him. Max was also amazing; I really liked how strong minded he was and the fact that he understood just how powerful words could be. However, my favorite character was, by far, Hans Hubermann. He might have been a simple man but he understood that not everything was black and white and that he couldn’t just blindly follow Hitler’s ideas. He was altruistic and because of his simple gestures of kindness and humanity he really warmed my heart and that made me appreciate his character. He was Liasel's rock, the man she loved the most and the one who had taught her so much about life.

This book had another great feature which was its unique perspective. The fact that Death was the narrator of this story just added to the book and – I know this might sound strange – its presence was actually comforting. This was a great twist to the novel.

I loved this book! I was afraid my expectations wouldn’t be met, especially after hearing so many people gush about it, but fortunately that wasn’t the case. I loved Markus Zusak’s writing style and how he dealt with issues like humanity, the power of words and the need to stand up for what we believe is right, among others. The story was so engrossing that even when I wasn’t reading the book I was still thinking about it and about its characters.

A compelling story that is worth reading and that will most definitely become a literary classic. A must read that has become one of my favorite books of all time.


5 out of 5 stars

#Friday Reads (9)

I started reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak this Monday but I've been so tired lately that I wasn't feeling particularly inclined to read.

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

I'm about 130 pages in and I think the story has a great concept and it's really engrossing - it's just unfortunate that lately I haven't been in the mood for reading.

Read in June

This month I didn't read as much as I wanted; it was finishing my last semester in university and had to study for my finals so I didn't have a lot of time to read. So these are the books I managed to read

Review here

My favorite book of the month. Review here

 The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde - review here

#Friday Reads (8)

This weekend I'll be reading The English Patient, a book that has been sitting on my bookshelves for (probably) 5 years. I've never felt particularly drawn to this book but it was only 1 euro at the time and I thought it would be a great addition to my collection, even if I wasn't particularly sure when I would pick it up or even if I would ever be in the mood to read it.

Here is the synopsis:

With ravishing beauty and unsettling intelligence, Michael Ondaatje's Booker Prize-winning novel traces the intersection of four damaged lives in an Italian villa at the end of World War II. Hana, the exhausted nurse; the maimed thief, Caravaggio; the wary sapper, Kip: each is haunted by the riddle of the English patient, the nameless, burned man who lies in an upstairs room and whose memories of passion, betrayal and rescue illuminates this book like flashes of heat lightening.

I'll admit, I was afraid the writing style would be somewhat dry and that I would have to have a lot of will power to stick with the book but I'm already half way through and so far I've been really enjoying it. Yes, sometimes it feels there's not much going on but it's beautifully written and the characters seem to be quite charming.

Quote of the Week #16

I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.

 

Anne Frank

El Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Lucas Corso is a book detective, a middle-aged mercenary hired to hunt down rare editions for wealthy and unscrupulous clients. When a well-known bibliophile is found dead, leaving behind part of the original manuscript of Alexandre Dumas's The Three Musketeers, Corso is brought in to authenticate the fragment. He is soon drawn into a swirling plot involving devil worship, occult practices, and swashbuckling derring-do among a cast of characters bearing a suspicious resemblance to those of Dumas's masterpiece. Aided by a mysterious beauty named for a Conan Doyle heroine, Corso travels from Madrid to Toledo to Paris on the killer's trail in this twisty intellectual romp through the book world.

My Thoughts

I usually like books that talk about books and El Club Dumas definitely fits that category.

 

I had never read anything by Arturo Pérez-Reverte but, fortunately, this book was a great one to start with his works. I really liked the premise and the mystery if seemed to offer; it just came across as one of those books that would really keep me hooked on it until the very end. However, at first, I had some concerns about this book because even though the story seemed quite interesting, I was afraid the narrative would be a bit dry or just not that appealing, but luckily that wasn’t the case and I was able to get into it really quickly. 

One of the best things about this book was how the author incorporated Alexandre Dumas’ work on the story, especially through the references and similarities between some of his characters with the ones from The Three Musketeers.

As for the characters, even though Corso was interesting and there was a lot of mystery about him, I didn’t feel particularly connected with any of them. They were interesting but not that relatable. However, I liked how passionate most of them were about rare books – especially about demonology and Alexandre Dumas’s work – and how they had dedicated their lives to them – a fascination that, to some of them, had become a true obsession.

Overall I enjoyed this book. I feel that I’ve learned something about old books but also about Alxandre Dumas’ life and work. Nonetheless, I feel that if I had already read The Three Musketeers I would’ve gotten a bit more from the story of El Club Dumas; I don’t think it would have been essential to read it in order to understand the story but it might have made a little difference, especially because some of the characters created by Pérez-Reverte seemed to have taken so much from the ones from The Three Musketeers. Fortunately I already have the book and I’ll probably pick it up soon, so I’ll be able to tell if it would have made a big difference or not.

An awesome book, with a lot of mystery, great dialogues and for fans of Alexandre Dumas’ work I think this book is a must read. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.