The Floating Book Part 1 Response

"The Floating Book Part 1", pages 241-242, was a very striking chapter to me at least because not only did it really illustrate the narration style of Death but also the writing style of Markus Zusak. Also, after reading the chapter I was compelled to do some research about some of the events mentioned in the chapter. First off, this chapter is a view back into the mind of Death, as for some time we have merely been listening to Death tell what is happening. Death jumps way into the future and illustrates how Rudy is killed by an Allied bombing raid. This a technique that Zusak loves to use, as when he drops hints about events to come in the future the reader wants to read ahead and witness these events. We learn that Death feels sorry for Rudy, and he even goes as far to say that taking Rudy's soul was like robbing the world. These thoughts make Death seem more human-like, and may even make readers more comfortable with the idea of Death as the narrator. Death jumpimg into the future to explain how Rudy is going to die is yet of another instance of Markus Zusak technique of hinting to the reader what will happen later.

After hearing about the eminant bombing of Molching earlier in the novel, and hearing about it once more in "The Floating Book Part 1", I decided to do some research about the event. First off, there is not, and there never was a Molching, Germany. The name and the fact that the town was the birthplace of Nazism were both ideas generated by Zusak. However, there was a town named Olching in Germany. Olching, was located by the Amper River and the Dachau Concentration Camp (both real places). After reading this I now knew that the town of Molching was never actually bombed, as it never existed. But, many other towns in Germany were bombed and many German civilians lost their lives as the Allied Air Forces try to eliminate targets such as factories that were aiding the Germans in the war.