|
575efb0
|
Max," she said. He turned and briefly closed his eyes as the girl continued. There was once a strange, small man,"she said. Her arms were loose but her hands were fists at her side. "But there was a word shaker,too." One of the Jews on his way to Dachau had stopped walking now. He stood absolutely still as the others swerved morosely around him, leaving him completely alone. His eyes staggered, and it was so simple. The words were given ac..
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
4206326
|
The tears grappled with her face. Rudy, please, wake up, Goddamn it, wale up, I love you. Come on, Rudy, come on, Jesse Owens, don't you know I love you, wake up, wake up, wake up.." But nothing cared... She leaned down and looked at his lifeless face and Liesel kissed her best friend, Rudy Steiner, soft and true on his lips. He tasted dusty and sweet. He tasted like regret in the shadows of trees and in the glow of the anarchist's suit co..
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
1d59c50
|
I could introduce myself properly, but it's not really necessary. You will know me well enough and soon enough, depending on a diverse range of variables. It suffices to say that at some point in time, I will be standing over you, as genially as possible. Your soul will be in my arms. A color will be perched on my shoulder. I will carry you gently away.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
6ea637b
|
She soon says, "You're my best friend, Ed." You can kill a man with those words. No gun. No bullets. Just words and a girl."
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
04e2134
|
He was waving. "Saukerl," she laughed, and as she held up her hand, she knew completely that he was simultaneously calling her a Saumensch. I think that's as close to love as eleven-year-olds can get."
|
|
youth
|
Markus Zusak |
|
815d828
|
There were people everywhere on the city street, but the stranger could not have been more alone if it were empty.
|
|
the-last-human-stranger
|
Markus Zusak |
|
2fbf3a9
|
Make no mistake, the woman had a heart. She had a bigger one that people would think. There was a lot in it, stored up, high in miles of hidden shelving. Remember that she was the woman with the instrument strapped to her body in the long, moon-slit night.
|
|
rosa-hubermann
the-book-thief
|
Markus Zusak |
|
4daba19
|
It amazes me what humans can do, even when streams are flowing down their faces and they stagger on, coughing and searching, and finding.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
2e416cc
|
Of course you're real-like any thought or any story. It's real when you're in it.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
9486abd
|
She was a girl with a mountain to climb.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
a5ffad5
|
The best word shakers were the ones who understood the true power of words. They were the ones who could climb the highest. One such word shaker was a small, skinny girl. She was renowned as the best word shaker of her region because she knew how powerless a person could be WITHOUT words.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
1a9e3e6
|
They were French, they were Jews, and they were you.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
b2e7946
|
There was also a rumor that later in the day, she walked fully clothed into the Amper River and said something very strange. Something about a kiss. Something about a Saumensch. How many times did she have to say goodbye?
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
627bbda
|
Finally, in October 1945, a man with swampy eyes, feathers of hair, and a clean-shaven face walked into the shop. He approached the counter. "Is there someone here by the name of Leisel Meminger?" "Yes, she's in the back," said Alex. He was hopeful, but he wanted to be sure. "May I ask who is calling on her?" Leisel came out. They hugged and cried and fell to the floor."
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
fd168a1
|
The song was born on her breathe and died at her lips.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
9f6cda7
|
She kept watching the words.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
ec42657
|
The point is, it didn't really matter what the book was about. It was what it meant that was important.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
cb97d4c
|
Big things are often just little things that people notice.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
b871304
|
One day, Liesel.' he said, 'you'll be dying to kiss me.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
ac8102d
|
He stood a few meters from the step and spoke with great conviction, great joy. he announced. All is shit.
|
|
the-book-thief
|
Markus Zusak |
|
f28a679
|
The question is, what color will everything be at that moment when I come for you? What will the sky be saying?
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
2d8926b
|
A REASSURING ANNOUNCEMENT Please, be calm, despite that previous threat. I am all bluster - I am not violent. I am not malicious. I am a result.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
5004edb
|
I'm always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty and I wonder how the same can be both.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
16c9f0f
|
My voice is like a rumour. I'm not sure if it came out or not, or if it is true.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
63ddd42
|
What would you do if you were me? Tell me. Please tell me! But you're far from this. Your fingers turn the strangeness of these pages that somehow connect my life to yours. Your eyes are safe. The story is just another few hundred pages of your mind. For me, it's here. It's now. I have to go through with this, considering the cost at every turn. Nothing will be the same.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
5b2ea4a
|
Don't punish yourself,' she heard her say again, but there would be punishment and pain, and there would be happiness, too. That was writing.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
f74b798
|
When death captures me,' the boy vowed, 'he will feel my fist on his face.' Personally, I quite like that. Such stupid gallantry. Yes. I like that a lot.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
385ad17
|
It's the leftover humans. The survivors. They're the ones I can't stand to look at, although on many occasions I still fail. I deliberately seek out the colors to keep my mind off them, but now and then, I witness the ones who are left behind, crumbling among the jigsaw puzzle of realization, despair, and surprises. They have punctured hearts. They have beaten lungs. Which in turn brings me to the subject I am telling you about tonight, or ..
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
8cae3b7
|
A halo surrounded the grim reaper nun, Sister Maria. (By the way-I like this human idea of the grim reaper. I like the scythe. It amuses me.)
|
|
religion
|
Markus Zusak |
|
7d2a647
|
How does it feel, anyway?" How does what feel?" When you take one of those books?" At that moment, she chose to keep still. If he wants an answer, he'd have to come back, and he did. "Well?" he asked, but again, it was the boy who replied, before Liesel could even open her mouth. It feels good, doesn't it? To steal something back." --
|
|
steal
|
Markus Zusak |
|
b5a91bc
|
The book thief has struck for the first time - the beginning of an illustrious career.
|
|
reading
|
Markus Zusak |
|
9a542bf
|
Rudy Steiner was scared of the book theif's kiss. He must have longed for it so much. He must have longed for it so much. he must have loved her so incredibly hard. So hard that he would never ask for her lips again and would go to his grave without them.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
9ad813f
|
My full name's Ed Kennedy. I'm nineteen. I'm an underage cab driver. I'm typical of many of the young men you see in this suburban outpost of the city -- not a whole lot of prospects or possibility. That aside, I read more books than I should, and I'm decidedly crap at sex and doing my taxes. Nice to meet you.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
0f8526c
|
She could smell the pages. She could almost taste the words as they stacked up around her.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
d0e7fd2
|
She tore a page from the book and ripped it in half. Then a chapter. Soon, there was nothing but scraps of words littered between her legs and all around her. The words. Why did they have to exist? Without them, there wouldn't be any of this. Without words, the Fuhrer was nothing. There would be no limping prisoners, no need for consolation or wordly tricks to make us feel better. What good were the words? She said it audibly now, to the or..
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
05296f1
|
It's funny, don't you think, how time seems to do a lot of things? It flies, it tells, and worst of all, it runs out.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
b2aa4e1
|
Our footsteps run, and I don't want them to end. I want to run and laugh and feel like this forever. I want to avoid any awkward moment when the realness of reality sticks its fork into our flesh, leaving us standing there, together. I want to stay here, in this moment, and never go to other places, where we don't know what to say or what to do.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
cce1ed4
|
The sky is blue today, Max, and there is a big long cloud, and it's stretched out, like a rope. At the end of it, the sun is like a yellow hole. . .
|
|
cloud
liesel
the-book-thief
max
sun
weather
|
Markus Zusak |
|
ec00387
|
Somewhere in all the snow, she could see her broken heart, in two pieces.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
1ea3a60
|
A SMALL THEORY*** People observe the colors of a day only at its beginnings and its ends, but to me it's quite clear that a day merges through a multitude of shades and intonations, with each passing moment. A single hour can consist of thousands of different colors. Waxy yellows, cloud-spat blues. Murky darknesses. In my line of work, I make it a point to notice them.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
26a69d7
|
She looks at the swings, and I can see she's imagining what they'd look like if the kids weren't there. The guilt of this holds her down momentarily. It appears to be there constantly. Never far away, despite her love for them. I realize that nothing belongs to her anymore and she belongs to everything.
|
|
life
love
|
Markus Zusak |
|
9d31978
|
Liesel's blood had dried inside of her. It crumbled. She almost broke into pieces on the steps.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
836d98e
|
But then, is there cowardice in the acknowledgment of fear? Is there cowardice in being glad that you lived?
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |
|
3556e99
|
So many humans. So many colors.
|
|
|
Markus Zusak |