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.

Q3 Outside Reading Post #3

As I read more of the book, I found out more about the war situation in Germany.  While Liesel and Rudy are walking they walk by a shop owned by Frau Diller.  Markus Zusak describes her as, "a sharp-edged woman with fat glasses and a nefarious glare.  She developed this evil look to discourage the very idea of stealing from her shop, which she occupied with soldierlike posture, a refrigerated voice, and even breath that smelled like "heil Hitler" (49-50).  Many people were afraid to go into her shop because of her intimidating presence.  She was also very strict about "heiling Hitler".  Zusak writes, "If you walked into her shop and didn't say "heil Hitler," you wouldn't be served" (50).  This really shows the effect Hitler had on a lot of citizens of Germany.  The firm believers loved Hitler and everything he did.  He had hypnotized them into believing so many things that people forced others to basically bow down to him or else they wouldn't help.

We also see what happens to the Jews in Germany.  Hitler was starting to destroy their lives.  Zusak writes, "A few of the shops were abandoned and still labeled with yellow stars and anit-Jewish slurs" (50).  All the shops owned and ran by Jews were quickly shut down.  They would be labeled with a Jewish star to represent that it was ran by a Jew.  The Nazis would destroy the shop and write nasty comments on the building so they couldn't run the business anymore.  While Rudy and and Liesel were walking, they ended their trip at "The road of yellow stars" (51).  Down this street, every house had a yellow Jewish star painted on the door.  Hitler wanted to make sure the Jews were clearly noticed in society.  He made them wear yellow Jewish stars and paint yellow Jewish stars on their houses and businesses.  Everyone would know who or what was Jew because of the symbol.  They would stop going to those stores or stop talking to the Jewish people because of Hitler's rules.  It will be interesting to see how much worse the Jews are treated in that part of town as the war goes on.

Q3 Outside Reading Post #2

In the next section I read, I found out more about the town Liesel was living in.  It was a small town in Germany named, Molching, more specifically, Himmel Street.  Markus Zusak writes, "On the whole, it was a street filled with relatively poor people, despite the apparent rise of Germany's economy under Hitler" (46).  Even though the economy as a whole was doing well, there were many smaller towns around who were still poor.  The debt of the war had a very lasting negative effect on many people.  Even though the street was poor, the people didn't let that stop them from being happy.  Zusak writes, "On Himmel Street, friendships were made outside, no matter the weather" (47).  The children were all friends with each other.  Since they were all poor, they had something to relate to and there wasn't any competition on who had more money or better toys.  They were all in the same boat.  Although Liesel moved into a poor household, anything seemed so much better than where she came from.

In this section, we also meet a new character who lives on Himmel Street with Liesel, Rudy Steiner.  Zusak describes him as, "the boy next door who was obsessed with the black American athlete Jesse Owens,"(46) and, "He was eight months older than Liesel and had bony legs, sharp teeth, gangly blue eyes, and hair the color of lemon.  One of six Steiner children, he was permanently hungry" (48).  We get a good picture of Rudy through this.  He seems to be the tough kid on the block who the kids fear.  We also find out that he secretly likes Liesel along with all the other ladies.  Markus Zusak writes, "He liked girls a lot, and he liked Liesel (hence, the snowball).  In fact, Rudy Steiner was one of those audacious little bastards who actually fancied himself with the ladies" (48-49).  This might be foreshadowing something that comes later in the book.  I wonder if something will spark between Liesel and him.  

Quarter 3 Outside Reading Post 1: The Book Thief

This quarter for outside reading, I am reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.  It is about a young girl, Lisel, who has recently moved to Germany to live with her foster parents.  She is a ten year old girl who hasn't really had a chance to expirience life yet because she was poor. Zusak uses many vivid descriptions in his book.  One description of Lisel he writes is, "Everything about her was undernourished.  Wirelike shins.  Coat hanger arms.  She did not produce it easily, but when it came, she had a starving smile.  Her hair was a close enough brand of German blond, but she had dangerous eyes.  Dark brown" (31).  From this description, we see that it was obvious Lisel was poor because she was very skinny and didn't have a healthy look about her.  In the beginning of the book, we also find out that the narrator calls her "the book thief".  She aquired this name because she steels books whenever she sees some lying around.  Although she is illiterate, she still thrives to find new books.  Zusak writes, "There was something black and rectangular lodged in the snow.  Only the girl saw it.  She bent down and picked it up and held it firmly in her fingers" (24).  This is one of the most valuable books Lisel inquired because she stole it at her brother's feuneral.  This was the last time she was with her brother so she cherishes this book.

In the beginning of the book we also see that the author is very into color.  In every chapter, there is something about color.  He writes, "First the colors.  Then the humans.  That's usually how I see things.  Or at least, how I try" (3).  This quote really describes how he views things in life, based on color.  "Some of you are most likely thinking that white is not really a color and all of that tired sort of nonsense.  Well, I'm here to tell you that it is.  White is without question a color, and personally, I don't think you want to argue with me" (6).  Zusak really shows his true feelings about color here.  Everything to him seems to be a color and seems to have a different meaning.  It will be interesting to continue to read and see what role color plays in this book.

Q2 Outside Reading Post 5: Miriam's Kitchen

This week, I finished the book, Miriam's Kitchen.  This week, a very unfortunate even occured.  Elizabeth's grandma, or Miriam, died.  Elizabeth Ehrlic describes one memory as, "Buried: the box that held her body was set in a hollow dug for that box, and her remains covered with earth" (317).  This is obviously a memory that has stuck with her for a long time.  She seems to remember this scene very clearly because of all the descriptive words she uses.  Miriam seemed to be a huge part of Elizabeth's life.  Ehrlic keeps one special thing of Miriam's to remember her.  She writes, "The ripping cloth stays with me, an image that serves the bubbe" (318).  The cloth seems to be an important keepsake to Ehrlic.  By keeping it with her at all times, she will always have a part of Miriam, or her bubbe, with.  This chapter really shows us that Miriam was one of the most important parts of Ehrlic's life.

In one of the last chapters, Continuity, we really see how important family is to Ehrlich.  By writing this book, she could capture and remember all the sad, happy, good and bad times she had with her family.  Ehrlich writes, "The stories were remembered for a reason.  Family stories, they were told and retold because they contained essential truths" (351).  The word "essential" really shows how important her family stories are to her.  Without them, life wouldn't be the same for her.  We also get a sense of how religion influenced her life.  She states, "Religion is a story that tells us how to live" (351).  By saying this, Ehrlic is saying the Judaism has made her who she is today.  She lives her life based off all of those rules and has been a huge part of her life.  By reading this book, one would be able to see the true meaning of religion, family, and memories to Elizabeth Ehrlich.