This one was a pretty heavy book, but one that I had been looking forward to reading for some time. It centers on a young girl's trials and tribulations in Nazi Germany. It is told from the perspective of....wait for it....death. So, yeah, not really full of sunshine and rainbows.
Luckily, to help streamline our discussion into coherent thoughts, Cat provided a discussion guide, which was very helpful. I'll use the guide as an outline of our discussion.
What do you think drives Liesel's hunger to read? How is that connected to the book, The Gravedigger's Handbook, which serves as a kind of guide for her?
We all agreed that the Gravedigger's Handbook served as the last connection Liesel had to her deceased brother. Reading provided Liesel with a (much needed) escape from reality, as well as a connection to her foster father, Hans, who taught her to read. Also, reading gave Liesel a kind control and power that she had never had before. This was illustrated by her ability to calm everyone in the bomb shelter by reading aloud.
We also discussed how reading provided Liesel with connections to other people - Hans who taught her to read, Rudy with whom she stole books, the mayor's wife who let her read her books and let her steal her books, the people in the shelter who she calmed, the mean neighbor lady whose name escapes me, etc. After the meeting, I realized that books are doing the same for us! Reading the same book as another person connects us in a way nothing else really does. Even though we all come away with different impressions and like/dislike different things, reading books provides us with a unique connection to another person that we don't really get from anything else.
How does Hans encourage her to read? What role does his unusual "dictionary" play in Liesel's quest to learn to read?
I took issue with this question, because I felt like Liesel really had the desire and drive to learn to read and while Hans helped her, I don't think he had to necessarily "encourage" her to learn. Anyway, we discussed how he comforted her in the night and used that time to teach her to read, and had her paint the words she did not know on the wall in the basement.
How did Rosa and Liesel's relationship evolve through the course of the story?
I think we were all impressed with Rosa's character development through the story. She is initially a little intimidating, but her goodness is reflected at various points through the story, particularly the fact that she did not bat an eye at taking Max in, even though the consequences could have been catastrophic. Her love for Hans was reflected by her sitting up with the accordion when he was gone. It was also really sweet/funny how she showed up and yelled at Liesel at school in order to tell Liesel that Max had pulled through his illness.
How does Liesel's friendship with her neighbor Rudy become a transformative relationship for her?
I'm not sure if we really answered this question - if we did, it didn't make it into my notes. (Save your insults to my note-taking, Baron!) Basically we all talked about how we liked Rudy as a character, and the irony that he was the picture of Aryan perfection, but rejected the Nazi ideal. He would rather be Jesse Owens! Rudy really brought Liesel out of her shell.
Even after Liesel learns how to read, Max tells her she has much to learn about really observing the things around her. What's the difference between reading and observing (or understanding)?
To be honest, I don't really remember Max telling this to Liesel. Anyway, we talked about the book's discussion of Hitler's propaganda and how Liesel came to understand that Hitler's real power came through words.
Death is the book's omniscient narrator. Why is Death a central figure in this story?
In response to this question, we discussed how Death was "everywhere" at that time and that it was an interesting perspective. We discussed how Death would foretell what was going to happen, and at least some of us weren't too happy about that. But we speculated that the author may have done it that way so that the deaths would not come as such a shock. Baron was really irked by some of Death's descriptors.
Why does Death find Liesel so exceptional?
Liesel was a survivor. Death commented at one point on his amazement of humans' ability to endure and carry on when faced by seemingly impossible obstacles.
What besides Liesel's love of reading helps her endure the difficult conditions around her?
Primarily her relationships with her foster parents, Rudy, and Max. And stealing.
Why do Hans and Rosa agree to hide Max in their basement?
We talked about Hans' relationship with Max's father, but thought that Hans and Rosa were such compassionate people that they probably would have helped Max even without that connection. We talked about Hans' act of defiance in giving bread to a Jewish person.
Overall, most of us enjoyed this book. Cat, JB, Deuce, and I gave it 4/5 stars; Indy gave it 5/5; and Baron gave it 2/5. We discussed our favorite characters, Hans and Rudy were the most popular, though Indy gave a shout out to Max. Interestingly, none of us picked Liesel as our favorite, and Baron downright disliked her.
It was a very unique way of telling about a particularly rough part of history. I thought it was interesting because it gave a snapshot of what regular German citizens thought about the war and how they were affected.
That being said, I think we're all ready for something a bit lighter, and I'm looking forward to MORIARTY next month. By the way, happy anniversary Novel Spirits. Looking forward to another great year of wine, wit, and wisdom with ya'll!
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