Q3 Outside Reading Post #6

In this part of the book, we learn that World War II has just begun.  It is now the big thing in Germany.  Markus Zusak writes, "The Fuhrer's voice roared from German radios.  We will not give up.  We will not rest.  We will be victorious.  Our time has come" (74).  This shows that the Germans are ready to fight.  They want to win this battle and will do anything it takes in order to win.  The action starts to begin too.  Zusak writes, "The German invasion of Poland had begun and people were gathered everywhere, listening to the news of it.  Munich Street, like every other main street in Germany, was alive with war" (74).  War has really started to take over Germany.  Everyone you went, there were soldiers patrolling the streets and your every move.  Everyone was identified and had there differences pointed out.  If you were not there definition of "normal" you would be killed or sent away.

Liesel, "the book thief", steels her second book at the beginning of the second part.  The narrator, who is still anonymous, sates facts about her book stealing.  Zusak writes, "First stolen book: January 13, 1939 Second stolen book: April 20, 1940 Duration between said stolen books: 463 days" (83).  I find this interesting because ever since Liesel has been at her new home, she hasn't stolen a book.  I wonder if this is because her "How to dig a grave" book is so important to her and that is the one book that she wants to focus on.  After every book Liesel steals, she seems to always get joy out of it.  Zusak writes, "When she looked back, Liesel was not ashamed to have stolen in.  On the contrary, it was pride that more resembled that small pool of felt something in her stomach" (84).  It is interesting that stealing doesn't seem to make her feel guilty inside.  She has such a passion for books that nothing could really make her feel bad about stealing.  As the book goes on, I wonder if her feelings towards steeling will change or how many more books she will steel.  

Q3 Outside Reading Post #5

In these pages of the book, Lisel starts to learn how to read.  The city in which they live in is very poor.  They also don't have a good education so a lot of them are illiterate.  Even adults, such as Papa, didn't know how to read either.  Markus Zusak writes, "To tell you the truth, Papa explained upfront, I am not such a good reader myself" (85).  This really shows that Papa wasn't the best reader either.  I don't understand how one can go very far in life without reading.  This might be why they live in a poor area of town.  If one can't read well, they can't get a good job because all jobs require at least some sort of reading.  Lisel, being as curious as she is, was very eager to start reading.  Zusak writes, "Over the next few weeks and into summer, the midnight class began at the end of each nightmare" (69).  Lisel wanted to learn to read very badly.  Every time she had one of her usual nightmares, Papa would comfort her by teaching her different letters of the alphabet.  Those letters eventually came words she could read and finally sentences.

It is very interesting because at this point of the book, we still don't know who the narrator is.  It really keeps you thinking of all the possibilities of whom it might be.  This book is told from a point of view of someone who is watching.  It is almost like the narrator is some sort of stalker because he/she knows everything that is going in their lives at every moment.  I wonder when we will find out who the actual narrator is.  

Q3 Outside Reading Post #4

In these next pages I read, there was more talk about the war.  The Nazi party was starting to gain more and more control.  Markus Zusak writes, "The brown-shirted extremist members of the NSDAP (otherwise known as the Nazi Party) had marched down Munich Street, their banners worn proudly, their faces held high, as if on sticks" (62).  The Nazis started parading their beliefs.  All of the supporters of the Nazi party would go and watch.  This started to help them gain more support from the people, along with all of their threats.  Zusak describes the Nazi supporters as, "People on the street stood and watched, some with straight-armed salutes, others with hands that burned from applause.  Some kept faces that were contorted by pride and rally like Frau Diller, and then there were the scatterings of odd men out, like Alex Steiner, who stood like a human-shaped block of wood, clapping slow and dutiful.  And beautiful.  Submission" (62-63).  This quote really shows all the different reactions of the supporters.  Some were enthusiastic about their support and were very emotional about how they felt about the Nazi party.  Other's who were very prideful would just stand there and admire all the people parading by.  All of these people had been brain-washed by Hitler and his ways of ruling.

In these pages, Papa found Liesel's book that she had found a long time ago at her brother's burial.  She had wet the bed and he was changing the sheets.  Zusak writes, "and when he reached under and pulled at the fabric, something loosened and landed with a thud.  A black book with silver writing on it cam hurtling out and landed on the floor, between the man's feet" (63-64).  Liesel had been hiding this book for quite some time now.  She was worried about what Papa would think and what he would say.  To no surprise, he was fine with what he found.  He did not care at all and offered to read it to her.  She was very lucky that her mother didn't find it or else she would have been in big trouble.  After they had read the book, Papa started teaching Liesel more about how to read and write.