The Anne-Liesel Parallel; Divided in history, United by books.

“What do these children do without story books?" Naftali asked. And Reb Zebulun replied: "They have to make do. Storybooks aren't bread. You can live without them.""I couldn't live without them." Naftali said.”

-Isaac Bashevis Singer 

Often there comes a book that stays, stays in way that it crawls under your skin and flows through your veins, you wake up wondering if you had somehow managed to travel back in time and relive a certain part of a not so far away past. I came across Anne Frank's Diary when I was in school and I've read it a few times after. Each time I had a mix of goosebumps, tears, fear and hope. Roll ahead a few more years this brilliant book made it's way to my life; The Book Thief. 

The plot of the book thief is about a little girl Liesel who steals books and reads them, the timing of the occurrence is during world war II, Luckily (and I use this word very loosely) Liesel is German, the possibility of her ending up in a gas chamber are low... The book revolves around various complexities of her life. The book deals with love, relationships, loss, hope and recovery.. more importantly it deals with books. The love she feels for them and how she directs all of her tiny self towards books, how they fill her with happiness. Now there isn't anything about a book that a book lover will not relate to, the excitement, the joy, the hope it gives you, the faith it restores. Why this book makes you want to keep flipping through the pages is not just the love for books but the dire situations that makes you respect this little girl.

I remember when I first read Anne Frank, I was amazed that someone would even consider reading and education when there is such a war outside,I thought the thing to do when a sense of impending doom lurks around the corner was probably to curl up in a tiny corner and wait for death or something. I am not proud that I thought so, but at that time I actually thought it was impossible to imagine something as normal as reading when there was a war at your doorstep. I began to wonder how Frank wrote about such everyday instances, how she brought herself to write about her future, I wonder how she wrote so easily about normal things, the diary is not a war diary, it simply is the diary of a little girl in the times of war. She talks about love too, she talks about her learning, how she hopes to go back.

As I was reading the Book Thief, I swear I had goosebumps, I had tears and I was overwhelmed. I was deeply touched. But throughout I could think of Anne Frank, I could not take the image out of my mind. Two girls, same place, same age, one in hiding, the other one helping someone hide, one had Peter, the other had Rudy, both have parents, both struggling to make ends meet. It gave me chills to think that the only real difference was that one was German, the other was Jew. War has it tough for everyone. Both Liesel and Anne are testament that nothing about a war is pretty. People die. Enemies, friends, families. There is no winning side. 

A deep connection however was in the fact that both Anne and Liesel found comfort in books. When people ask why I read I think this is pretty much why. Of course, I sit in my comfortable little chair when I say I read because ____________ but the point is, when despair strikes like a hammer at a gong what do you do?? Liesel and Anne are little girls who have very little control over anything that is happening around them. What do you do other than trying to be okay about everything? When I think of Liesel going about her business reading books in the middle of the night and Anne gazing up at the sky in the middle of the night, writing in her book hoping to be free soon, what gives them the courage to dream? It was those scraps of paper and printed ink. It gave them some sense of control, it gave them something to hang on to. Their books made them feel normal. When everything else was going to hell, their books were the only 'regular' thing from their previous lives, perhaps. 

I can only think of what must be going on in the minds of these kids. What they must be thinking? But I guess the universal appeal for books in lies in the fact that books give you an alternate reality, the occupy your senses, they take you away, even briefly, away from that attic, away from Mulching, away from death, doom. Books give you a shoulder to lean on. I say this from my personal experience, in world filled with noise, a book is the only steady companion. Books fill a void inside you. You don't read a book because you read a book. You read a book because it lets you leave. Go away.It is not on some whim that books have been around for so long. I can imagine how depressed I would be if I didn't read. We have our lives to deal with; that's not going away. But in our darkest hours when we want to leave, even for a moment, we let books do that for us. 

We need to find normalcy in our scattered living we call life. Of course there is hopelessness, there is injustice, the is anger...  Books contribute to filling us up intellectually, philosophically even but more importantly, books fill us up emotionally.
How nice it would be if we could just forget that. Just for a few minutes.

PS: I think The Book Thief and Anne Frank's Diary are too beautiful to be written about. As for a review, I wouldn't even attempt it. :)

PPS: I know Liesel is a fictional character, but to me she is very real.  

Book Girl has problems too!

I will read absolutely everything. I mean I have my choices, genres and everything, but I've read enough to call myself an avid reader. I will also go on to call myself the book collector, I've successfully managed to collect more books than what I will read this whole year. (I could say life, but lets not say bad things) I have a group of friends who I talk books to. I redirect every conversation to books or coffee because those are the only thing I really know how to talk about. I know all the right things to say, I know what to exaggerate and what to simply let slide by. However, I'm shit at conversations that are about movies because I've haven't watched enough of them. I'm not too proud of it, but seriously, I cannot discuss movies, maybe I can discuss dialogue, script or plot but that essentially comes down to 'the story'.

Here is a compilation of the TOP 10 problems I face as a book collecting nerd!

1)Every conversation begins at "What have you read recently?" the answer better be something new because otherwise, I'm stuck. How do I proceed. What do I say? I have no interest in people's lunches and dinners and sleeps. I can ask you if you've had dinner, but I almost never mean to ask that as a question. It's generally to ask you if you are well fed and can obsess with me over books without any interruption.

2) I have more books than I can read, I know this. I know I'm going to keep buying books, I know it's going to be tough to say this out loud, but I'm never going to read all the books I've bought. It's come to the point where I've accepted it. I've accepted that I buy books out of a certain compulsion and I can't do anything about. 

3)I feel like an outcast I almost never fit in a non book lovers type setup. I cannot go out shopping and have a good time with the buddies if it does not involve at least some element of talking books. I cannot hang out with so many wonderful, kind people only because I have the social skills of a squid. The only thing I can talk is books, food, some politics and something anything that I've read online. All my opinions come from things I've read. If I haven't read about it, it isn't on my mind. I have no TVing skills either. I cannot talk reality TV, Daily soaps and stuff. I can mock them, but that isn't what people are generally looking for so it's tough for me. This is not to say that I don't have non book lover friends, I have lots of them but small talk isn't what I'm known for with them :)

4)I have very very funny ideas about love, life and just generally everything. Books have ruined reality for me. Majorly. Everything I say or do feels like it is inspired by a damn book. I've picked up swear words to "sweet nothings" from a lot of books. Friendships feel right if it feels like they could have been written about. I often think of my friends and wonder if it would make a great story to tell. Thankfully, so far all of them are a yes! 

5) I have a soft spot for people who read, I will let them get away with almost anything. If you say you read and you've read something I will like you. If you didn't answer my call because you were reading or writing. I will probably let you go. My kids better not know about this. God help me trying to be a stern mother and having a soft spot for reading kids. Speaking of whom, I am very scared that the next generation isn't going to read at all. I know it's not my decision to tell kids to read and I'm all for making free choices but it would break my heart if my kids, my cousins' kids or my friends kids didn't read. 

6)I never have never walked out of a bookstore without buying a books. That's truly dangerous, I have to make a very conscious effort to not buy books. I have to hold back myself, come up with stupid excuses and everything. I've made buying books an activity for life. I have money stashed away just so I can books. My first bank account when I was 15 was only to save up enough money to buy the Harry Potter box set. Of course, I didn't buy the box set; my parents would never let me spend from my bank account because what little girl spends from her money when her parents are more than happy to give her extra pocket money just to buy books! :D

7) I almost always end up getting up late, except for a Sunday. Sunday's are for looking at pretty books and reading them. Every weekday is tedious, waking up every single day is hard work because the concept of time fails me when I'm reading. It's 7 in the evening, soon it's dinner and what feels like a few minutes later, its 3AM. Good luck waking up after a 3 hour nap and trying to work!I spend a good number of days in a zombie like state. Of course it helps me keep a lot of BS at bay.

8)I've never been comfortable with travelling without a book, even if I have no time to read on the trip. I've been on enough trips where I've never had the time to read. Even when I know that the trip is going to be super tiring, super long, I have to carry a book. Which is why I started exploring writers who write tiny books, at least it became  little comfortable to carry.

9) I have tear stained books, I have pages that have yellowed slightly from when I sat and cried over them. I'm forever attached to those books because it feels like I've left a very very real part of me is in those pages. I cannot look at the page when Cedric dies and be okay. Everything I felt then comes flooding back to me. I reel under that hurt for days. I feel bad for Cedric. (Thankfully, I look at the twilight memes and feel better about RPatt)

10) I cannot stand noise! My life revolves around buying and reading and talking about books. While that's awesome. It takes a toll on me personally, it's difficult to explain what I do to people. I have to find words to describe my obsession, my love for books. I get sad and upset when people don't share my obsession. Well, I'm not really upset about them sharing my obsession as much as it upsets me when they look down upon my reading. No, I don't go out partying, my idea of fun does not involve me leaving my books at home and going really far away all dressed up because I know I'm better off at home. When people say I'm probably depressed because I like staying holed up in my room and read, I want to scream to their face and say I feel incredibly lonely in all that noise. I am better off not having a "life" at home where I'm more comfortable with the silence than I am outside. But most days I just smile and say 'You know me'. When what I really mean is that they really don't know me and shouldn't bother to decode me.

When it comes to going out with people My question is simple 'Will there be a quiet place I can read in?' If the answer is yes! I'm in. Otherwise, bye bye! Also, I'm not all boring I'm all for the idea of having fun outside of books but Tell me something actually fun that doesn't involve  noise. (Basically somewhere I can open my book if I'm too bored)