Welcome to the blog for our Day 1 Slot 3 students.
Welcome to our Book Thief Blog!
Amazon.ca describes this book as a "dark and powerfully absorbing novel, brilliantly executed". It's narrator calls it "just as small story, really." Jump in with both feet and surrender to one of the most gripping, unusual, hilarious books I've read in years. It's a book about books, about hate, about love, and about how words can be our most powerful weapons.
I'm not to sure if this is where I should comment on this. But I prefer the original cover for The Book Thief rather than the alternate one. I do not like the alternate cover because I don't think death should always look like death does on the alternate cover. It kinda of ruins peoples imaginations on what they could have imagined the character death to be/look like.
In my opinion, even though the vote for the book was done by very few people. It actually shows pretty accurate results of what would have happened if 100 people have voted. If 100 people actually did vote, I think that:
80% of the people would have voted it to be better, 4% to vote it to be about the same 15% to vote that it is Different 1% probably would have voted that it is not as good.
In my opinion this book should be classified as Better.
It seems as though Liesel doesn't have much of a personality, even though she's the main character. Death doesn't describe her as much as he descibes all the other characters. However, if he's reading from her diary, then she wouldn't have much about her features or physical appearance. Throughout the book, it's told for the most part from Liesel's perspective and as a heroine she doesn't have much personality other than she's brave, determined, tomboyish, and Death is clearly affectionate towards her. In this respect the author irritates me because she is exactly like every other heroine; doesn't have a distinguishing personality like all the other "side" characters. For instance, Rudy had many different aspects to his personality and has many interesting quirks that make the story enjoyable and interesting to read. I wonder if Death had picked up Rudy's diary, would it have been a better POV? If he had survived to speak with Death in his old age, would there have been a different moral? A new message to take from this book? Or would the author have made Rudy unimpressionable and Liesel the daredevil...
In my opinion, this is one of best books I have ever read. I would rate this book a 9.5 out of 10. It deserves this mark because people all throughout the book, Death made it seem so interesting by foreshadowing. By doing this it would want to make you keep on reading. Another reason why this is such a good book because it shows the German perspective of WW2 instead of the Jewish people’s perspective. If they told this story in the Jewish perspective, it would be like any old book. I think that it lost half a point because in my opinion almost no book is worthy to get a full 10/10, unless it is super outstanding.
I agree with Michaela, the Alternate cover doesn't leave any room for imagination. Although in the book Death kind of says that if you look in the mirror you will see Death. So does that mean that Death looks like who is going to die? Eg. Death, in my eyes, looks like me. Death in Obamas eyes, looks like Obama.
In my opinion, I like the new cover of the book better than the original one because it shows both Liesel and Death together. This is a key point in the story because in the original cover, all they showed was a bunch of dominoes to show the uncertainty of what could happen next in the novel. But with this cover, it shows that Death is clearly interacted with Liesel. This cover is meant to show that Death is reading her Liesel’s diary.
I think that the alternate cover is sweet because it shows Liesel and Death together, and not alone finally. I still like the one with the dominoes better because it seems more mysterious and more appropriate to the Holocaust theme. I think its more interesting to look at too because you can imagine where the rest of the picture is going and "is he going to knock over the domino?!" The suspense is key to the tone of the rest of the book.
This post is meant to differentiate the reasons why the original color was used over the newer one. The original cover could have been used to show that war involves Death. Death is usually associated with the color black. The symbol of death shows all the hatred in the war and what it has done to our society. The newer cover is used for blood and fighting because it is the color red. This was probably used to show that blood and fighting was also a big part in the war and it was not very noticeable in the first cover.
After doing all this blogging, I would have to say I really enjoyed the whole experience of it. One reason is because it just lets you express all your feelings out for the book without being judged about it. Another reason why I liked to blog the book thief is because you can learn from other people's posts and apply their strengths into your own blogs. Also, I found it pretty unique to comment on the book through the internet and not through paper and this is another reason why it made it so fun.
Now you guys know who I am :) Anyways, I think that the dominoes cover was more appropriate, because not only are all actions a domino effect, but there's a part in the book where Rudy is playing dominoes with his sisters and that's when the Gustapo come for him, but his father goes in his place. Which happened to have a domino effect in that one sequence. Also, on the cover with Liesel and Death, Death is all skeletal and has a hooded black robe on. At one point in the book Death states that he doesn't actually have the skeletal features that we always give him, and he only wears a hooded cape thing when it's raining. So that kind of bothered me about that cover, which is why I like the other cover more.
In my opinion, The Book Thief is the oddest book I've ever read. But it's also one of my favorites (and I've read a lot of books). I really love how Death foreshadows and zigzags back and forth between past and present, and how he interjects little facts about himself into his narrative. One thing I would change about the story is; I wouldn't kill everyone in the end because I thought that was kind of cliche. You know, how in some books the hero/heroine is the only character left alive because the author wanted to symbolize something (ie. the Holocaust)or they got bored with the direction the plot was going in. The Book Thief is different from any other book I have ever read and for that reason all the more enjoyable.
In my oppinion the alternate cover is better and fits the book better becasue the original cover doesn't interest me. When I look at the cover I think of something bad happens and then nothing, but when I look at the alternate cover i right away start thinking what could this book be about. I see a girl holding hands with someone that looks like a evil dead person which is not normal for most books. The cover makes me think of so many things and right away catch's my eyes. Although there is no detailed backround, the image still interest's me to read. I don't think the dominos were a bad cover, but I think if someone saw the cover for the first time without reading what it was about, they wouldn't understand the meaning behind the dominos. I also think Death and Liesel being on the cover helps the readers visualize the book and to help first time readers figure out who the narrature is. If I didn't get told who the narrature was in the begining then I probably wouldn't of figured it out untill like a quatre through the book.
At the end of the book, when Death comes for Liesel, I think it'd would've been nice for him to tell her all the things he wanted to talk about, and maybe she could've helped him, in a way, with his job. Like, accompanied him, talked with him, shared his experiences. I think that they could've become friends, and Death wouldn't be so lonely. Since Death knows so much about Liesel, he could've told her more about himself and she could've understood more about him. It would be cool if she spent her after life with Death instead of going the normal route.
I liked blogging for the Book Thief because you actually got a look at what everyone else was thinking and all the different perspectives on the novel. To me it was kind of like a classroom discussion but without the sidetracking and with A LOT more time to think about what you want to say (or type). If we could choose between doing blogging again or an in classroom project for the Book Thief I think I would definitely choose blogging because it doesn't take up much time and lets us move on to another project at the same time.
Markus Zusak did a really good job at making the book dark and kinda depressing. He created death as the narrator and gave him a very good personality and observation on life and death. The Holocaust was also a horrible time for many people and soo many interesting things happened during that time which makes this such a great book with such interesting and educational story's
It was hard for me to find images I wanted to use but then i realized that the text in the book was giving me mental images that were close to what some of my music made me think of. Here are some of my songs and how they make me think of the book. 1)Leisel wakes up from dreaming of her brother back. In "Camatose by Skillet" its a guy wanting a girl back and a different type of love but it still gives the same fell of waking up to miss the one you love. 2)Rosa clearly has issues. I don't know what made her like this and wish we had more of a backstory to her but the song "Shes Got Issuse" by "The Offspring" does a pretty good job of filling in the blanks for me. 3)When we get a backstory to Hans in WWI it gave me this cold lonely feeling "when there is nothing left around him and knowone left to blame"-Rusted From the Rain by Billy Tallent. 4)For all of Hitler's birthday there was a fir to burn religious veiws and through the entire chapter of the fire I had "Christians Inferno by Green Day" running through my head. this collection of my songs has helped me see the story better then any of the images i could fing on the internet.If you havent heard one of these songs listen to them and see if you get the same visuals I did.
I would just like to point out this book was very interesting and was definitly worth reading, and definitly worth reading again. The author did a very good job and the book was writen very well and detailed. This book was very confusing at points, but other wise the author set this book up very Creatively and must have done alot of thinking to make this book as good as it was.
I'm not to sure if this is where I should comment on this. But I prefer the original cover for The Book Thief rather than the alternate one. I do not like the alternate cover because I don't think death should always look like death does on the alternate cover. It kinda of ruins peoples imaginations on what they could have imagined the character death to be/look like.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, even though the vote for the book was done by very few people. It actually shows pretty accurate results of what would have happened if 100 people have voted.
ReplyDeleteIf 100 people actually did vote, I think that:
80% of the people would have voted it to be better,
4% to vote it to be about the same
15% to vote that it is Different
1% probably would have voted that it is not as good.
In my opinion this book should be classified as Better.
It seems as though Liesel doesn't have much of a personality, even though she's the main character. Death doesn't describe her as much as he descibes all the other characters. However, if he's reading from her diary, then she wouldn't have much about her features or physical appearance. Throughout the book, it's told for the most part from Liesel's perspective and as a heroine she doesn't have much personality other than she's brave, determined, tomboyish, and Death is clearly affectionate towards her. In this respect the author irritates me because she is exactly like every other heroine; doesn't have a distinguishing personality like all the other "side" characters. For instance, Rudy had many different aspects to his personality and has many interesting quirks that make the story enjoyable and interesting to read. I wonder if Death had picked up Rudy's diary, would it have been a better POV? If he had survived to speak with Death in his old age, would there have been a different moral? A new message to take from this book? Or would the author have made Rudy unimpressionable and Liesel the daredevil...
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, this is one of best books I have ever read. I would rate this book a 9.5 out of 10. It deserves this mark because people all throughout the book, Death made it seem so interesting by foreshadowing. By doing this it would want to make you keep on reading. Another reason why this is such a good book because it shows the German perspective of WW2 instead of the Jewish people’s perspective. If they told this story in the Jewish perspective, it would be like any old book. I think that it lost half a point because in my opinion almost no book is worthy to get a full 10/10, unless it is super outstanding.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Michaela, the Alternate cover doesn't leave any room for imagination. Although in the book Death kind of says that if you look in the mirror you will see Death. So does that mean that Death looks like who is going to die? Eg. Death, in my eyes, looks like me.
ReplyDeleteDeath in Obamas eyes, looks like Obama.
who is ominousforeshadowingassassin?
ReplyDeleteNot related to the book, but who is ominousforeshadowingassassin?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I like the new cover of the book better than the original one because it shows both Liesel and Death together. This is a key point in the story because in the original cover, all they showed was a bunch of dominoes to show the uncertainty of what could happen next in the novel. But with this cover, it shows that Death is clearly interacted with Liesel. This cover is meant to show that Death is reading her Liesel’s diary.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI think that the alternate cover is sweet because it shows Liesel and Death together, and not alone finally. I still like the one with the dominoes better because it seems more mysterious and more appropriate to the Holocaust theme. I think its more interesting to look at too because you can imagine where the rest of the picture is going and "is he going to knock over the domino?!" The suspense is key to the tone of the rest of the book.
ReplyDeleteThis post is meant to differentiate the reasons why the original color was used over the newer one. The original cover could have been used to show that war involves Death. Death is usually associated with the color black. The symbol of death shows all the hatred in the war and what it has done to our society. The newer cover is used for blood and fighting because it is the color red. This was probably used to show that blood and fighting was also a big part in the war and it was not very noticeable in the first cover.
ReplyDeleteAfter doing all this blogging, I would have to say I really enjoyed the whole experience of it. One reason is because it just lets you express all your feelings out for the book without being judged about it. Another reason why I liked to blog the book thief is because you can learn from other people's posts and apply their strengths into your own blogs. Also, I found it pretty unique to comment on the book through the internet and not through paper and this is another reason why it made it so fun.
ReplyDeleteNow you guys know who I am :) Anyways, I think that the dominoes cover was more appropriate, because not only are all actions a domino effect, but there's a part in the book where Rudy is playing dominoes with his sisters and that's when the Gustapo come for him, but his father goes in his place. Which happened to have a domino effect in that one sequence. Also, on the cover with Liesel and Death, Death is all skeletal and has a hooded black robe on. At one point in the book Death states that he doesn't actually have the skeletal features that we always give him, and he only wears a hooded cape thing when it's raining. So that kind of bothered me about that cover, which is why I like the other cover more.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, The Book Thief is the oddest book I've ever read. But it's also one of my favorites (and I've read a lot of books). I really love how Death foreshadows and zigzags back and forth between past and present, and how he interjects little facts about himself into his narrative. One thing I would change about the story is; I wouldn't kill everyone in the end because I thought that was kind of cliche. You know, how in some books the hero/heroine is the only character left alive because the author wanted to symbolize something (ie. the Holocaust)or they got bored with the direction the plot was going in. The Book Thief is different from any other book I have ever read and for that reason all the more enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteIn my oppinion the alternate cover is better and fits the book better becasue the original cover doesn't interest me. When I look at the cover I think of something bad happens and then nothing, but when I look at the alternate cover i right away start thinking what could this book be about. I see a girl holding hands with someone that looks like a evil dead person which is not normal for most books. The cover makes me think of so many things and right away catch's my eyes. Although there is no detailed backround, the image still interest's me to read. I don't think the dominos were a bad cover, but I think if someone saw the cover for the first time without reading what it was about, they wouldn't understand the meaning behind the dominos. I also think Death and Liesel being on the cover helps the readers visualize the book and to help first time readers figure out who the narrature is. If I didn't get told who the narrature was in the begining then I probably wouldn't of figured it out untill like a quatre through the book.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the book, when Death comes for Liesel, I think it'd would've been nice for him to tell her all the things he wanted to talk about, and maybe she could've helped him, in a way, with his job. Like, accompanied him, talked with him, shared his experiences. I think that they could've become friends, and Death wouldn't be so lonely. Since Death knows so much about Liesel, he could've told her more about himself and she could've understood more about him. It would be cool if she spent her after life with Death instead of going the normal route.
ReplyDeleteI liked blogging for the Book Thief because you actually got a look at what everyone else was thinking and all the different perspectives on the novel. To me it was kind of like a classroom discussion but without the sidetracking and with A LOT more time to think about what you want to say (or type). If we could choose between doing blogging again or an in classroom project for the Book Thief I think I would definitely choose blogging because it doesn't take up much time and lets us move on to another project at the same time.
ReplyDeleteMarkus Zusak did a really good job at making the book dark and kinda depressing. He created death as the narrator and gave him a very good personality and observation on life and death. The Holocaust was also a horrible time for many people and soo many interesting things happened during that time which makes this such a great book with such interesting and educational story's
ReplyDeleteIt was hard for me to find images I wanted to use but then i realized that the text in the book was giving me mental images that were close to what some of my music made me think of.
ReplyDeleteHere are some of my songs and how they make me think of the book.
1)Leisel wakes up from dreaming of her brother back. In "Camatose by Skillet" its a guy wanting a girl back and a different type of love but it still gives the same fell of waking up to miss the one you love.
2)Rosa clearly has issues. I don't know what made her like this and wish we had more of a backstory to her but the song "Shes Got Issuse" by "The Offspring" does a pretty good job of filling in the blanks for me.
3)When we get a backstory to Hans in WWI it gave me this cold lonely feeling "when there is nothing left around him and knowone left to blame"-Rusted From the Rain by Billy Tallent.
4)For all of Hitler's birthday there was a fir to burn religious veiws and through the entire chapter of the fire I had "Christians Inferno by Green Day" running through my head.
this collection of my songs has helped me see the story better then any of the images i could fing on the internet.If you havent heard one of these songs listen to them and see if you get the same visuals I did.
Is it just me or does anyone else imagine everything in black and white?
ReplyDeleteI would just like to point out this book was very interesting and was definitly worth reading, and definitly worth reading again. The author did a very good job and the book was writen very well and detailed. This book was very confusing at points, but other wise the author set this book up very Creatively and must have done alot of thinking to make this book as good as it was.
ReplyDelete