The Book Thief

/ still a dreamer

thebookthiefHere are two things that are connected – I couldn’t fall asleep last night. I finished reading The Book Thief.  A book that keeps me up at night after I’m done reading, can often be said to be a good book. Or maybe a disturbing book. Or maybe a haunting book. I think it’s safe to say that The Book Thief is easily all three.

I bought this book in a local bookshop in Clinton in December while shopping for Christmas gifts. I’d wandered over to the YA section and was looking for something interesting. I’d already found a few things for others, a couple for me, and was talking with one of their very knowledgeable staff. He recommended The Book Thief to me, saying it was one of the most incredible books he’d read in a long time, and gave me some background. I bought it.

And there it sat. And sat. And sat. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to read a book set in Germany at the time of the rise of Hitler, no matter how well recommended. I started the book in March, just finished last night.

This is a difficult book to read. Zusak is a phenomenal writer; he has a brilliant way with words that you practically have to read to believe. His idea to have Death be the narrator, sometimes writing in first person and sometimes in third was an extraordinary, if not startling, concept. But it was slow reading. I wondered if it was because I was usually reading it at night; were the realities of the economy weighing on my mind, and so on. But in the end, I believe it is simply the subject matter. This was a horrific and shameful chapter in the history of humankind, and you cannot read The Book Thief without your heart being broken a hundred times. Or at least I couldn’t.

The story really does pick up in the last third of the book where the characters’ lives are all moving into more intense situations seeking some hopeful, but never hoped for, resolution. Each character, including Death, is extremely well drawn. Liesel, Rudy, Rosa, Hans, Max, Ilsa Hermann … are, if nothing else, real people in real relationships. But it seemed for me that it took a long time reading before they had become characters that I truly cared about, and I’m not sure why. It may be that the weight of Hitler’s Germany, woven well into the story line, drew me away from feeling more. Or perhaps I was afraid to feel more for them, knowing that Death was always nearby, ready to reach in and carry their souls away. And as he says, it was a very busy time for him.

So while a story dealing with pain and persecution, it is, however, still a story about love, friendship, loyalty, forgiveness, triumph over adversity, hope, and compassion. Markus Zusak is an amazing writer, and he has woven his story and characters together well, even if there is tremendous loss throughout the book. I do recommend The Book Thief … but to whoever reads it, be prepared for being drawn in to the tragic misfortunes of others in a frightening period of history, even while it is oftentimes no more than a backdrop to everyday lives and commonplace circumstances.

What I’m wondering as I write … not even 12 hours from finishing this book … is do I want to pick it up and read it again. And I’m not sure what to make of that.

Pushing Buttons

/ still a dreamer

pushbuttonWe all get our buttons pushed. No doubt we push others’ buttons, too. But what happens when we get our buttons pushed is a variety of emotional reactions, none of which is usually very good.

Getting our buttons pushed can make us angry, afraid, resentful, depressed, withdrawn and so many other feelings. The results in the “real” world are that we behave differently than we did “pre-push.” Most often, when buttons get pushed, they are old buttons .. ones that have a history, and were pushed in the past. Maybe a lot. And when they all happen to get pushed at once? by a lot of people? Well, then things happen. Or don’t.

In my case, I fell off my blog entries. Didn’t feel much like writing. What’s always true, with rare exception, is the button-pushers push everyone’s buttons that way – the button pushing is really their issue and never personal. It often feels personal, though, and can be quite tiring. Will those people change who they are? Chances are, no. Can we do anything about it? Sure! We can bring their behavior to their attention, and if they care enough about us, they may try and adjust it. We can also avoid those people or situations, and if that’s not possible, limit exposure to them. Finding a way to deal with the button-pushers is also helpful.

But what really works is understanding that we have buttons and that it’s always old stuff. The button-pushers? Their issue, not personal … let it go and move on.

Liquid Fire on A Busy Day

/ still a dreamer / 2 Comments

applejuiceHaving a children’s book Mentoring Workshop on the horizon is both exciting and a bit stressful. There’s lots to do and prepare for — in this case a NJ SCBWI Mentoring Workshop — prepping my portfolio to the best I have it so far, getting ready my first pages, critiquing my group’s MS’s, and seeing if I can complete one more illustration for my portfolio before the big day. Of course, the daily demands of my clients do not lessen any.

With a mind charging about like a runaway train, I suddenly was stopped in my tracks and noticed something – beautiful, simple and wonderfully distracting. My glass of apple juice on the dining room oak table had become a crystal of liquid amber filled with fire.

Note to self – never get so crazed that you don’t see these amazing visual moments.

Bad Boys on the Farm

/ still a dreamer

mylesbadboys-w1

If this doesn’t look like a bunch of bad kids on the corner debating what kind of shenanigans they’re going to get into next, I don’t know what does.

As it happens, the 3 horses, Ghost, Silas and Dillon, are not bad boys at all, but were simply deciding who was going to get to play with who, and who was going to be the “odd man out.” (It was Ghost.)

These horses are among many more rescued by Mylestone Equine Rescue, a horse rescue near where I live, and whom I help with their web site, graphics and occasional photography. I had zipped over to photograph some great kids who’d raised funds for the horses, and as usual, couldn’t help myself from taking a few more shots around the farm. This one just seemed to have a story of its own going on.

If you like horses, you’ll enjoy reading about the outstanding job Mylestone Equine Rescue does in taking in and rehabilitating horses that have been starved, abused, abandoned, or were on their way to auction and most likely, slaughter.  Check out their web site. 

myleslucy-w1Did I mention some of them are just plain cute?  Here’s Lucy, inseparable friend of Peppermint Patty.

The Mermaid Chair – Part 2

/ still a dreamer

mermaidchairWhat a terrific read! In The Mermaid Chair, Sue Monk Kidd has given us a tale of a woman searching for her lost soul. Jessie Sullivan, the main character, tells us her story in first person … that of a woman deeply restless in her marriage, lost and unhappy. She is called back to the place where she grew up, Egret Island, by friends of the family on the occasion of her mother having taken a meat cleaver and chopped off one of her fingers. 

Once at the island, the plot really unfolds with this bizarre mystery, Jessie’s unforeseen attraction to a monk, her struggle with her relationship with her husband of many years, the riches of female friendship, and the mermaid chair itself. Not the least of it all, is the magnificent description of place.

For the duration of this book, I was immersed in the physical life of Egret Island, an imaginary place off Charleston, South Carolina. Monk has nothing short of an exquisite use of words in describing the island, the marshes, birds, and sultry air. I am truly in awe of her ability to bring me to a place that lives and breathes so, that surrounds me while I read. For this, I was sorry when the book ended … I loved being there.

With a richness of characters in the women – Nelle, (Jessie’s mother), friends Hepzibah and Kat, and Kat’s daughter, Benne- The Mermaid Chair weaves the mystery — what caused her mother to brutally attack her own body this way? And then, how is Jessie Sullivan attracted to a monk? Brother Thomas/Whit is also wonderfully drawn, as is Jessie’s husband Hugh. While Jessie struggles, searching for answers in her own life as well as for her mother, she paints. And paints, in ways she’s never seen herself do before.

The Mermaid Chair is described as a coming-of-middle-age novel, which could sound kind of ho-hum unless in the hands of a very skilled writer. Have no fear – Sue Monk Kidd is that writer. It really is a book I couldn’t put down and was reading past the hour when I should have been asleep. It simply has everything … a deep mystery, love and passion, the bond of female friendship and a search for one’s soul.

When all is said and done, other than Monk’s exceptional writing, the most compelling comparison I could make between The Mermaid Chair and The Secret Life of Bees,  is that I truly never knew how it was going to end. And that’s a good thing.