Death is Busy and it's the End for Himmel Street

The ending of The Book Thief, is probable the saddest I have ever read. This is the first book that I think I have had real emotion toward the characters. Before I give everything away I want to pick up where I left off. I'm going to finish the summary that I started last time. After Hans Hubermann goes to the war we see a different side from Rosa. She stays up long nights playing the saddest of songs on Hans’s accordion. Liesel would sometimes watch as she mumbled to herself all her prays to Hans. I think this had a lot of meaning because we see Rosa in the begining this strict hardknock mother, to more be more caring and sensitive now. And nothing has realy changed with Max he is still no where to be found. But something he left behind is now revealed. He gave a book to Rosa that he wrote while staying with the Hubermanns; he told Rosa to give it to Liesel when the time was right. As Liesel began to feel depressed about Papa leaving, Rosa could not think of a better time. I think the book had symbolism of not forgetting. Whenever the story kind of detours away from Max he reemerges in their mind after hearing a phrase or seeing something.

The war just keeps getting worse and worse for Germany. Death is busy at the moment. We also see the mayor's wife, Ilsa Hermann, reach out to Liesel again with cookies. I know I have been hopping around with subjects a bit but I’m trying to get the information you will need to get the most out of the ending of the novel.

Well back to Hans who is now in the army. He meets a man by the name of Reinhold Zucker who was a pretty rude and obnoxious person. Hans was very well liked always offering tobacco to his superiors. After they introduced Reinhold, Death says, “ it kills me sometimes, how people die.” . This author has used this sort of thing a lot, giving away peoples fates then filling in the blanks. I think it’s interesting how Death has emotion toward the lives he takes. What ends up happening is while traveling in a truck with the rest of his group, they get a flat and the truck starts flipping over. The only one dead was Reinhold and ironically he forced Hans Hubermann to move out of his sit to the back where it was smelly. Even after this Hans with such a kind soul blames himself saying “It should have been me who died”. Just one of the many acts of sympathy and kindnesses we see from Hans. We leave Hans knowing the burden of guilt he has, they explain what happens after this event later in the book, back to Himel street. Frau Holtapfel their neighbor, lost one of her 2 sons in the war. She is beginning to lose hope in the world. Her other son, Michael, has come back home to comfort her. During the next air raid, she would not come out of her kitchen and the bombs were beginning to drop. She ended up coming down for Michael’s sake she later exclaimed. Michael’s character seems to be cheerful and upbeat but from death's insight we see he feels he is not fit for this world. Michael ends up killing himself, he will not be the only soul Death will steal or relieve in the near future. After all these events the novel picks up pace. One thing I did want to mention was a change in Liesel's and Isla Hermanns relationship. Liesel went up to the mayor's house one day (Isla Hermann's husband), she planned on stealing a book. When she arrived, she just could not bring herself to do it because of all the recent events. She ended up leaving a note stating she was done stealing from her library and sorry for any inconveniance she might have caused. The letter was so well written that Isla Hermann came the next day with a blank book. She said she should write in it and that you have a remarkable story, little book thief. I think this is where the title was derived from. Later that day Hans Hubermann made his way back home, he had broken his leg in the crash.
A new section starts and Death gets right into things giving us a glimpse of the future. Himel Street is flattened. In a sea of flames, it amounts to rubble. I disliked and liked that the author wrote it this way. It still makes you want to read to see everything that happened and the emotions that were swirling around. But on the other hand, it ruins a lot of things that you might have been looking forward to, a sense of mystery. Now Death goes back to where he was before Hans came home. Here comes Max. Another parade of Jews is arriving to Himmel street; Max being one of them. I started this post by saying this one of the only books I have ever had true emotions for the characters. And when Liesel meets up with Max Markus Zusak made it so you were right there next them, hearing every word. It was a heartwarming moment when they met up but soon turned to heartbreaking when they were both whipped and torn away from each other. She embraced him and told him how hard it was without him. He told her to stay strong the worst has not come yet, leaving with the words “It’s a beautiful day to die” as he was whisked off into the camps. Rudy helped her up after being slapped and insulted by the Nazi’s. After she was filled with all these emotions she could not help but tell Rudy everything. He promised to keep her secret, which would not be hard considering he would be dead the next day. The End of the World as Death describes it. Liesel lately had spent much of her time writing her book in the basement. She loved the basement because of all the memories there. Learning to first read and write, Max the Jewish fighter who was determined to kill Hitler, and now she got to write her life story there. She was the only one who lived. It happened at night, it was too late when the Sirens were sounded. Allie planes galloped through the sky and made Himel Street lifeless. Death described everyones death and Liesels reaction. First was her best friend Rudy Stiener: “Come on, Jesse Ownes—" But the boy did not wake. In disbelief, Liesel buried her head into Rudy’s chest. She held his limp body, trying to keep him from lolling back, until she needed to return him to the butchered ground. This is what Liesel had said when she saw him. When they first met and till the day he died all he ever wanted was a kiss from Liesel. She kissed him as he was being carted away. Next was Papa and Mama... This is the part of the book that was most memorable to me and most impacting. The whole day she cried holding her parents, not able to comprehend what had occurred that night. To have a full reaction to this novel, I think you would have to read The Book Thief for yourself. I can only give you my thoughts and a brief overview. Markus Zusak did a stupendous job creating this story. Depressing as it is it is probably one of my favorite books I have ever read. The uniqueness of Death as the narrator fits perfectly to this time period. And all the analysis he put into each character revealed by Liesel and Death himself. I felt like I was right next to Death while he told the story, this is how amazingly he described each scene. Before I finish this post I want to give you guys a little bit of happiness and leave on that note. Liesel ends up living with Isla Hermann in the Mayor's house (which received no damage). She did not talk for weeks, until Mr. Stiener came back from the army. He had the same reaction as Liesel did with her parents. A few years had passed and Liesel worked with Mr. Stiener in his shop. Max wanders into the store one day after the Nazi’s were no more, being one of the lucky to survive. Staying with Liesel till her death at the age of 72. As Death took her soul he handed her the book she had written and finished the night her parents died. She sobbed and asked if he’d read it. He said he had many times. Liesel also asked if he understood it. There was a pause. Deaths response, “I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she did not already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race—that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its' words and stories so damning and brilliant. None of those things, however came out of my mouth. All I was able to do was turn to Liesel Meminger and tell her the only truth I truly know. I said it to the book thief and I say it now to you. A last note from your narrator. I am haunted by humans.” There are many things you can take from this quote and book but for me it was that humans have an impact on Death. Thank you everyone who has taken an interest in my blog, I suggest everyone reading this blog takes the time to read The Book Thief for themself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95s8GlKY40o&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fthekoolaidmom%2Ewordpress%2Ecom%2F2009%2F03%2F21%2Fthe%2Dbook%2Dthief%2Dby%2Dmarkus%2Dzusak%2F&feature=player_embedded-Please take a look at this video it might antis you to get your own copy.