Book Thief Metaphors

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The Book Thief Metaphors                    Our Favorite Zusak expressions ~

~We are enjoying Markus Zusak's  'disjointed style'-- "little splashes of insight splatted on the page like blobs of paint."   ~ PatH
~Learning that "The Book Thief " is  Liesel's story - "like the maraschino cherry on a sundae, not essential to the dessert, but a nice finishing touch" ~ Laura


Background, setting:

- "The day was gray, the color of Europe."
- "Oh, how the clouds stumbled in and assembled stupidly in the sky.  Great obese clouds."
- "It was a morning that didn't dare to be rainy."
- "That was when a great shiver arrived. It waltzed through the window with the draft.  Perhaps if was the breeze of the  Third Reich, gathering even greater strength.Or maybe it was just Erupe again, breathing "
- "a train packed with humans. The passengers slid out as if from a torn package"
- "they (bonfire books) were huddled among the ashes, shaken.  Survivors"
- "These houses (of the Jews) were almost like lepers"

Characterl Description:

- "she had dangerous eyes. Dark Brown"
- "Liesel was a girl made of darkness"
- "She had cloned Rosa Hubermann's unfortunate, waddlesome walking style
- "a stray yellow tear trickled down her face"
- "their metallilc eyes clashed like tin cans inthe kitchen."  (Hans and his son)
- "the strangeness of his eyes:  They were made of kindness and silver, like soft silver, melting"
- "A short grin was smiled into Papa's spoon"
- " Both he and the paint fumes turned around"
- "the squat shape of Rosa Hubermann, who looked like a small wardrobe with a coat thrown over it.”
- "Rosa's face - "creased-up cardboard"
- "she cooked those eggs to the brink of burndom"
- "the lady behind her, whose smile gave the appearance now of a bruise"

Mood, Emotion:

- "Words were on their way, and when they arrived, Liesel would hold them in her hands like the clouds, and she would wring them out like the rain.
- "Pride that more resembled that small pool of felt something in her stomach. And it was anger."
- "The words trotted out, involuntarily.'
- "There was no way he’d give such propaganda to a young German girl.  That would be like the lamb handing a knife to the butcher."
- "He paused for a dozen silent sentences"  before confessing