I Am the Messenger

No Spoiler Review:

This was my first foray into Markus Zusak's writing and I was not disappointed. The story was fascinating, well paced, and poetic. It chooses not to take the easy way out of emotionally charged situations. In that way the novel is quite daring. This is a rougher read for that reason also, so don't come looking for a by the pool book here. The characters are compelling. They feel like real people, full of flaws and emotions.
Sometimes the scenes weren't as emotionally impacting as I think they should have been, and I have mixed feelings about the ending (more on this below the spoil line), but ultimately it was a wonderful book with a great message. Definitely worth the read.



**Spoiler Review!*****
There are so many wonderful scenes in the book. I love the messages and the characters he meets because of them. My favorites were the priest and the Christmas light family.
That being said, I did see his friend's being the last messages coming, but despite that it was still the perfect way for the story to go.
My other thing was, sometimes I couldn't understand how he figured out what to do for people. It often made sense, yes, but sometimes he seemed supernaturally gifted in figuring these things out.
Now the twist end. Huh. I spent the whole ending going “What...?” which can be good. I do understand what ultimately happened, but I think it deflated the story a bit. It was a stranger. There were no clues to figure out who it was, because it wasn't anyone he could have known. It was a strange choice to make. I did wonder if that stranger was supposed to be Markus Zusak in a sort of Lemony Snicket twist, but even still. And the whole “am I real?” thing. How did someone manipulating Ed convince him that he wasn't real? That end twist did not work for me.

This was my second book by Zusak. Although not as powerful as The Book Thief, I still really enjoyed it. Zusak does some things with words that really touches me. Even the shortest sentences are beautiful.

The Story was fresh and entertaining. I loved the mass of different characters with different lives. It all felt real.

I am the Messenger is the epitome of metafiction – a story that recognizes itself as a story – and yet it fails spectacularly to make the kind of impact that good metafiction is apt to make. Zusak takes the premise of metafiction to a literal level. Instead of striving to immerse his readers in the world he has created, his big reveal is Spoilerto tell his audience in no uncertain terms that they are reading a book he has written – one that has been premeditated, planned, plotted, and carried out as he (the author) deemed fit.

Everything that occurs happens because Zusak wants or needs it to happen for the story to unfold in a particular way. For example, Marv's behaviour in the bank at the beginning of the novel makes little sense once we know Marv's secret: Spoilerwould he really risk his life by irritating a robber (albeit, a hapless one), when his son or daughter is the whole reason for his existence? I realize that the car becomes a major plot point for Marv, but it is irksome that Zusak uses the bank robbery as a means to introduce the vehicle and then uses the vehicle as a plot device.

In all fairness, it's Zusak's prerogative to make the characters and the plot do as he wishes – it just bothers me to see events unfold that don't necessarily make sense to the overall arc of the story, and then have Zusak give himself an “out” because he is the author, as he so kindly reminds us. I actually did like some of the messages and some of the secondary characters; but the implied inevitability of each of the events that took place made the meanings of these messages less significant. The entire book seems contrived, which may or may not be the point, but it also just makes this reader wonder what the purpose of reading the book is. If Zusak means to inspire his readers by reminding them that they are not characters, but real live people with free will, he only makes them regret their reading choices.

Points to Zusak for his creativity; demerits for falling short. Go read The Book Thief instead; there, Zusak's narrative and creative risks pay off in a big way.

Ed Kennedy is a lost soul. His mother speaks cruelly to him. The girl he wishes would be his girlfriend refuses him and instead spends her days and nights in a succession of meaningless encounters. His job is pointless. Ed is lost.

One day, he finds himself in a bank as it is being robbed and Ed becomes a hero.

And then a card arrives in the mail.

Ed is sent off on missions to change lives. And off he goes.

Sometimes the missions are disturbing and difficult and Ed is never sure what is going on or why he is being sent to do these tasks or who is sending him or if what he is doing is making things better. But somehow he is making things better and, in the process, he becomes a better person himself.

I delighted in this book, with the tiny miracles that Ed brings about in the world, in Ed's role as an unlikely savior, in the little ways that relationships can mend the world.

Huh. I guess I'm not sure what to say about this. It was engaging and funny. The audiobook is read by an Australian (which makes sense obviously), which was fun. I generally have a soft spot for books that are kind of about everyday heroes or the power of small deeds or whatever, so I was into it. It might have more of an impact on teens who maybe haven't already been exposed to a ton of media on that theme? But like I said, I still dug it.

Most reviews seem to focus on the ending, which I... liked.

I can totally understand it feeling kind of gimmicky or whatever, but still: I liked it. It reminded me of [b:Sophie's World|10959|Sophie's World|Jostein Gaarder|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1343459906s/10959.jpg|4432325], which I also liked.I don't have anything profound to say. I just liked it.