As part of a summer reading assignment, I came across Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, which is now one of my absolute favorites. Here is a letter to Mr. Zusak, explaining my emotional feelings towards his story. Warning: THERE ARE SOME SPOILERS! Skip over the letter for the review!
Dear Mr. Zusak,
I came across your book as a summer
reading assignment. Contrary to the views of some of my classmates, I did not
find the size intimidating - in fact, the large volume was quite inviting. I
could not fathom what would await for me inside, I only knew at that point that
I was dreading having to read yet another lengthy novel. Being the novelist
that your are, you would probably assume that statement to be contradictory to
my previous one. Yes, Mr. Zusak, it certainly is. You see, I welcome a lengthy
novel - it presents more time to love, to obsess, to lose. But when you have to
read four other lengthy novels when there are five others you would rather be
reading, you come to dread it. I must say that The Book Thief surprised me. But with a little help from my Literature
teacher and my classmates, I was able to delve deeper into its meanings.
Let me
begin with the conclusion, or near-conclusion of the novel. I must implore you
- was it honestly necessary to murder every character that I had come to love?
Mr. Zusak, I truly appreciated your work, because it was an exceptional one.
But was there any obvious reason for you to take a world I had come to respect,
take the characters I had lived with, and simply smash them into oblivion? I
would very much like to learn your reasons behind doing so. If I may, I would
like to make a small comparison to John Green's The Fault in Our Stars. Everything was going so well in the story,
well, as well as things can go for a couple that has one half living with
cancer that is likely terminal. It was all somewhat sunshine and daisies until
Green takes it upon himself to give the other half of the couple
highly-terminal cancer. And yes, Mr. Zusak, that half does perish before the
story's end. So again I reiterate - why
is there a reason to crush the hopes and dreams of one very intrigued reader?
Nonetheless, there is another aspect of this tragic ending that I greatly
appreciated. The conclusion was real and true. I have often told myself that
one day I would write a story in which nothing had a happy ending. I do not
find that to be a morbid thought, and I believe that you would understand why.
Too many stories end with a happy ending. I believe we have Walt Disney to
thank for that. You comprehend that not everything in life is rainbows and
butterflies, and it was evident in the way you presented the ending of the
story.
In
addition, I would like to hone in on your narrator. I found it brilliant that
you used the being of Death to present the story. To me, Death had a story. I
asked myself, "What if Death is Liesel Meminger?" Now, at this point
you probably think I am going way too deep into this, which I probably am. But
if you think about it, in some twisted, parallel universe, it could be true. Imagine
this: years ago Death began to get tired of its monotonous life. So, it went on
a journey to find an identity. Death came across a story of a girl named Liesel
Meminger. It became so consumed in the girl's story, the story of her life that
she herself had penned, that Death assumed the life of the girl. So in that
sense, Death could truly have been Liesel. Now, in a more realistic sense,
Death was the shadowy figure of a teenage boy. That was probably much easier to
comprehend. I truly believe that the story would have been utterly different if
Death had been removed as the narrator, but not as a character. Death's
insights caused you to look at life in a different way. Life has struggles that
must be endured, but none can be as difficult as the life lived by Death. Death
had courage in the sense that he took things as they came, despite the fact
that he wanted nothing more than to escape his personal monotonous circle of
hell.
Furthermore,
I would like to discuss with you the importance of books. Obviously as an
author, you can greatly appreciated and truly comprehend the wonders of books.
Mr. Zusak, if I may, were you ever in a position as a child where you needed an
escape from reality? I can honestly say that I found myself in that position
often. Subconsciously, I believe I used books as an outlet of escape.
Sometimes, I feel I immerse myself so much into a story that it becomes a bit
unhealthy. I believe the term "fangirling" would apply? I know this
is certainly something I can lecture to you about, free of judgment. I hope you
can agree with me in saying that words have much power. I recently delved into
a bit of that power in Theology class. But that is besides the point. Words can
have a wide affect on people, especially in a book. You proved that with your
use of Mein Kamp in the novel. But
words not only have the power to control, but they have the power to enlighten
and to scare. Many people discourage themselves from books due to the fact that
they see many words and feel fear. They tell themselves, "It would just be
easier to watch the movie." But we both know, they are the ones who lose
the joy that a number of pieces of paper, all bundled together, can bring.
Above all,
Mr. Zusak, I would like to commend you on your overall fabulous novel. It was
nothing like I had read before, and the new spin on a popular topic in
historical fiction was exceptional. I never could have thought that Death could
be such an adored narrator. Even though I have read many a novel in which
characters I came to love were lost, I never experienced such emotional
distress as I did with The Book Thief.
I sincerely hope that there will come a day that I will you will share with me
the unknown wonders of your novel, for it was truly one that I will remember
and recommend for quite some time. Congratulations, Mr. Zusak, on a job well
done.
_________________________________________________________
The Book Thief will cause you great emotional distress, it will cause you to fall in love with it, and it will teach you how to open your eyes to the little things that matter. Most importantly, it will teach you that the world is much bigger than you. The world is a story - your's is just a few pages.
