I finished reading The Book Thief a week or so ago and I've been puzzling about it ever since.
Book Friends of mine had recommended it very highly, and Ginger wanted me to read it so much that she was nearly beside herself. I usually love what these friends love. Nearly without fail.
I did not fall in love with this book. I liked it. I thought it well written. I thought that a story of the Holocaust told from the point of view of ordinary Germans was an important story to be told.
I found it beautiful. The phrases, sentences, word choices were astonishingly creative. It was a story of the power of words that powerfully used words to tell the story.
But all of that Art stood between me and falling in love. It did not leave a mark on my soul.
Or so I thought. Because if it didn't leave a mark on my soul, why have I had so many conversations about it? Why am I blogging about it now, so long after I finished it?
See? Puzzled.
4 comments:
Of Mice and Men had the same effect on me. I just couldn't stop thinking about it, even though I really, really disliked it. That was the best and worst book I've ever read. Now I'll have to try the Book Thief. Maybe it'll take the pressure off of Steinbeck. LOL
Interesting.
You make me want to read it now.
The premise and the language alone make me want to figure out why you felt this way.
As for Of M&M, one of my favorite books! Maybe I just like the dark gritty stuff. I loved all of Steinbeck and despite the horrors and injustices, I was right there inside of those books--painful as it was.
I am dying to see the film The Darjeeling Limited. Are any of you into Wes Anderson's films? So far it is isn't even close to the 49506 ZIP CODE area. It is a painful wait.
I never read Of Mice and Men. I only read Grapes of Wrath and I didn't like it. But see, here's the thing about the books the make you read in high school. They are all Important books that were written for adults. I just think that you don't have enough life experience to "get" them when you're in high school. Then, after that, you think that you don't like that author or that book and you just reject them.
I can think of three books that I read in high school that stuck with me. They were Lord of the Flies, The King Must Die and Freedom Road.
The job that I have now (working as an assistant for a family with a teenager, for those who don't know) has been awesome for this very reason!
I have: a) re-read books that I was forced to read in high school and found that I like or appreciate them more now and, b) read new things that have been on Sam's summer reading lists the last few years.
It's been great! I see why people love book clubs so much - it's nice sometimes to have someone TELL you what to read. Takes the pressure off choosing! I'm going to have to read The Book Thief now. The fact that Ginger loved it so much intrigues me.
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