And the Next Contender Is...?

I did it. I finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, heart only somewhat intact. I've already intimated that my reluctance to read this book was entirely unfounded, and my opinion hasn't changed. I was an idiot to wait this long to enter the world of Liesel, Rudy, Max, and, of course, Death.

The Book Thief is also a reminder that there is no need to pander to children and young adults.

And so a fad spawns a rather specific genre.

Yes, the subject matter of The Book Thief is dark. But kids know life is dark. Even if their griefs can be comparatively small, their emotions and their tears are quite real. And as they grow, they are introduced to more and more of the world's darkness through the heartbreaks of personal experience--or they can just turn on the news.

I just look at one of the books that has stuck in my ribcage since childhood: The Giver by Lois Lowry. That incredibly talented woman didn't shy away from the difficult issues of the false utopia she created, and Jonas' story remains as influential and controversial as it was 18 years ago. What about The Hunger Games? Harry Potter? It's obvious that kids, "tweens," and teenagers aren't afraid of encountering adversity in theirs books--on the contrary, they crave stories in which their peers overcome it.

Not only does The Book Thief refrain from pandering to a too-oft underestimated age group in subject matter, but Zusak has also produced an incredibly well-written book. Death's POV is cynical, humorous, gentle, insightful, and always poignant. Even when told by an inhuman narrator, the story never loses its humanity.

Which is probably why I loved the book. I'm a sucker for well-written characters. I connect with them. I bond with them. They become my friends. (Yes, I'm that kind of reader.) I finished the book while on my afternoon break.

And I exhaled. I had no words, just breath hissing through my teeth.

Thankfully, I wasn't required to converse with anyone until I had somewhat recovered.

My time in the world of The Book Thief is over. It was a heavy book. Beautiful, but heavy, as were the two books that preceded it on The List (The Satanic Verses and The Life of Pi.) It's time for a change. So I took a second look at The List, and did a quick estimation of my emotional stability at this point in time.

It's time for some fun. So I decided to pick my wild card: Castle Waiting, a comic series by Linda Medley. The same friend who recommended it to me also told me that I can read the series in installments--maybe, once I recover from the emotional turmoil of my previous choices, I'll mix in a more serious book. So we'll see.

With a heavier heart and a richer life, I leave you with the moral of the story: read The Book Thief.