D is for Death

For the A to Z Challenge, I'm writing mini-mini character analyses on some of my favorite characters. If you're a first time visitor or a new follower, please let me know in the comments section.

D is for Death.

If you've read my posts before, you might already know that I have a little bit of a huge crush on Markus Zusak, author of my very favorite book, The Book Thief. The Book Thief is narrated by Death. We see Leisel's story through Death's eyes. Zusak's portrayal of Death is genius. Death is dark, literary and disturbing - but also incredibly vulnerable. The last line of the book is "Humans haunt me" making Zusak's character well-rounded, unexpected and original. I absolutely love Death's voice...like I love this book....like I love Markus Zusak.

Here's an example:

"The last time I saw her [the sky] was red. The sky was like soup, boiling and stirring. In some places, it was burned. There were black crumbs, and pepper, streaked across the redness.

      Earlier, the kids had been playing hopscotch there, on the street that looked like oil-stained pages. When I arrived, I could still hear the echoes. The feet tapping the road. The children-voices laughing, and the smiles like salt, but decaying fast.

      Then, bombs.

This time, everything was too late.
       The sirens. The cuckoo shrieks in the radio. All too late.

"Within minutes, mounds of concrete and earth were stacked and piled. The streets were ruptured veins. Blood streamed till it was dried on the road, and the bodies were stuck there, like driftwood after the flood.
     The were glued down, every last one of them. A packet of souls.
     Was it fate?"

And that ladies and gentlemen is why Markus Zusak is the only man I would leave my husband for. (Got a little carried away there - I meant to include a few lines and just couldn't stop typing....) 

Want more of Markus Zusak? (Because really who doesn't?) See "The Man I'd Leave My Husband For."