Saturday, November 2, 2013

I am the Messenger By: Markus Zusak

Summary:

Nineteen-year-old cabbie Ed Kennedy has little in life to be proud of: his dad died of alcoholism, and he and his mom have few prospects for success. He has little to do except share a run-down apartment with his faithful yet smelly dog, drive his taxi, and play cards and drink with his amiable yet similarly washed-up friends. Then, after he stops a bank robbery, Ed begins receiving anonymous messages marked in code on playing cards in the mail, and almost immediately his life begins to swerve off its beaten-down path. Usually the messages instruct him to be at a certain address at a certain time. So with nothing to lose, Ed embarks on a series of missions as random as a toss of dice: sometimes daredevil, sometimes heartwarmingly safe. He rescues a woman from nightly rape by her husband. He brings a congregation to an abandoned parish. The ease with which he achieves results vacillates between facile and dangerous, and Ed's search for meaning drives him to complete every task. But the true driving force behind the novel itself is readers' knowledge that behind every turn looms the unknown presence - either good or evil - of the person or persons sending the messages. Zusak's characters, styling, and conversations are believably unpretentious, well conceived, and appropriately raw. Together, these key elements fuse into an enigmatically dark, almost film-noir atmosphere where unknowingly lost Ed Kennedy stumbles onto a mystery - or series of mysteries - that could very well make or break his life.

1 comment:

  1. I am about halfway through this book and have found it entertaining and enjoyable. So far the concerning items I have for this are the length, english humor (sometimes hard to understand), a scene where main characters murders someone in cold blood (although he feels it was justified) and the main character is obsessed with wanting to have sex with another character.
    Book looks at peoples actions and whether or not things can be changed based on the actions of one person. At times it slows down and gets boring, but when things are happening it is fast moving and good. Not a top runner in my opinion as I don't think it will appeal to the majority but a good recommendation for some students.

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