I Am the Messenger
What was your life like when you were
19? If I were to guess, you probably hadn’t started a rebellion (Joan of Arc),
produced several outstanding art-works of paint and rebellion (Salvador
Dalí) and you weren’t a seasoned
performer in Greenwich Village (Bob Dylan). But, you probably weren’t as bad
off as Ed Kennedy, the main character in Marcus Zusak’s novel I Am the Messenger. Ed is an underage
cab driver who hasn’t really done anything in his life. This all changes
though, when he accidentally stops a bank robbery and starts to receive playing
cards with different addresses on them. Each address leads to a new place, a
new person, a new problem for Ed to solve.
Ed has a grand total of three friends, plus his dog, the Doorman. Ed and his friends, Audrey, Marv, and Ritchie, usually play cards together. They are all in their late teens or early twenties. Though this book didn’t have that many characters, I didn’t mind it. There was no lazy characterization, no useless fillers to make the main characters seem less alone. This way, you were able to get to know these characters better, find little nuances that made them seem real. That’s something I loved in the book, all of the characters had faults, there were things that made them seem more human.
The novel was set in a small town in Australia. Interestingly enough, it was never bragged about. It was never like “Ooh aren’t we so special, mate? Look at us with our didgeridoos and kangaroos on our way to the barbie.” I feel that that would have been a very easy road to take and I applaud Markus Zusak for not doing that. There were only slight differences in the spoken language and customs. Also their seasons happened to be different.
The message in this book was that even people like Ed, who have nothing going for them, (At one point, he makes a list of things he is, “Taxi driver. Local loser. Cornerstone of mediocrity. Sexual midget. Pathetic cardplayer.”) can truly change the lives of others. It showed that it doesn’t take a hero to help others. This book made me believe in the goodness of humanity again.
The language overall in the novel was very beautiful. I loved the way Zusak writes. As I was reading, I was continuously highlighting parts from the book. There were parts that made me laugh and parts that made me reevaluate my life, like “Sometimes people are beautiful. Not in looks. Not in what they say. Just in what they are.”. But. There’s always a but, isn’t there? There was one thing that annoyed me throughout the novel.
You know
when people write
like this?
To make every sentence
sound more important
than the last.
To put emphasis
on words.
Enjambment it is called, and a big part of the book was like that which really distracted from the actual story.
All in all, this book changed the way I look at the world and if there is only one more book you will ever read, I think it should be this one.
-Laura
Ed has a grand total of three friends, plus his dog, the Doorman. Ed and his friends, Audrey, Marv, and Ritchie, usually play cards together. They are all in their late teens or early twenties. Though this book didn’t have that many characters, I didn’t mind it. There was no lazy characterization, no useless fillers to make the main characters seem less alone. This way, you were able to get to know these characters better, find little nuances that made them seem real. That’s something I loved in the book, all of the characters had faults, there were things that made them seem more human.
The novel was set in a small town in Australia. Interestingly enough, it was never bragged about. It was never like “Ooh aren’t we so special, mate? Look at us with our didgeridoos and kangaroos on our way to the barbie.” I feel that that would have been a very easy road to take and I applaud Markus Zusak for not doing that. There were only slight differences in the spoken language and customs. Also their seasons happened to be different.
The message in this book was that even people like Ed, who have nothing going for them, (At one point, he makes a list of things he is, “Taxi driver. Local loser. Cornerstone of mediocrity. Sexual midget. Pathetic cardplayer.”) can truly change the lives of others. It showed that it doesn’t take a hero to help others. This book made me believe in the goodness of humanity again.
The language overall in the novel was very beautiful. I loved the way Zusak writes. As I was reading, I was continuously highlighting parts from the book. There were parts that made me laugh and parts that made me reevaluate my life, like “Sometimes people are beautiful. Not in looks. Not in what they say. Just in what they are.”. But. There’s always a but, isn’t there? There was one thing that annoyed me throughout the novel.
You know
when people write
like this?
To make every sentence
sound more important
than the last.
To put emphasis
on words.
Enjambment it is called, and a big part of the book was like that which really distracted from the actual story.
All in all, this book changed the way I look at the world and if there is only one more book you will ever read, I think it should be this one.
-Laura
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