Just Funny: There aren’t too many opportunities for great guffaws in this novel which make every little moment that much more funny.
162
“Rudy was carrying two buckets of cold water, or as he put it, two buckets of future ice.”
–This could go under literary gems as well.
250
Initially, he tried to resist, but it was harder every day that the girl appeared, each time with a new weather report, either of pure blue sky, cardboard clouds, or a sun that had broken through like God sitting down after he’d eaten too much for his dinner.
–This could go under literary gems as well.
483
I don’t have the quote unfortunately, but I noted that Rudy brings a teddy bear on one of his stealing missions so he can calm a kid down with it. Smart boy that Rudy.
Emotional Bits: It’s hard to pick these out, but here are some of the most touching moments I noted.
219-20
The only thing that changed was that Leisel told her papa that she should be old enough to cope on her with the dreams. For a moment, he looked a little hurt, but as always with Papa, he gave the right thing to say his best shot.
–this could also go under #truths because Papa’s reaction is accurately portrayed, but I was more emotional than impressed by this statement.
SPOILER ALERT
SPOILER ALERT
SPOILER ALERT
241
A small announcement about Rudy Steiner
He didn’t deserve to die the way he did.
–This is just heartbreaking. Death as the narrator is cruel. I dreaded this moment, but at least I was forewarned.
243
“Or course, I’m being rude. I’m spoiling the ending, not only of the entire book, but of this particular piece of it. I have given you two events in advance, because I don’t have much interest in building mystery. Mystery bores me. It chores me. I know what happens and so do you. It’s the machinations that wheel us there that aggravate, perplex, interest, and astound me.”
–We are a very spoiler phobic planet at the moment. Shakespeare spoiled many plays, or at least he spoiled Romeo and Juliet and truthfully our collective consciousness already knew the ending to that story, yet we enjoy it and can see it replayed very often. Romeo and Juliet is a trope story that I could write pages and pages about (and have in a related manner in my Master’s thesis), but it is true, in my opinion, that the journey is much more exciting than the destination. Though that can be subjective so we might as well just keep things to ourselves eh Death?
–I also want to add that this part “Mystery bores me. It chores me.” makes me want to create a rap.
252
“Gentlemen,” a stout referee in black pants and a blue shirt began. A bow tie was fixed to his throat. “First and foremost, we want a good clean fight.” He addressed only the Fuhrer now. “Unless, of course, Herr Hitler, you begin to lose. Should this occur, I will be quite willing to turn a blind eye to any unconscionable tactics you might employ to grind this piece of Jewish stench and filth into the canvas.” He nodded, with great courtesy. “Is that clear?”
–I love Max’s revenge fantasies. I think many readers enjoyed this regardless of whether you were effected by the Holocaust directly or not (my family was living in Yemen for many centuries.) because who doesn’t want to see the villain fall? Especially when the one who defeats him is so endearing and so deserving of a win. Hitler is one of those ultimate bad guys often brought up in every time traveling plot (see MISFITS and even Doctor Who)
Final Thoughts:
To Be Honest, this book was heartbreaking and one should definitely not read it on the train as I did. Oh boy I had to stop a few times. I did not see the movie, but started to watch it on a plane. I just didn’t think I was ready to visually experience this world yet. Maybe another time.
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