I Am the Messenger

When I read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak in 2007, I honestly thought he'd peaked. I assumed nothing he'd ever written before Book Thief, (or would ever write afterwards for that matter) could even begin to compete on that level.

That foolish assumption robbed me of the opportunity to fall in love with The Messenger for eight years more than necessary. That's a bookish tragedy if you ask me and I've definitely learned my lesson.

Markus Zusak is an Australian writing wizard and he captured me on the first page of The Messenger with the voice of the main character Ed Kennedy. I was chuckling along with the cadence of his life, his friends and that of his pet dog The Doorman, until something meaningful started to unfold.

If I try to explain show more what happens, I'm afraid it'll sound absurd, and I can't speak highly enough of this book, so I think I'll keep this review simple.

If you're interested in themes of why we're here or how we can make a difference, Ed Kennedy will take you on an unexpected journey that will light up your soul and make you laugh while gently asking you to look at your surroundings - and the people in it - in an entirely new way.

The Messenger is a quick, easy, funny, thoroughly moving and entertaining novel although it carries a powerful message; as the title suggests.

The ending is unique though, and when reading other reviews, it's clear that the readers who 'didn't get' the ending were let down by it, but the readers who did 'get it' are a little in awe; myself included. Whether you enjoy the ending or not is immaterial because Zusak offers an amazingly enjoyable reading experience along the way and it's one of those rare books I'd like to read again in the future. show less

Holy crap, what the hell Zusak! What is his magic that pulls me in from the first sentence? He has a style all his own and it hooks me every time. And the raw emotion, damn! The ending did throw me a bit, but the more I think about it, it doesn’t bother me at all. He is definitely a top 10 favorite author, if not top 5, and the only confusion there is that I’ve never ranked my favorite authors, but I know he belongs.

You probably don't realize, because I read romance like I would like to eat warm baked chocolate chip cookies (three times daily) but Book Thief is a top 5 for me and this book absolutely reminded me why.

Markus Zusak has a singular ability to give a compassionate and unique narrative to an incredible time in history

And apparently, an incredibly mundane one.

I Am the Messenger reminded me of the stilted wandering of The Stranger going through the motions combined with a incredibly effective Pay It Forward.

I don't know how else to describe it. By the end, particularly in the second part of the hearts section, I was weeping.

The book opens with the words:
the gunman is useless.
I know it.
He knows it.
The whole bank knows it.

and it so absurd show more and hilarious...

And then it gut punches you a solid 400 times. It can be as simple as that, then Ed reuses the term "shirty" which a cop who interviewed his group accused them of being and you're laughing again.

And then Ed will destroy you again when he looks at Audrey and uses some profound, weighty, yet succinct way to convey his unrequited love and endless rejection.

What starts absurd and hilarious progresses into heartfelt consciousness and growth from a narrator who could easily feel done --he's incredibly NORMAL and has done "Jack shit" in his 19 years-- but he's an original voice in a book that is so wacky and brilliant I knew I'd be adding a hard copy to my library within 3 pages. show less

This was a Santathing book from a few years ago that I finally sat down to read.

First - I like the story. Ed is guy who is just coasting through life - he's got a few friends, a job as a taxi cab driver. He has no aspirations, no though on what what he wants to do. After stopping a bank robber, he gets a mysterious playing card in the mail. It has three addresses and times. No other information. When he does act on the card's information - it brings him into a world where he has to care.

I liked the book. Its well written - Ed is a character who readers will empathize with, everybody has choices between doing nothing and doing something. This type of story can be over done, but Zusak keeps his characters on point, and always human. The show more book is also funny - the situations that to complete the mission are sometimes absurd - but also sad. The elderly lady who just needs some company, or the story of the wife with an abusive husband, they all tell a story that is greater than its parts. show less

This is the kind of book you read out loud just to hear the words on your lips.

I went on an earlier tirade about doing lots of probably stupid and sappy and romantic(?) things involving reading this book to a lover and just contemplating the beauty and shit and I also swore a lot because what else do I do when confronted with something so awe inspiring.

This is the kind of book that if I heard anyone say something bad about it, I would go into a furious rage and start spouting all of the reasons why they're wrong and why this is one of the best books to ever grace this planet, and there would be no convincing me otherwise. So I just avoid reading negative reviews and no one ever takes my reading recommendations anyway, so I don't really show more have anything to worry about.

Except, please please read it. show less

While overall the book seems somewhat contrived, there are some interesting aspects to it. It is not being a hero that leads us to the life we want, it is being aware and being present. That he doesn't truly see his friends or his family - that is a big part of his failure. He settles into pattern and does not look at things too closely. The book confuses this a bit by bringing in the hero acts, but these are not the important changes. If anything, what they do is convey to the narrator that action is possible, that we can reach beyond our perceived limits.

The ending is a disappointment and exposes the weaknesses of the pretext. First of all, there are other works about writer as creator which make the point more effectively and in a show more less confused way, and also which do not negate the content up to that point. He seems to want also to go in the direction of us as creators of ourselves, which makes the ending even more confused. It is weak, lacks certainty and seems cheap, an abandonment of story.

Then there is the plot itself. With the ending, the use of the cards and the riddles seems utterly pointless. Also, what is the inspiration for the behavior in the bank? At first one doesn't question it, but as more of the character is revealed, it makes less and less sense. Oh, forced by the author character? Well! That just makes the author seem weak in forcing out of character actions in an attempt to move the plot along.

Truthfully, while the card part was somewhat interesting, the book would have been better if it had focused on its intent - the importance of being as a verb - instead of getting distracted by cutesy plot devices. It would have had more heart and a more powerful message instead of one diluted by purported cleverness.

Then there's the issue of the girl. Is he being a "Nice Guy"? It's hard to say for most of the book, as he doesn't seem to have demands or expectations but at the same time, he doesn't respect her choices and the end is problematic. Better if he'd come to realize that she was really into her boyfriend and not him, if he'd been able to find a way to be friends and cherish the friendship without hoping for more or disparaging her taste in men. That said, he didn't demonize the boyfriend, though he did doubt the validity of her choices. So, yes, problematic.

The part about not seeing his friends and getting closer to them was good. The bits with the running girl and old woman were farfetched - but enjoyable in several ways - the value of seeing what is going on in the world, looking deeper, the importance of kindness. Also, in the case of the running girl, being true to your passions instead of acting based on other people's values and expectations. Finding joy in yourself instead of external validation. A bit trite and forced in presentation, but valuable things to think about as we walk through the world.

It was a novel of good intentions, but poor execution with an ending that killed off all it had begun to accomplish.

It was, at least, a quick and easy read and does not immediately disappear from the mind. Also, I read this for a book club, it is a young adult book and I am not a young adult. Therefore, I feel a bit of "who am I to judge something that may be valuable for its intended audience?" show less

I Am the Messenger - Zusak
4 stars

Superficially, this is a young adult, coming of age novel. It’s a first person narrative of a year in the life of Ed Kennedy. Ed is a 19 year old taxi driver, and a self-described loser. He’s having an unusual year. He begins to receive cryptic messages on the backs of playing cards. Each message requires him to do something for another person. This is a knight’s quest story in a low income, urban, Australian setting.

There’s more to the story than the likable Ed, his three best friends, and his smelly dog. (I really loved the dog, Doorman.) Zusak gives Ed a perfectly believable teenaged voice, short sentences, limited vocabulary. But, the book is full of literary subtext. It became a show more reader’s quest to identify all the references. Hint: none of the casually mentioned book titles are accidental. Unreliable narrator, magical realism, metafiction; it’s an ambitious list of literary devices. Sometimes, I felt it was too contrived and a bit over the top. On the other hand, I want to go back and read it again. I still feel like I’m missing some of the messenger’s secrets. show less