I Am The Messenger – Review
Author: Markus Zusak
Publication Date: 2002
Pages: 357
Set in Australia, the story is about Ed Kennedy, a nineteen-year-old cab driver, who foils an incompetent bank robber and shortly thereafter begins receiving mysterious messages that lead him around town to people needing help of one kind or another.
From the first page of the novel, I am hooked. By the third page, I bring the book out to where my wife sits and read her the first pages, and her reaction is the same – her eyes close and she laughs hard. We do have much the same sense of humour, but humour is not the only thing that this book has going for it.
Ed’s life up to this point usually entailed him hanging out with his friends Marv, Ritchie and Audrey (whom he fancies a great deal), shifts at work, and living with his ancient dog, the Doorman. Once the messages arrive, though, he grapples with how to deal with other people’s problems and what he can do for them, and he slowly begins to piece together his own life, gaining insight into his choices and relationships, and what that means for him. His journey is at times comedic, dramatic, joyful and bittersweet, and the characters are all relatable on some level, from dear Milla and innocent Sophie, to the violent Rose brothers and his piece-of-work Ma. And along the way, the author plants a few clues as to how the story will wrap up, and even though I’m not completely sold on the ending, it is still easy to see how well it was structured. Overall, it is such an enjoyable and well-crafted story that I heartily recommend I Am The Messenger.
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Thanks to Mishel at mis(h)takes
Thanks to Deb at Bookmagic
8 comments
This book sounds really good. I loved the review Michael. I am going to check this out at the library when I go tomorrow.
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Thanks for stopping over and taking the time to comment! You look to be doing quite well during Bloggiesta over at cindysloveofbooks.blogspot.com. Hey, was that an anchor, too? Hehe, yes, I paid attention to your latest postings!
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Hi Michael,
Thanks for adding me to your blogroll. I haven’t yet figured out how to set one of those up, but when I do I will add your blog if you like. I am curious where in Australia ‘I Am The Messenger’ was set. I moved from Australia to the USA less than a year ago, so I am beginning to miss it and anything to do with Au sparks my interest. It sounds like an interesting book.
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Yea I think that is an anchor. I usually use Name of whatever with no spaces after the = sign and that works for me.
Well my name is on reserve for this book.
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Sorry for some reason its not going through. I will email you the anchor that I use.
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I LOVED this book!! Well…the ending left a little to be desired, but overall I thought it was great. Completely agree with your review!
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I really loved this book when i read it; great review.
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Funny — this is one of the first books I reviewed when I started my reading blog, too! I enjoyed this book but like you, I wasn’t totally sold on the ending.
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