To get into the habit of reading is to establish a refuge for yourself, to avoid almost all the sufferings of life. - Maugham
A gentle grim reaper came from under the chocolate-colored sky and said he wanted to tell us a story.
About an abandoned little girl, a few pages of words that stretch the soul, a man who plays the accordion, a fanatical German with his hair in the opposite direction and a mustache, a Jewish boxer who has never seen the light of his life...
What kind of thrilling stories can they bring us?
In fact, the special feature of "Book Thief" is that the author uses the tone of death to describe the story from a unique perspective of death, which is a book that still has simple humanity and quiet warmth under the shroud of war and death.
The perspective is heavy but there is no lack of warmth, ease and transparency. There are no ups and downs in the book, nor is there a lofty point of view, but the brushstrokes are enough to tap the depths of the soul, and the words are frustrated under the light wind, full of philosophical thoughts.
The protagonist of the story is a little book thief named Lissell.
Lissell's life began with a white nightmare in which the Nazis captured her father, uncertain of his fate; she watched her own brother die on his way to foster care.
In the new home in the small town called Paradise, in addition to dodging bombs and enduring hunger, life seems to be doing well.
Moreover, her hungry soul and the company of books.
Stealing books is Lissell's "glorious" career.
Of her total of 14 books, 6 were stolen.
These books saved her soul and her life.
In those days, everyone took to the streets and shouted "Long live, Hitler."
People were poor, panicked, worried about food and bread, worried about bombing, worried about sons or fathers on the battlefield, worried about basements not being strong enough, worried about swearing from neighbors and spitting phlegm on door frames.
People in war are a swarm of tiny ants whose lives are in danger at any time; dying and starving to death are two bombs hanging from the door of the brain.
When survival becomes a problem, talk about free thoughts and spirits.
But as Kafka said, books must be an axe that cuts through the frozen oceans of our hearts. Words will cut through the ice and feed the soul.
So in a bombardment, a panicked and noisy neighbor, relying on the words read by Lissell, miraculously quieted down and gained the strength and courage to live.
However, the war, like robbers and thieves, took everything from the town.
Perhaps it can be predicted from the first book of life that Lissell got—the Gravedigger's Handbook, the fanatical German and the war he had made, and who had escaped alive as a gravedigger, sent countless Jews around the world, ordinary townspeople like Hamil, to the grave.
In the end, only Lissell survived on Hamil Street.
Little Lisel, what do you have to rely on to support her with nothing, a wild life?
The people and things she didn't know when she was thirteen years old, when they happened, would they nourish the memories of an abandoned girl's life?
In our lives, there are always some soft flowers of life, which have only bloomed once, but have warmed up for a lifetime.
For example, Father Hans:
The tall man with a soft silver glow in his tall eyes;
The man who plays the accordion in the slanting sun;
The man who accompanied his daughter to study in the basement;
The man who cleverly hid the key to his house in a book to help the fleeing Jews;
The man who said he could forget to bring paint when he was painting the house, but not the music;
The man who would brush the house for half a cigarette;
The man who was whipped in public for giving bread to the Jews;
The man who escaped the war twice but died of bombing in his sleep;
The man with the angelic brilliance on him.
For example, the boy next door, Rudy:
The boy who painted himself as little black charcoal and ran around the playground like Jessiovins;
The boy who hated fascism but was almost raised by fascism as a next generation of high standards;
The boy who skillfully sprinkled breadcrumbs on the way the Jews had to pass through to help the hungry Jews;
The boy who stood chasing a book in waist-deep ice water;
The boy who put the smiling teddy bear in the arms of the dead pilot;
The boy who, in his sleep, in the tailor's shop, in the outskirts of stealing apples, expects again and again and misses the kiss of the girl he loves the most;
That young and fierce, life-filled cute boy.
For example, Mother Rosa:
The woman who picked up a wooden spoon and hit people, and roared and roared at every turn;
The woman who always calls people pigs;
The woman who, in the darkness of the night, holding an accordion and thinking of her husband;
The woman who did not hesitate to accept the Jews;
The woman who hid the Book of Spirits for her daughter.
In our view, writing can be turned into shackles in the hands of the Nazis to imprison the minds of ordinary people.
Words, which saved Lissell's life, can become a redemptive force in Lissell's hands.
Words, so glorious, and so evil.
The one who tells us this story is a gentle Grim Reaper, who will embrace the dead, who will close the eyes of the dead, who will want to say sorry to Lissell when he takes away Lissell's relatives.........
What kind of fierceness would make the god of death, who should have been cold, so unbearable?
Is it the evil of human nature or the brilliance of human nature that shakes the god of death?
We don't know, we only know that Death is also confused.
He murmured, human nature, so glorious, and so evil.