The Book Thief and the power of words

April 2, 2012 2 Comments

The Book ThiefWhen you start a book and the narrator is the voice of Death, you know you won’t be reading a happy book.

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak definitely wasn’t the happiest of tales – it takes place in a small German town during the heart of the Second World War after all. Through Death’s eyes, we’re introduced to Liesel Meminger, a young girl who is seeing her young brother die as she rides on a train with him and her mother. At the next stop they find a grave yard to bury him, and this is where Liesel finds her first book,The Grave Digger’s Handbook.

We find out that Liesel and her brother were being sent to foster parents as her mother escaped persecution for her and her husband’s alleged Communist leanings. Liesel, alone, is raised by Rosa and Hans Hubermann who appear to be the most opposite of people. Rosa is crass, loud and always calling everyone a Saukerl or “Pig” and Hans is a gentle painter who plays the accordion and has a personality that draws Liesel in and helps her open up to her new surroundings.

Throughout the rest of the story, Death, though admittedly busy during those years, takes a keen interest in Liesel’s life as she attends school and grows into her teen years, stealing more books along the way and learning to read them through the help of her foster father.

What I found interesting about much of the book was that Zusak focuses on the lives of the characters as war is happening around them, but since it’s through the lens of a young girl (as relayed by Death), it doesn’t go into too much detail about explaining the politics of the time. We find out that Hans doesn’t support the Nazi party, but still hangs a flag whenever a parade passes through; Liesel and her friend Rudy Steiner are forced to steal food because of rationing throughout the country; And, Rosa’s laundry businesses that she runs from home begins to suffer as the wealthier neihbours become unable to afford her services.

It’s not until Hans answers a promise made long ago by taking in a Jewish man by the name of Max Vandenburg that the story becomes truly serious. Max is extremely malnourished when he arrives, but soon he establishes a close bond with Liesel. The two have frequent nightmares about losing loved ones and also enjoy storytelling. Their bond grows as Max shares his stories with her.

One of the stories spoke of how Hitler rose to power, not with his fists or guns, but with words. Zusak often brings up the power of words and what they can do to people, both good and bad. When bomb raids began approaching their town, they congregated in a local basement and Liesel began reading to everyone there. The words calmed everyone and made them briefly forget that at any moment, they could die.

We have to remind ourselves that words matter. They can persuade you to do anything from buying a product to persecuting an entire race of people. The Book Thief does an excellent job of getting this point across and as a communicator for a living, I can appreciate his message. If you’re a lover of words, then I recommend reading this one. I give The Book Thief a 4/5.

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My review of Room by Emma Donoghue

January 30, 2012 2 Comments

ROOM - Emma DonoghueImagine growing up in a world that’s limited to an 11 x 11 room. All you know is the objects that you have, and your Ma who raised you.

Room is told from five year old Jack’s point of view, which definitely took some getting used to. Throughout the first half of the story we repeatedly get to experience Jack and Ma’s routine Room. Ma, who has been in Room for seven years, religiously makes sure Jack is fed, has his (limited) exercise, learns his math and reading, and watches one hour of TV each day.

Ma is a good mother, given her situation. You can tell she’s emotionally damaged from her ordeal, but she does everything to make sure Jack is as educated and healthy as she can. With the TV in the room, she attempted to protect Jack by created a fantasy world, where everything in Room was real, and everything outside was TV. She also physically protected him, from the man who visited every night.

Old Nick, as Jack calls him, is the man. He brings food, Sunday treat, and stays for the night. When he comes, Ma makes sure Jack is already in Wardrobe. Before sleep each night, Jack counts the number of creaks in his head. Old Nick makes Jack’s Ma upset.

It wasn’t until the second half that I really became enthralled with the book and couldn’t put it down. I felt like I was really in the head of Jack, and at times was frustrated like he was when things didn’t go his way, or seemed completely foreign to him. At the same time, I felt Donoghue did a fantastic job of conveying what was happening to the two of them through things like Ma’s behaviour and Jack’s innocent observations.

My biggest qualm with the book would be the sometimes inconsistent writing style. It seems Donoghue tried too hard to capture the vocabulary of a five year old, mixing ridiculous word combinations with amazing vocabulary. Jack was relatively well-educated by Ma, and had television to teach him proper sentence structure as well, but so often he would essentially come up with jibberish – maybe chalk that up to his living situation, I don’t know, but it made the reading experience very choppy at times.

If you’re looking to pick this one up, be patient and you won’t regret it. While the basic premise is something we’ve all seen in news headlines, it’s a unique take on writing and you have to give it to Donoghue for attempting it. I quite enjoyed Room and the story really stuck with me – so much so, I had to take a few days afterward to get my mind right to write this post and even pick up another book. I give it a 4/5.

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Review of Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

January 21, 2012 2 Comments

Outliers by Malcolm GladwellThe basic premise of this book my Malcolm Gladwell is that people, or Outliers, are successful for a number of different reasons, on top of the fact that they’re skilled at what they do.

Some of the examples he looks into say:

  • Success can be determined based on when you were born
  • Put in the work (10,000+ hours) and you’ll be a master at your craft
  • Just because you’re smart, doesn’t mean you’ll succeed
  • Timing is everything
  • The behavior of generations past keep us in its grasp

Obviously Gladwell looks at data that helps him prove his points. The case studies he examines are interesting, well told stories, and in all of them I found he made arguments, backed by expert research, that made sense.

If not necessarily true for all cases, it’s a good eye opener that shows those who are successful aren’t just so because of some talent they were born with, but that skill was gained through a lot of hard work or an opportune upbringing/family history. There are of course exceptions to the rule, and Gladwell seems to say successful people are who they are because of these reasons, but doesn’t look at the examples that prove his point wrong.

Nowhere in the book, outside of the small samples he looks at, does it show overall rates of for example, hockey players who were born outside of the first quarter of the year. The theory he looks at is that the earlier in the year you’re born (Jan/Feb/Mar), the more successful you’ll be because you’re months ahead of players born in the later part of the year, development-wise. Curious, I took a look at the roster of the Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins. While some players have moved, it’s still noteworthy to see that of the 24 players on the roster, only 5 were born from January to March. (Others: Detroit = 13; Toronto = 7; Vancouver = 5).

While the hockey analysis may not hold up, I learned some eye-opening information. One was the reason why students have summer vacations is due to research from the 1800s saying that over-study leads to mental illness; it’s based on this that people aren’t willing to put kids through school in the summer. Another interesting tidbit was that the way Asian numbers are formed makes it easier for them to memorize and therefore learn math quicker than western kids. They were some small but interesting tidbits in the stories, but they stuck with me.

As with most of Gladwell’s work, Outliers is easy to read and presents an idea or belief that you may think is simple, and opens it up to examine the psychological or sociological reasoning behind it. There’s something about books that deal with the how we think or act that get to me. Though close, this one isn’t quite on the level of The Tipping Point or Blink but I really enjoyed the book and I can’t wait for his next one – whatever the random topic may be. I give Outliers a 4/5.

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The Glass Castle: a memoir you will not want to put down

January 12, 2012 Leave a comment

The Glass CastleIf you ever think you have issues with your own family, or you need inspiration to get out of a bad rut in your life, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is the perfect read.

Even though memoirs are subjective and perhaps embellished to make for better story telling, you still have those incredible experiences at the heart. If you forgive any of those embellishments, Walls and her family certainly went through many incredible experiences, to say the least. As I progressed through the book I found myself reading with my mouth hanging open in shock, or yelling at her parents for their countless screw ups. Though at the same time I always felt each incident made the kids stronger and more resilient.

I feel Walls wrote the book without the emotional connection and felt it was important let the reader decide for themselves how to feel based on her actions as a child. Her parents offered up many opportunities for her to lash out, but she often balanced her father’s drunkenness and mother’s scatterbrained behaviour with tidbits of how well-read or educated they both were. It was extremely well pieced so that while you feel anger at their actions, you don’t necessarily feel sorry for them, especially after moving to New York in their later years.

This was a novel I didn’t expect anything from, and after a slow start it eventually picked up and I couldn’t put it down. Walls’ story kept getting more interesting with each page turned. It was an inspiring read that reminds the reader that you don’t get to pick your family, but even through adversity it’s always important to stick with them, and be proud of where you come from because it made you who you are. I give The Glass Castle a 5/5.

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To Kill a Mockingbird: a classic everyone should read

January 10, 2012 2 Comments

To Kill a MockingbirdOften times classic novels don’t appeal to me because they feel over-hyped, but every so often one catches my attention and I give it a go.

What intrigued me most about Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird? Well the themes played a big part: racial injustice, class, gender roles, the loss of a child’s innocence. But it was also the way she went about telling the stories in the small southern town of Maycomb, Alabama – through a child’s lens.

Taking place during the Depression, the book is split in two parts. The first part focuses on telling the story of Scout Finch, the protagonist, and her brother Jem. The two of them, along with their summertime friend Dill spend much of their time preoccupied with trying to catch a glimpse ‘Boo’ Radley, the reclusive neighbour at the end of their street. The second part focuses on the children’s perspective of a very adult case of Tom Robinson, a black man their father Atticus is defending, who is accused of raping a white woman.

Scout is one of my favourite literary characters – young and naive, but curious with a strong, take no bull attitude. She always tried to push buttons by not conforming to societal norms – basically acting like a boy, which was radical in the 30′s. Much of her spark, she got from her father Atticus, who raised his kids to understand the world they lived in and that it wasn’t perfect, but did so in a way that went against the grain of the time. As she learned more about the Tom Robinson rape trial, from speaking with him, he didn’t sugar coat it or push her aside as most parents would, which helped Scout’s character mature. His character is flawless in his values and though it must have been a struggle raising his children on his own (with a lot of help from Calpurnia, their maid) he always empowered his children to learn for themselves. His biggest lesson, and one that weaved the two plot lines together was that it’s always important to view the world in the other person’s skin, so you get a better understanding of where they’re coming from.

I’m happy I read this small novel that packed such a memorable punch. If you haven’t managed to pick it up, I highly recommend you do – you won’t be disappointed. As an aside, I watched the movie after I finished the book, and while the casting was spot on, I found it omitted a lot and changed around so much of the story that it lost what made the book great. I give To Kill a Mockingbird a 5/5.

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