Reader's Ink discussion
The Book Thief
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Question 3.
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Emily - It's nice to know I'm not the only person who had trouble differentiating The Book Thief's Death from other fictional versions.I haven't read Discworld but I do watch Family Guy and did, several years ago, read Neil Gaiman's Sandman series. Both featured very memorable versions of Death, but Family Guy's version of Death was similar enough to The Book Thief that I had a hard time taking The Book Thief version seriously. I even remember doing a few searches to see if The Book Thief's Death was supposed to be based off Family Guy's Death.
It sounds like the Discworld Death was also similar to both Family Guy and The Book Thief, so it almost begs the question of why our modern preference is to turn Death into someone with an offbeat sense of humor as compared to, say, The Christmas Carol, which features Death as a silent, looming presence.
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As an aside....I've probably seen 2/3 - 3/4 of the "Friends" episodes. You've been good for me in broadening my experiences. Don't think I'm going to run out and watch Family Guy, but I've read books I probably wouldn't have read, movies, etc. Thanks!!
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For me, Death functions less as a symbol and more as a lens through which we see the story. Sure, every narrator gives us readers a lens, but Death’s was far more “there” than in most other novels. Did it work for me? Yes. Yeah, he/she had that Family Guy offbeat humor, but at times we saw vengeance (e.g., the bully) as well as the horror and heartbreak of war and the concentration camps. I thought the use was highly effective. Not perfect, but very, very good.
I haven't read the book, but I have seen instances of Death personified. Family Guy is great- there is a funny sequence where Death lives with his nagging mother- I haven't yet been able to find a clip to post on here. Also in Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey and some Bergman film with Death playing chess. You could even say that Death was in the movie Ghost (those black spirits that came to whisk off the bad guys when they died). It seems that Death characters are more associated with the negative (scary black hood and scythe). In contrast, if the person(spirit?) who came along to take you to the afterlife was wearing white and a halo, it would be a positive and non-scary thing.
In the book, do they describe what Death looks like? Or do we automatically think of black robe because that is what other Deaths look like?
This is a question I'm asking your input on. I was reading some info by Zusak, and he brought this information up, and it got me thinking, but I'm not sure I understand it either. Ideas???