Escape Blog #3

Markus Zusak's The Book Thief might be one of the best books I have ever read. I was captivated by the story from the first chapter. It is unlike anything I have ever read before. I loved that the story was told from Death's perspective. All Death's side comments are intertwined into the story in a way that adds to the story instead of interrupting it.  The book ends in red. Death talks in the beginning about red. He basically tells the ending but without all the details. Like many other good books, The Book Thief ends when everyone you loved throughout the story dies. I had to resist crying. It is a miracle that anyone survived that bombing. I do wish that Zusak would have told the reader more about Liesel's life after Himmel Street. I want to know who she married, what became of Max, and what became of Molching. My favorite character of the entire book is Max. Something about his story and personality attracted me. I was so happy that he lived through the camp and was reunited with Liesel. I liked Max's opinion and outlook on the war. I also loved the stories he wrote for Liesel. I enjoyed reading about his boxing match with Hitler. Overall, this is a really good book. I feel that someone has to like character driven books in order to truly appreciate this story. But I loved this book. I really want to see the movie now.

Escape Blog #2

     I am on page 256 of The Book Thief . The main character is the book thief, Liesel Meminger. Liesel is 10 years old and lives in Nazi Germany.  Life is not easy for Liesel and her foster family.  Money is tight and with the war in full swing, happiness is dying out. Liesel soon discovers the joy of reading. Learning to read each night with her papa brings her joy. She soaks up each word she reads. For a time, life is okay for Liesel. Liesel's simple world becomes a lot more complicated when her family takes Max Vandenburg, a jew, into hiding in the basement. Liesel now has to carry a secret that means life or death for her family and Max. Liesel escapes this world of cruelty, hatred, and Hitler, in books. The words become her safe haven away from the world outside her front door. This book takes place in Nazi Germany, which is the perfect setting for this story. Words were feared in Nazi Germany because the could instill ideas of rebellion and resistance. Books were taken away and burned. Anything that could contain ideas against Hitler and the Nazi party was tossed into huge fires. This setting is the perfect place for a young girl to steal and find an escape in books.
     I absolutely love this book. It is such a great story. I have always had a particular liking for stories set in World War 2. The Book Thief is a completely different viewpoint than most WWII books. Most books focus on the Jewish side of the story. Very rarely do you find a story about a German. It is a nice turn of events. I  predict the novel will end with red. In the beginning, Death describes a scene of red. He talks about Liesel on the ground crying and how her house was turned to a pile of ruble. I feel that a lot of people very close to Liesel are going die. And I predict that I will cry.

Escape Blog #1

       It was April 20th, 2013. Everything seemed normal. I got up, got dressed, went to school, discussed the upcoming prom with my best friends. Everything seemed like a normal happy day. Little did I know almost every ounce of happiness i had was about to be sucked away with two simple words: " He's Dead". Death is something we all know will happen but don't want to think about. The death of my Uncle Larry shouldn't have been a surprise. He had been in that hospital for 2 years, couldn't move the left side of his body, and had 3 heart attacks already that year. I really do not know why it was such a shock when he died. But it shattered my world. No one could have predicted how much his death had crushed me. After recovering from the shock and total denial of his death, I was drained. All my energy was gone. My grades started to slip. I was sleep-walking through life. Every bit of happiness I would feel was gone in a heartbeat. Slowly I descended into the darkness of depression. The weight of guilt pulling me down deeper into the darkness. The voices inside my head would taunt me for hours with " You forgot about him. You forgot your dying uncle. You let him sit in that hospital and forgot about him." and they would laugh as I cried till my tears ran dry. I sat there, alone, in the darkness. waiting for some light or way out. I wanted to escape, to escape from life. There were times when I started packing a suitcase. I was going to just hop in my car and drive until i ran out of road or hit the ocean. But I could never bring myself to it. I found my escape somewhere else. Somewhere in the white space between the black lines of those bound pages, I discovered a sanctuary. I found my escape in books. I had always loved to read, but now I was reading to escape my life. I read to leave everything behind and become someone else for a few hours. It was soothing and calming. I would actually smile and laugh. I started to feel happy again. My soul was filled with a new life that was filled with the words of authors. Books became my candle in the darkness. The words filled my life with warmth and joy. Soon, I found the staircase out of the darkness. I started to climb and made my way back up to the warmth of sunshine and found joy in life again.