I Am The Messenger
Once again, I was blown away with Zusak's writing style. He narrates this story in the 1st person as Ed Kennedy, the epitome of mediocrity. Ed is an underage cabdriver whose life until now has been absolutely uninteresting in every possible way. He has only three real friends, a smelly, glutenous but lovable excuse for a dog and his mother hates him. But everything changes after Ed's uncharacteristic reaction to a bank robbery. He begins receiving playing cards in the mail, aces with address and names. Ed Kennedy becomes the Messenger.
Zusak's style is a favourite of mine. He narrates the story with a casual sort of language that seems real, if you know what I mean. Also his ability to not get lost in details is well respected. The characters still manage to appear real and Zusak is able to conjure up emotions in the reader, for the characters but he does so without a lot of unnecessary or dreary back-story and description.
The one problem I found with this book is that (and I agree with the critics on this one) the ending is absolutely dreadful. The entire book flowed nicely and the ideas seemed well planned until the end of the story where it seems like Zusak got bored with the story and rushed off the ending because he was too tired to think of anything better. I mean, the whole book was rendered pointless by that epic failure of an ending.
I still recommend this book. Apart from the ending, it was really a good read and Zusak remains one of my favourite authors.
The Giver is a more well known book. It is more a reflection on society, human nature and uniqueness than a casual read. It deals with the life of Jonas, a seemingly average youth growing up in the community. The story takes place sometime in the future when certain places adopt Sameness. Genetic scientists work to construct communities of people who do not see colour or hear music, who do not have religion nor birthdays. Everything is done orderly. Jobs are chosen for people, as are spouses and children. And there can only be 50 people of any age at one time. If more that 50 babies are born one year, they are 'released from the community' (killed - but the children do not know this), just as the Old are. The members of the community abide by the Rules which govern it and only one person is exempted from these rules, the Receiver. Jonas is chosen as the new Receiver and is trained by the old one, who is now known as the Giver. The Receiver holds the memories of times before Sameness and is held in high honor in the community. As Jonas learns though, he is horrified by what he discovers in the community and what has been lost due to the adoption of Sameness.
I strongly recommend this book. The ideas and story are quite riveting and I promise you that the story will hold your interest from cover to cover.
Okay it was good to get that out of my system... Now time to move on to The Host by Stephanie Meyer, then The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman ( I love a good controversial book - that's why I used to flaunt my Harry Potter's in church hehe), The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly and last but definitely not least, The Stand (Complete and Uncut edition) by Stephen King. That one I'm leaving for last, simply because of the sheer length of the damn thing!
Those books are not related in anyway except that they are all fiction navels. I hate books that you have to consciously learn things from - like textbooks...
I really have my work cut out for me don't I. And there's the added stress of CSEC Examinations being in 4-5 months!! I'm going to be so stressed out! *Takes a deep breath and mentally prepares himself for the next couple of months*
2 comments:
Hello, my name's Kristie. I read your post and couldn't help but to comment it and tell you how much i agree with you. I haven't read The Messenger, but Zusak's book, The Book Thief is one of my absolute favorites of all time. I never got tired of his writing style. If you haven't read The Book Thief i definitely recommend it. I also have a love for The Giver and have for many years.
You seem cool =)
Hey Kristie! The Book Thief is actually the first Markus Zusak book I've read. That one is amazing! And you seem really cool as well! Thanks so much for the comment and the follow =)
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