NavDharmyug

Easier will be steepest of the paths if you whisper to them, to the trees, and the rocks like a friend. : Me with Sanskriti (Nonu) I finished reading The Book Thief to my seven year old, though in bits and pieces, and then closed it with watching the magnificent movie adaptation today afternoon. The weather was kind, her interest was up, having read the book and it was almost ethereal, in a happy way. I kept on thinking why did I watch this movie with Nonu. I thought about it and wanted to share. Not that I do not watch movies often with her. I am a movie freak and the weekend with no new releases leaves me uneasy. Between me and my daughter, we keep on watching all the animation movies, much to the chagrin of her mother. But watching The Book Thief was different. It struck me when I read another “ All The Life We cannot See ” right after I read “ The Book Thief ”. These two books are about World War II, these two books are about death. Should I expose a seven year old ...

The Unsuspecting Casualties of War- Courtesy: Getty Images All the Light We Cannot See- Amazon Link Author: Anthony Doerr Publisher: Fourth Estate Published: 2014 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction It is a matter of sheer coincidence that I found two books written by authors from 21 st century about the worst wars in the last century. The first one was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak ( My review of The Book Thief- Click Here to read ) . I was worried if it was too much of similarity for the book to be able to hold my interest, after one has read the beautiful account of the second world-war in The Book Thief . But then perspective is what any author worth his salt can bring to his version of the story. The writer sits perched on a vantage point from where he watches the events of history and interprets them for us, the readers. The place from where he looks at the events makes the book or breaks it. While Markus Zusak and Anthony Doerr both s...

Book: The Book Thief Author: Markus Zusak Published in 2005 Awards: Commonwealth Writers' Prize, Publisher's Weekly Award Some voices have color, a distinct hay. If death were to have a voice, I presume it would be blue, with a tinge of gray on the borders. When death speaks in his solemn voice, we ought to heed well to it. That is the truest voice we hear in all our life. It is true, absolute and unmoved by those who hear it. Death is the narrator of this story. It is not a cruel voice, not even furious. If anything, it is a voice of infinite calm, almost serene, although tired at times. Death for Markus Zusak is Conrad’s Marlow . It is the story –teller, and also a participant in the story. The Book Thief is a story written in the backdrop of second-world war, in Nazi Germany. It goes exceptional talent of Markus Zusak that he so delicately creates the world of a small German Town, in the throes of the volatile, history defining times. It was a time o...