This peek into the contents of the book, more than anything els (counting the mesmerizing cover) made me want to read this book. As much as I know what they say... don't judge a book by it's cover, sometimes it just can't be helped. Upon reading the synopsis, or what little of it is there at the back, I expected the contents to be lavished with unique writing and I expected a tale of beauty, tragedy and life. I am then lucky that this time around, my first impression wasn't debunked.
At first, the premise of Death being the narrator seemed as promising as it was enticing. And the initial human characterization seems spot on. He even delivers many of the memorable quote s throughout the book (though sadly it loses its magic halfway), including the haunting last line. While this seemed to me the initial short-sleeve trick the book had to offer, by a third way one could generally forget our unique narrator and it would do little to decrease the pleasure this book was.
Out heroine, Liesel, loses her family quite early and steals her first book almost just as early. The rest of the events however took their merry old time in coming in. This in a way contributed much to the book's charm. Unlike other books, most chapters did little to advance much of the book's plot but instead focused on many little events that did wonders for the characters. It's not often that I find a character so fleshed out by the first half of the story that no amount of further characterization on the part of the last half could enhance it any further. And while some characters seem more fleshed out than others, it is how they lived life in the small world of little Liesel that bore fruit. Markus Zusak has a narrative so enchanting and mesmerizing that every little detail seems hauntingly beautiful in its own way.
Perhaps one of the greatest flaw as well as strength of Markus' writing is how it uses Death to treat everything so blatantly. This shows us much of our narrator, he's death after all, and while his observations are disturbing and heart-breaking, her regards them with a sense of normality. This is effective, but as an added part of Death's disregard for his own part in the story, bits and parts of the ending is revealed all through out the book. While the ending did hold quite a punch, it was softened up quite a bit by these little hints. While it does characterization and narrative great, it does leave the ending quite wanting when it was already a bit flawed in the first place.
The ending, though anticipated, comes and go like a flash of emotions and blood. I know that is probably the point of the story, for something so evenly paced, it's inevitable that sch an ending, no matter how splendidly written, falters a bit in trying to hook us in mainly because it tried so hard to wrap everything up so fast. I sympathize with the characters, sure, my mind raced in the end, sure, but i could have been made to do so with much greater intensity.
Still, at the very least it doesn't linger too long because as much as the story was well written and paced, lingering on some aspects seemed to start giving off the "I've seen this, move on" feeling a few times. Not I said only a few. Even the lovely narration slightly gets on the nerve on the rarest instances.
The narration, however, is still topnotched. Where else can I get so excited on a basement imaginary boxing match with Adolf Hitler? This book is beautiful in every aspect, and I am completely grateful it caught my eye because it didn't disappoint one bit.
9 out of 10
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