Source of book: Audiobook from the library
Fairly early on in my blogging, I read The Book Thief, on the recommendation of several people who enjoyed it. I thought it was a good book, and later had my teens read it. Sometime thereafter, I put Zusak’s earlier book, I Am the Messenger, on my list, but never got around to reading it.
The last couple of years, I have listened to audiobooks on my longer commutes, particularly when I have music gigs that require a bit of driving. This month was, well, December, and all musicians know what that means. So I grabbed this book, and finished it in a couple weeks.
I Am the Messenger has very little in common with The Book Thief, other than, I suppose, a plot that contains darkness, but ultimately is very positive. Where the other book (as a Holocaust book) was mostly serious, this one was goofy, and didn’t entirely take itself seriously. Which is good, because the concept itself is implausible to say the least, and the framing story (which is only revealed at the end), kind of eye-rollingly postmodern and meta. The goofiness and open “of course this is improbable, but so what?” attitude is what makes it work. The narrator (and thus the author) simply invites the reader to suspend disbelief and go along with the story. And the story draws the reader in.
The book opens with a bungled bank robbery, and the narrator, Ed Kennedy, general loser, underaged cab driver, and directionless schlub, sprawled on the floor along with his three best friends and a few other hostages. One of whom, Marv, is pissed because the robbery means his shit-can car will get a parking ticket. In the end, Ed ends up taking action so the robber is caught, and he becomes a minor celebrity.
But then, he gets the ace of clubs in his mailbox, along with addresses and times, and his life goes down a bizarre rabbit hole. As he puts it, he becomes “The Messenger,” tasked with helping the various people he is directed to. So, to start with, he ends up befriending a lonely war widow, who thinks he is her late husband. He encourages a teenaged track star to run her races barefoot. And he ends up kidnapping and nearly killing a drunkard who rapes his wife. And those are just the first of his crazy tasks and bizarre adventures.
Along the way, as one might expect, he learns a lot about life and himself, and has to face the ugliness of his family’s dysfunction. Eventually, he has to take stock of his own life, and decide if he will be better than he is or not.
The plot is a lot of the fun, so I won’t spoil it more than that. Zusak creates a memorable cast of characters, representing a slice of the (mostly) working class Australia that he grew up in. There are few complete villains, and as a hero, well, Ed is flawed as hell. As are his friends. “Ritchie” (nicknamed after his botched tattoo), the unemployed and apathetic young man; Marv, owner of the terrible car and a large bank account and a secret he has told nobody; and Audrey, suffering from childhood trauma that prevents her from truly accepting love. Oh, and The Doorman, the ancient and odiferous dog that Ed inherited from his drunkard father. The Doorman is clearly the most functional major character in this book.
Oh, and another thread running through the book is that Ed is hopelessly in love with Audrey, but she doesn’t return his affection (although she does love him as a friend.)
The book goes down pretty easy. It has a bit of violence, some scary moments, and a bit of swearing - even by a priest - but nothing that doesn’t fit with the plot and characters. Ultimately, the message is an uplifting, if a bit generic one: everyone, even the Ed Kennedys of the world, can make a positive impact on the world, through the small, everyday interactions they have with others. In the times we live in, that is a relevant and hopeful message. Saving the world may be a bit much for us to expect of ourselves, but we can make it better in little ways.
The audiobook was narrated by Marc Aden Gray, who captures the character of Ed Kennedy perfectly. He sells it perfectly when Ed says stuff like “I am terrible at cards and hopelessly bad at sex.” I imagine this book is fun to read, but I thought the audio version was a perfect way to experience it.
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