More thoughts on The Book Thief

I stated before that this was and is one of the best fiction books I'd read in a while, and I stand by that. There were several things that struck me about this book; I want to talk about them a little bit here.

First, Death as narrator. An interesting idea, and one that I thought Zusak pulled off well. Death was quite a sympathetic character; one who didn't necessarily love his job, but didn't loathe it, either. I thought it interesting that when it came to adults, he would just as easily sling the soul over his shoulder to carry them, but children he always carried lovingly in his arms. It's not often to find an author that can portray Death as an interesting character; only two others spring to mind, actually. Piers Anthony did it well (and interestingly) in On A Pale Horse, and Neil Gaiman's portrayal of Death as a perky (yet at times insightful and downright snarky) goth chick in his Sandman stories/mythos certainly is one not to be missed.

The theme of the power of words really hit home with me, though perhaps I'm a little biased, being an English teacher and all. I found it interesting that Liesel's first act of thievery occurs when she is illiterate and dreams of meeting Hitler, yet as the book progresses and she becomes increasinly literate and intellectually driven, her understanding of Hitler's words grows and she begins to loathe him and the effects his words have on her immediate world and the world at large, reflective of Hitler's difficulties with (and loathing of) intellectuals of his time.

Anyone else? I've got more, but let's hear you first!

New books... thanks, Boulder Bookstore!

Last night a few of us attended the bookclub event at the Boulder Bookstore last night after dinner together at Chipotle. We had a pretty good time; it was cool to hear what other clubs were reading and how they ran things. It was a little disappointing to not see other teens there, but we still had a great time. Best of all, we all left with two new books, courtesy of the bookstore. (Woohoo!!). In my goodie bag was a copy of Margaret Coel's Killing Raven, and at the end of the night, we were all able to choose books that had been set out on a table, and I chose The Emotional Lives of Animals by Marc Bekoff. It's been a long time since I've read a mystery novel, so having the opportunity to read Coel will be fun, and the Bekoff book is something I'm definitely interested in, and I'm planning to read it shortly before or after I read my copy of Animals Matter, so that will be a nice pairing of concepts, particularly since Bekoff wrote both of them.

Our next bookclub meeting is (tentatively) scheduled for Wednesday, December 3rd. If that changes, I'll post it up, but that is the day for us to give further thoughts and reflections on The Graveyard Book and we'll be talking about our choice(s) for our next book.

I've noticed that quite a lot of Gaiman's work focuses on the theme of the outsider trying to fit in, or at least get by, in a society they don't necessarily understand, and The Graveyard Book is no exception. I would like to make that a part of the discussion, which we can start here, of course.

Finished!

I finished with The Graveyard Book on Tuesday. A very enjoyable read, for sure. My favorite Gaiman books are still Good Omens and American Gods, but this was a good, fun book and worth picking up and adding to anyone's collection.

Almost done

Once again I find myself in the paradoxically unenviable position of nearly being done with a Neil Gaiman book. Though it's considered a "young adult" book (who makes up these labels?), it's one I've found quite enjoyable. Gaiman's wry sense of humor pervades the book and keeps it on an even keel.

The students I've spoken with have raved about it, which of course, makes me fairly happy since it was my recommendation for our first book.

More favorite quotes, this one occurs when Bod is talking with Nehemiah Trot about revenge (Trot chose to write only for himself and not publish his work, instead having his work buried with him over 200 years ago and then to later be dug up and have his work published after posterity had realized its mistake):

"And after you died, they dug you up, and they printed the poems?" (Bod)
"Not yet, no. But there is still plenty of time. Posterity is vast."

Heh.

Best quote from The Graveyard Book so far

Once again, Neil Gaiman hits a home run. I'm only 25 pages into The Graveyard Book, and I am really enjoying it. Favorite quote so far:

"'It is going to take more than just a couple of good-hearted souls to raise this child. It will,' said Silas, 'take a graveyard.'"

Best spoof of "it takes a village" I've heard yet. The man is brilliant... brilliant I tell you!

1st meeting and 1st book

We had our first meeting on the 15th, and we have a good-sized club, including three members who will be participating online for a while since they are involved in the drama club and will have to be going to rehearsals instead of being able to attend book club meetings... one more advantage of the internet!

So we've decided to read a book together, and we've decided on Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, which is perfect for an October read.

Our next meeting is set for October 29, which is when we'll start reading the book. Check back here for questions and discussions about it.