Wednesday, May 20, 2009
One thing I find very interesting about TBT is that much of the plot is revealed beforehand. For example, Death tells us that Arthur Berg's sister will die in his arms, taking away any suspense at Arthur's fate. So far (up to about page 240) nothing too major has been given away, but on pages 241 and 242, Death comes right out and announces that Rudy "didn't deserve to die the way he did," killed by a bomb. I can understand giving away some of the plot, but something like the death of an (almost) main character, I think, should be left to come as a surprise to the reader. I still cannot figure out why Zusak is willing to give up so much of his plot in advance, is it just something that he likes to do because it is his style of writing, or does it somehow complement the book in a way I am not seeing?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Personally, I think the sporadic narration is fitting for Death. We know he enjoys skipping around, and for me, I think it makes the story more interesting. If the book were told straight through, it would be much too ordinary. It would not feel as if Death were telling the story (he is unpredictable, scattered, and bores easily). What would be special about the book, then?
ReplyDeleteI tend to agree with Alexandra about the nature of Death. I've also thought that because of his job, Death can't see his activities the way we do. For him they're just a job, and so he can tell us about his job (ie, Rudy's death) ahead of time because the event is more casual, more "all-in-a-day's-work" than it can ever be for us. And the jolt you feel (we feel) is the result of that difference of viewpoints. He doesn't mind; we do.
ReplyDeleteI think, although knowing Rudy dies subtracts some suspense, it adds some, too. It makes me wonder more about the bombing, like how Liesel survived and why Rudy didn't. It also makes me wonder who else died from that bomb, so I think Death has left some of the story for later.
ReplyDelete