{"id":263,"date":"2011-03-22T07:00:09","date_gmt":"2011-03-22T14:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=263"},"modified":"2011-03-20T21:08:24","modified_gmt":"2011-03-21T04:08:24","slug":"mark-reads-the-book-thief-chapters-10-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2011\/03\/mark-reads-the-book-thief-chapters-10-11\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘The Book Thief’: Chapters 10-11"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the tenth and eleventh chapters of The Book Thief<\/em>, Liesel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s accidental bedwetting inspires Hans not only to spend more time with his foster daughter, but to begin to teach her to read. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read The Book Thief<\/em>.<\/p>\n

CHAPTER 10: THE OTHER SIDE OF SANDPAPER<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zusak returns us to the world of the Hubermanns after spending time with Rudy Steiner, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m reminded again why I like Hans so much. He is the perfect father figure for Liesel and this chapter is proof of that. I think I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve made it pretty clear that I may not have had the most positive influence as a child and mistakes like those Liesel makes would be met with the same fury Rosa gives her.<\/p>\n

The chapter opens with a scene of the NSDAP marching in the brown shirts down Himmel Street, a source of the nightmares Liesel will later have that lead her to wet her bed. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m intrigued that Death states that Hans is one of the 10% who does provide \u00e2\u20ac\u0153unflinching support\u00e2\u20ac\u009d for Adolf Hitler, only because he says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There was a reason for that,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and then doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t provide that reason.<\/p>\n

Regardless, what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more important is that those images of marching brown shirts begin to invade Liesel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dreams, and one of those dreams in spring of 1939 causes her to wet her bed for the first time. The shame that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mixed with the terror of the situation causes Liesel to be reluctant to share with her Papa what has happened, but Hans is a very gentle, understanding father for her.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We take the sheets off,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Papa said, and when he reached under and pulled at the fabric, something loosened and landed with a thud. A black book with silver writing on it came hurtling out and landed on the floor, between the tall man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s feet.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Hans is very matter-of-fact about this all. (He talks in a similar manner to Death\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s narration, for what it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worth.) He picks up the book, reads the title aloud, and simply asks if the book is Liesel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s. When she confirms, he asks if she wants to read it.<\/p>\n
Again, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yes, Papa.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
A tired smile. Metallic eyes, melting.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d better read it, then.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Thus begins the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153midnight lessons\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that Death mentioned earlier. (Another sidenote: Death has a penchant for telling us later story points, almost as if he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t resist \u00e2\u20ac\u0153spoiling\u00e2\u20ac\u009d us for what is to come. OMG DEATH, USE SPOILER TAGS, PLZ.) This is also the very first moment that Death doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just summarize the story, but we actually get to read some of the words that she later writes. (SEE? HE IS SPOILING US OMG<\/em>.)<\/p>\n
You wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think it, <\/em>she wrote, but it was not so much the school who helped me read. It was Papa. People think he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not so smart, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true that he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t read too fast, but I would soon learn words and writing actually saved his life once. Or at least, words and a man who taught him the accordian<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Man, this book sure teases us a lot with the future. YOU ARE MAKING ME FAR TOO INTRIGUED.<\/p>\n
The book that Liesel decided to hang on to is not necessarily the best reading material for a child\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first book, but it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t dissuade Hans from using it to teach her to read. He asks her why she held on to such a morbid book, but how does a child explain that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the only thing tying them to their dead brother and the mother who abandoned her? Hans doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need this explanation, though, because he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ready to jump right in it with a healthy sense of humor intact:<\/p>\n
He ran a hand through his sleepy hair and said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, promise me one thing, Liesel. If I die anytime soon, you make sure they bury me right.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Bless his heart.<\/p>\n
And so the two of them begin to read The Grave Digger\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Handbook<\/em>. It proves to be a bit more advanced than Hans\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s own reading skills, but still he presses on. He also realizes it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to be a lot harder than he expected when he learns that Liesel can only read variations of a single word in German: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Instead, he starts her off at the beginning. He helps her with the alphabet. In one of the more touching scenes of this novel, Hans works his way, one letter at a time, through the German alphabet, asking Liesel what each letter is that he draws and a word that starts with it. When she guesses correctly, he will draw that object for her.<\/p>\n
As they progressed through the alphabet, Liesel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s eyes grew larger. She had done this at school, in the kindergarten class, but this time was better. She was the only one there, and she was not gigantic. It was nice to watch Papa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hand as he wrote the words and slowly constructed the primitive sketches.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I was always the sort of student who could quietly learn in a classroom of thirty to forty students. I learned pretty early on not to raise my hand often to answer the teacher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s questions because that identified me as both someone people could come to to bully me into doing their homework or someone people could just plain bully. (Yes, I was seriously Hermione as a child\/teenager. SO INSUFFERABLE AT TIMES.) But when I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t learn or figure something out, it was exactly this style of personal teaching that always worked best for me. Hans is absolutely fantastic at this, too:<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ah, come on, Liesel,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said when she struggled later on. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Something that starts with S<\/em>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easy. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m very disappointed in you.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
She couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Come on!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d His whisper played with her. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Think of Mama.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
That was when the word struck her face like a slap. A reflex grin. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153SAUMENSCH!<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she shouted, and Papa roared with laughter, then quieted.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Shhh, we have to be quiet.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d But he roared all the same and wrote the word, completing it with one of his sketches.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
AND THEN WE GET A PICTURE OF SAID SKETCH. Oh my god, it is amazing. Is this in the actual copies of the book, too? (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m using an e-reader.)<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Papa!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she whispered. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I have no eyes!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
He patted the girl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hair. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d fallen into his trap. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153With a smile like that,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hans Hubermann said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need eyes.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He hugged her and then looked again at the picture, with a face of warm silver.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
SERIOUSLY. THIS MAN IS AMAZING.<\/p>\n
Chapter ten ends with another one of my favorite images, as the two end their first midnight study session. With the promise to play accordian the next day, Hans leaves for the night:<\/p>\n
He switched off the light, came back, and sat in the chair. In the darkness, Liesel kept her eyes open. She was watching the words.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
For me, that was the joy of books as well. They stayed with me long after I was done. In particular, I would spend nights pretending I was asleep for an hour or two, and then pull out my mini-flashlight and make a small tent under my blanket and begin to read. And when I finally became too drowsy to continue, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d lay in bed, facing the ceiling, words floating by.<\/p>\n
CHAPTER 11: THE SMELL OF FRIENDSHIP<\/strong><\/p>\n
Zusak makes an interesting distinction here and one I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m hoping is going to prove to be valuable to the larger story. As Liesel and her Papa continue lessons at the end of spring and into summer, always late at night, the two of them obviously grow closer. But Hans makes an important decision weeks into their lessons: He decides that Liesel is not going to go with Rosa to deliver her ironing this particular afternoon. She is going to come with him to practice reading.<\/p>\n
Rosa, naturally, is completely flabbergasted by the suggestion. (Do her and Hans really not communicate much at all?) She demands Liesel and balks at the idea that Hans could ever teach Liesel anything about reading.<\/p>\n
The kitchen waited. Papa counterpunched. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll take your ironing for you.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You filthy\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u0153 She stopped. The words propped in her mouth as she considered it. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Be back before dark.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
HAHAHAHAHA. Just like that. I love it. In a moment of excitement, Hans tells Liesel what things she needs to collect for their first daytime lessons. As they walk away from Himmel Street towards Amper, Rosa watches them with concern, yelling at Liesel to hold the ironing straight, to wear warm clothing, and Hans and Liesel seem like children escaping their overbearing mother. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the first sign of what Zusak does to these characters that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spelled out at the end, especially when Hans asks Liesel to roll a cigarette for him.<\/p>\n
After delivering the ironing, the spend a wonderful afternoon reading and teaching, and when night begins to fall, Hans pulls out his accordion to play for Liesel. But this confused me:<\/p>\n
There had been a change in him. A slight shift.<\/p>\n
She saw it but didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t realize until later, when all the stories came together. She didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see him watching as he played, having no idea\u00c2\u00a0 that Hans Hubermann\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s accordion was a story. In the times ahead, that story would arrive at 33 Himmel Street in the early hours of the morning, wearing ruffled shoulders and a shivering jacket. It would carry a suitcase a book, and two questions. A story. Story after story. Story within<\/em> story.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Ok, what are you talking about<\/em>. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand this at all. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even decipher what this means. SPOILER TAGS, DEATH. PLZ.<\/p>\n
The lessons continue, problems and all. Hans sometimes would get frustrated with Liesel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pace, and sometimes they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d have to read by kerosene lamp in the basement. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because of Hans:<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Rosa,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hans said to her at one point. Quietly, his words cut through one of her sentences. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Could you do me a favor?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
She looked up from the stove. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m asking you, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m begging<\/em> you, could you please shut your mouth for just five minutes?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
You can imagine the reaction.<\/p>\n
They ended up in the basement.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
WELL, OOPS. But those basement sessions spawned a new form of learning: painting. Using Hans\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s paint brushes, Liesel is allowed to paint words she can spell aloud on the wall:<\/p>\n
After a month, the wall was recoated. A fresh cement page.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Such a lovely image.<\/p>\n
So, I brought up the fact that Zusak makes an important distinction about Liesel and Hans\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s relationship in chapter eleven, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s planted all the way at the end of this chapter:<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You stink,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Mama would say to Hans. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Like cigarettes and kerosene.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Sitting in the water, she imagined the smell of it, mapped out on her papa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clothes. More than anything, it was the smell of friendship, and she could find it on herself, too. Liesel loved that smell. She would sniff her arm and smile as the water cooled around her.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Liesel and Hans are friends<\/em>. Not just foster father and foster daughter. They are friends<\/em>. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know many people who describe their parents explicitly as friends, but there truly is something pure and simple about the love and respect these two have for each other. They are best friends and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really beautiful, especially after the trauma Liesel has been through. In fact, she hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mentioned her mother in a long while either.<\/p>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just feels like a good place for her to be in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the tenth and eleventh chapters of The Book Thief, Liesel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s accidental bedwetting inspires Hans not only to spend more time with his foster daughter, but to begin to teach her to read. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[23,46,45,44],"class_list":["post-263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-book-thief","tag-mark-reads","tag-mark-reads-the-book-thief","tag-markus-zusak","tag-the-book-thief-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}