I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

Title: I Am the Messenger

Author: Markus Zusak

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Target Audience: All Ages

Number of Pages: Paperback - 357

I Am the Messenger is a beautifully told realistic fiction novel by Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief. At age 19, Ed has not accomplished anything worthy to be proud of and possesses no promises, prospects, or potential. Ed is just plain old Ed - underage cab driver by day, caring dog owner and card player by night. He lives in a cramped shack, is constantly put down by his own mother, and is completely and utterly in love with his best friend Audrey, who rejects love and refuses to let it enter her heart. All this is routine until Ed inadvertently stops a bank robbery. Following his heroic act, Ed receives a mysterious playing card in the mail - the Ace of Diamonds. Inscribed on the surface were three addresses. Unsure of who sent him the card and unsure of what to do, Ed decides to visit the three addresses, discovering a new problem at each location. He realizes that he must help these lost people, and delivering the messages they desperately need, Ed becomes the messenger.

Once again, Zusak has delivered us yet another slew of characters to fall in love with. This time, the author presents Ed Kennedy- the protagonist that both of us became fond of. Despite Ed’s lower class status and his some-what lazy ways, we were won over by the humor and good nature Ed possesses. Ed goes around sacrificing his own time to help the troubled people he meets at each place the cards send him to go. Each card that gets mailed to Ed becomes more challenging and forces Ed to put on his thinking cap. The first card Ed receives was much more direct, with three addresses. As he progresses however, the cards give hints or clues instead in which Ed must decipher. Ed must also observe (stalk) the people he must deliver messages to, to find out exactly what they need their wake-up call on. Ed gives hope to complete strangers and he has inspired us to do the same.

Despite Zusak’s masterful storytelling, this book lacks the action and suspense that I personally enjoy. Though quite engaging, this novel fails to build a prominent climax. This novel is perfect if you’re looking for an adorable, heart-warming read.

Apart from the joy Ed brings us, our favorite character remains to be the Doorman. The Doorman is the character that makes us smile the most. Apart from the lazy and ravenous behavior he demonstrates, he is a loving, caring dog that is always by Ed’s side. This dog is always waiting at home for Ed to return after the missions the cards send him. We wish we had a dog like the Doorman, despite the dog’s strong odor that was described in the book.

This touching story about the power of random acts of kindness will warm the hearts of readers of all ages and provide insight on the goodness in people.

Cover: 3.894133/ 5 - Though this cover is interesting and bold, it fails to correspond with the book. Besides the obvious card on the front, nothing here relates to the plot; the angry man with the erect red nose and stiletto boots holding a goofy Joker staff has absolutely nothing to do with this book.

Rating: 

 4.5 Hoots

Source: 

Rica Eat World: The weathered ole' trooper from ye library. 

Okapi: Audiobook from audible.com - The Australian accented narrator lulled me into a hypnotic stupor. His croons masterfully told the tale of Ed Kennedy.

Reviewed by Okapi & Rica Eat World

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Title: The Book Thief

Author: Markus Zusak

Genre: Historical Fiction - 547 pages

Target Audience: Teens - Adults

Number of Pages: Paperback - 547 pages

Picture this, it is 1939 in Nazi Germany. A nine-year-old German girl is sitting on a train, on her way to 33 Himmel Street in Molching, Germany, to meet her new foster parents. While on the train, her six-year-old brother suddenly dies. By her brother's grave, she discovers a little black book, hidden among the piles of snow. She picks it up and holds it close. This was her first act of book thievery. Liesel Meminger is the book thief.

When she stole her first book, Liesel was illiterate. Thankfully, her accordion-playing foster father teaches her how to read and write. So begins Liesel's passion for books and words. Unable to buy books because of her poor state, she soon begins to steal any book she can get her hands on.

Life on Himmel Street ("Himmel" means heaven in German) proves to be a great place for Liesel. Her foster parents love her and so does her new best friend, Rudy Steiner. However, Germany was not a safe place in those days, and Liesel and her family are put into even greater danger when her German parents decide to shelter a Jew in their basement.

Narrated by Death himself, this is the story about friendship, war, love, thievery, guilt, and the power of words.

A vigorous page-turner, this book is one of the richest novels I have ever read. This thought-provoking novel was told masterfully and though tragic themes occur throughout the book, Zusak somehow manages to squeeze in little tidbits and segments of humor without masking the theme. The strong symbolism concealed behind simple words made me think, and looking back, the way he told the story was simply a work of brilliance and beauty. Zusak made real issues during the world war periods easier to comprehend. The voice expressed in this novel grasps the reader and causes them to read every word intently ( I sure did). Every so often when whisking away through the pages, I would stumble on some illustrations, and they captivated me and i was absorbed. They certainly added an extra element to the novel for they shake things up a little bit after reading hundreds of pages consisting of only words.

And I will congratulate Markus Zusak on a job well done when it comes to character development. The author's ability to make readers attached to the characters is definitely an accomplishment. My love for certain characters actually caused tiny tears to swell up in the corner of my eyes...and no worries, I won't give away any more about that :) As I had mentioned above, Death himself narrates the book and despite the stereotypes we have against him, in this novel, Death is more different and more complex than we think he is. Normally we assume he's a heartless being with no soul. Well, I'm not sure about the soul thing, but in this book, Zusak portrays him as a being who actually does feel pangs of sympathy for his 'clients' though he had been on the job for longer than anyone can imagine.

" Please, be calm, despite that previous threat.

I am bluster-

I am not violent.

I am not malicious.

I am a result."

--Death

From Liesel's foul mouthed foster mother, Rosa, to Hans the gentle foster father, and the lovable Rudy Steiner- who always made me smile to myself, and Max the courageous, honorable Jew, and finally Liesel, the mature, witty girl, all of The Book Thief's characters are something to smile, cry, and gasp in wonder at.

I rated this novel a 4/5 because it was truly amazing enough to deserve it. However, at parts, for me personally, the novel got a little bit slow especially towards the beginning. I understand that with almost all novels, the beginning is almost always a bit slower than the rest of the book, but i felt as though Zusak could have cut out some unnecessary parts. There were segments of the novel where upon finishing the book, I felt as though it was not needed and failed to really affect the story.

Overall, this compulsively readable book gets a big thumbs up. This is a great novel for people who, like Liesel Meminger, love books and words.

Cover: 3.5/5 - I personally enjoyed the cover. First of all I thought it was well designed artistically and second, this cover would have hooked me at the bookstore (if my mother hadn't bought my copy for me). Like the actual book, the cover has quite a bit of symbolism in it too. In our perspective (Okapi and I pondered about the symbolism in the cover for a bit), the dominoes represent the people, both Jewish and German, who are getting knocked down by the hand, who we think is a representation of Hitler using words to hurt people. Thus causing a whole chain reaction leading to death, violence, and hurt to many. Though such a strong message is portrayed in such a simple picture, we believe that the picture could relate to the book a bit more, and therefore our rating of a 3.5 out of 5.

Rating:
4 hoots

Source: I read half the book using a borrowed copy from Okapi ( thanks by the way :]) and I read the other half using my own copy bought from T.J. Maxx.

--Reviewed by Rica Eat World