Monday 8 April 2013

I Am The Messenger - Markus Zusak; Review.



Book Details: 
Paperback: 357 pages
Publisher: Random House USA Children's Books
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0375836675
ISBN-13: 978-0375836671


Summary:
Protect the diamonds.
Survive the clubs.
Dig deep through the spades.
Feel the hearts.

Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He's pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery.

That's when the first ace arrives in the mail.
 That's when Ed becomes the messenger.


Links To Buy:



Rating:
Review:

This is what it feels like to be in love. It’s not your run of the mill butterflies, breathlessness. No. But rather the tingling of hairs across the back of your hand as you trace the words across the page and consume them silently. It’s the fluttering of your heart as you turn the page and your eyes quickly scan the events on that page, eager to see what happens but not eager enough to spoil the ending for you.

Okay so I sound crazy but I’m just teasing you guys haha *silently hides all the innermost feelings never to be revealed again* But in all honesty, love for me is a book that I’m already head over heels for before having even read it. Very few authors have that effect on me. J.K Rowling, Carlos Ruiz Zafon,  John Green, Jodi Picoult and now Markus Zusak.

After having read The Book Thief and being insanely blown away a few years ago, I was on the hunt for all his books. My powers of research were evidently stunted since I didn’t find anything *slaps self* but a while back I heard about I Am The Messenger. Finally, after endless Uni work and faffing about, I found a quite, rare workless weekend in which I started the book – and finished it within a day. Sorry for the long windedness of this, on to the review we go!

Markus Zusak has a way of spellbinding you with his words. Regardless of what his book is on, what era it’s set in, it’s his words that literally reach out from the book, grab you by the collar and drag you in. An added bonus? The plot itself is ingenious. There was a slight fear in me, about how will Zusak manage to pull out another corker after something as amazing as The Book Thief, but I needn’t have worried. Zusak’s work is such that it comes out in groves, he’s not short of talent, you just have to be patient with it and he will deliver.

I Am The Messenger caught me right from the get go. Imagine this. A bank robbery, a group of 4 friends spread out in the hostage, and 1 of them is complaining this is car is in the 15 minute only parking zone and he’s got a fine to pay. Probable death vs car issues. You can see the priorities clearly here. From there on, the book only gets better. Depth, mystery (always a must) and the truth about human nature. I couldn’t put it down.

Zusak’s writing is his best asset. He writes with his heart and captures your soul.
“Sometimes people are beautiful.
Not in looks.
Not in what they say.
Just in what they are.”

Come on people, aren’t you sold already?! .. Okay I need to keep this review coherent. *breathes* So yes, amazing writing. You’ll identify with the main character, Ed. Average Joe, but with potential for greatness. Isn’t Ed a character hidden in all of us? He may be the one delivering the messages in this book, but like Zusak himself rightly says, Ed is the message. About heart, truth, honesty, everything that comes with being a good person. You just have to let it out and be who you are. The touch of humanity and realism in the characters, not just Ed, but everyone from the first message to the very last, are all real, they all exist somewhere out there. And Zusak reveals how you can touch their lives, sometimes with just a kind word, sometimes with nothing.

An amazing book, amazing characters by an amazing author. I’m sorry this review is so gushy and not at all following the usual format, but that should say something about the effect this has on me. 5 stars falls short for the love I have for this book, but it’s close as I can get. 

As with other books that I've been blown away by, I'm going to leave some quotes  I adore!
____

“I think she ate a salad and some soup.

And loneliness.
She ate that, too. ” 


“My arms are killing me. 

I didn't know words could be so heavy.” 


 “My voice is like a rumour. I'm not sure if it came out or not, or if it is true.”
“It's impeccable how brutal the truth can be at times. You can only admire it. Usually, we walk around constantly believing ourselves. "I'm okay," we say. "I'm alright." But sometimes the truth arrives on you, and you can't get it off. That's when you realize that sometimes it even an answer - it's a question. Even now, I wonder how much of my life is convinced.” 


1 comment:

  1. You've captivated the feeling of reading this perfectly! It's such a head-over-heels sensation of just emotion caused by his amazing words. I've just read it myself and I feel like I need a cool down. This is one of those books that can be life changing. I think you've captivated it very well in your review. :)

    ReplyDelete