The Book Thief Review: The ugliness and Beauty of Humans

“A DEFINITION NOT FOUND

IN THE DICTIONARY
Not leaving: an act of trust and love,
often deciphered by children.” –Death

“The consequence of this is that I'm always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both.” –Death

“I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race - that rarely do I even simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant...I AM HAUNTED BY HUMANS.” –Death

Powerfully narrated by Death, the Book Thief movie (based on the bestselling novel of the same title), is a heartfelt testament of the strength and courage of the human spirit and the power and beauty of the written words in the foreground of the horrors of the World War II.

The Book Thief tells the story of young Liesel  Meminger who was set to live with new parents after her communist mother and brother died. On the funeral of her beloved, she found a book and kept it. Though she does not know how to read and write yet, she has fallen in love with the written words instantly. Her new papa, Hans, becomes her new teacher. They both enjoyed reading, writing, and the eloquence both skills gave them. Liesel’s beautiful love affair with the written words—despite the war, burning of books, raids, famine, and death—has proven her audacity. She has learned to steal (or “borrow” as she would put it) books.

“You can’t eat books, sweetheart,” says Rudy Steiner, her childhood best friend, but no one and nothing can stop the Book Thief.   

Each character portrayed a strong rendition through a vividly explained context (Nazi Germany). The movie was melancholic, preaching without imposing, riveting. Like the many WWII-themed books and movies (Bernard Schlink’ The Reader, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Pianists, and The Schindler’s List), the Book Thief is a story you won’t soon forget. But perhaps what makes the movie exceptional is it anchors on the children. The children—playful, ambitious, innocent—are its main characters and target audience.

I haven’t read Markus Zusak’s original bestselling novel yet but I heard it was beautifully written, the prose sings. The imagery, clear.

I love movies/novels set in World War because it relieves our painful history, the errors of mankind, which teaches us not to repeat history.

rating: 5/5 

2013 in Pictures

The few remaining days of 2013 calls for the remembrance of almost the year that was. But the past 360 days have been a roller coaster ride. There were ups, downs, and so-so. There were moments worth imprinting on paper and saving on journals, some were even worth forgetting. Thanks to Instagram (and journal-calendar), reliving the yesterdays become much easier. Here's my Instagram account (http://instagram.com/nickkydeguzman) by the way.

Perhaps, career-wise, my biggest achievement was the celebration of my first year as a Lifestyle Reporter for a daily newspaper. It wasn't easy, though. Thank God I made it. Although a Lifestyle Writer has relatively easier schedule than a News Writer, it doesn't mean that he/she has lesser responsibilities. Lifestyle reporters also has tons of deadlines and daily events. But of course, the soft news writers have perks (teehee) like local/overseas travels, hotel/restaurant accommodation, and fashion freebies.

Here are some of my Instagram entries I would like to share:

I visited Singapore twice this year! Here's to more travel next year!

Bohol and Cebu were struck by earthquake that left many of their World Heritage sites damaged or completely muddles. The picture is Bohol's majestic Baclayon Church, before the earthquake hit.

This is Mayor Romualdez' Patio Victoria Beach in Tacloban before the Super Typhoon Yolanda hit the province and left it like a War Zone. I really hope that the people of Leyte, Samar, Palawan and other hard-hit areas remain hopeful and positive.

To cap off my year, I finally... entered in a relationship. Haha!

Someone reads

fall in love

Someone sent me this lovely poem attributed to Fr. Pedro Arrupe SJ. He said that I should not be scared to fall in love...

Fall in Love

Nothing is more practical

Than finding God, than

Falling in Love

In a quite absolute, final way.

What you are in love with,

What seizes your imagination, will affect

Everything.

It will decide

What will get you out of bed in the morning,

What you do with your evenings,

How you spend your weekends,

What you read, whom you know,

What breaks your heart,

And what amazes you with joy and gratitude.

Fall in Love, stay in love,

And it will decide everything. 

*Awww*

We cannot blame someone if he or she has become jaded and cynical about the world. After all, he or she has compelling reasons to feel so. In the Philippines alone, there are numerous and escalating cases of rape, theft, robbery, murder, among others, what more across the globe.

Last year, I posted a blog comment (Malady) about how a Chinese girl was left unconscious in the middle of a busy street after she was hit by a motorcycle. The street was brimming with passersby yet, nobody cared to help the little girl. She died afterward.

However, there are moments that will bring you back to the realization, that somehow, there are still good Samaritan out there. Below is a re-post from Cavnews.wordpress.com (21 Pictures That Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity).

I felt so good and touched to find out that the world is not as wicked as I thought it was. Cheers to brotherhood and universal love. After all, amid a number of seemingly different world religions, we all long for the same thing: love and world peace.

***

1. This picture of Chicago Christians who showed up at a gay pride parade to apologize for homophobia in the Church.

(Michelle Gantner / Maladjusted Media) 

… and the reaction from the parade.

(Michelle Gantner / Maladjusted Media)

2. This story about Japanese senior citizens who volunteered to tackle the nuclear crisis at Fukushima power station so that young people wouldn’t have to subject themselves to radiation.

Source: bbc.co.uk

3. This picture of two Norwegian guys rescuing a sheep from the ocean.

4. This sign at an awesome bookshop.

Source: helsinki-syndrome.tumblr.com

5. This poll about what Snooki should name her child.

6. The moment in which this Ohio athlete stopped to help an injured competitor across the finish line during a track meet.

17-year-old Meghan Vogel was in last place in the 3,200-meter run when she caught up to competitor Arden McMath, whose body was giving out. Instead of running past her to avoid the last-place finish, Vogel put McMath’s arm around her shoulders, carried her 30 meters, and then pushed her over the finish line before crossing it.

Image by The Daily Call, Mike Ullery / AP

7. This exchange between a 3-year-old girl and a shopping center.

8. This note that was handed to a waiter along with a $20 bill by an elderly lady in his restaurant.

9. This sign at an awesome Subway restaurant.

10. This picture of a villager carrying stranded kittens to dry land during floods in Cuttack City, India.

Image by Biswaranjan Rout / AP

Image by Biswaranjan Rout / AP

11. This sign at an awesome drycleaner’s.

Plaza Cleaners in Portland, OR, helped over 2,000 unemployed workers who couldn’t afford dry cleaning. The store’s owner estimated that it cost his company $32,000 dollars.

12. This photograph of a man giving his shoes to a homeless girl in Rio de Janeiro.

13. This picture of a firefighter administering oxygen to a cat rescued from a house fire.

(TOM BAUER/Missoulian)

14. And this one.

Image by Chris Butler / AP

15. This interaction between a Guatemalan girl and a tourist she just met.

16. This gesture from a neighbor.

17. These photos of two children collaborating to rescue a dog who had fallen into a ravine.

18. This note on a young family’s check.

19. This exchange between a protester and a soldier during a protest in Brazil.

(Imagens/ TVBA)

20. These pictures of a man jumping into rough waters to rescue a stranger’s Shih Tzu in Melbourne.

Sue Drummond was walking her beloved Shih Tzu, Bibi, on a pier in Melbourne, when a fierce gust of wind picked him up and hurled him into the rough waters of the bay. A passerby, Raden Soemawinata, who happened to be on the pier that day to scatter his grandmother’s ashes, wasted no time in stripping down and diving into the bay to rescue the animal.

(Photos: Chris Scott)

Via: news.com.au

21. And this photograph of two best friends on a swing.

Source: volobuev.me

I feel happy and relevant

My journalist professor used to say that lifestyle writers can't be that pertinent--they report on the latest hotels, fashion items, and beauty products that are seemingly lame and do not have relevance to society, at least to the masses--unlike the daily hard news reportage on economy, tourism, and crimes. 

But now, I feel so "part of something". I feel "useful" after the news report on the death of three Filipino solons, who underwent stem cell therapy abroad, has gone viral. Apparently, I can relate with what's going on. And I somehow know the ins and outs of stem cell therapy after I feature a story on it published in our Lifestyle section. Haha! I feel so damn happy. That is why of all the coverages I attend, Well-being (and Travel hehe) are my favorites. 

Revive the Old, Glory Days of Manila!!!

On the 442nd Manila Day, all I ever wish is to see it prosper (again) and revive all the vintage streets, buildings, and infrastructures, which are now only visible in books and online travel blogs.

Please, new Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, revive, for instance, Escolta and the Metropolitan Theater! Who doesn't want to walk on cobbled pavements and to Instagram photos of Neo-Classical, Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings?

If only we can revive Escolta's Tranvia, Manila's first cable car station. If we can only see concerts in the chic-ly designed Metropolitan Theater. If we can hear the footsteps of calesa thumping on cobbled streets. If only...

Escolta's tranvia

People dressed to the nines walking on cobbled pavements unworried of snatchers and rapists.

What about the abandoned Metropolitan Theater? The busy Manila has forgotten how people used to religiously watch concerts, plays, dances, then.

*photo credits in order: www.yapakngesparto.wordpress.com, philippine-history.org, wikipilipinas

i want to grow old with you

Writers and journalists, well some, are often portrayed in movies as career-orientated, 24/7 on call, thus loveless. I fear though, that this portrait is becoming truer. I know three lady journalists and one male writer who still remain single (either by choice, fate, or Mr. and Ms. Right hasn't come yet) even at ‘mature’ age.

I do not want to end up like them.

I love my career, but I am also in love with the thought of finding love, but—

The problem is, I am (temporarily) dodging this so-called ‘happiest and greatest emotion on earth,’ because I want to focus on my job first. I fear though that by the time I feel I am ready to commit to landi moments, the boylets are nowhere to be found.

from Aspieweb.net

Sure, there are men in the office who want to get to know me but I do not want to landi back—not yet.

Today, I met a 70-year old woman journalist who, by choice, stayed single. She seemed happy and healthy although she was carrying a walking aide (baston) with her. However, I am guessing that deep down, at the back of her mind, at most mundane moments, she feels lonely, incomplete, unhappy. I believe we ought to find our better half, someone we will grow old with.

I do not want to end up like her.

My office mate who got married at an early age (25, if my memory serves me right) encourages me to date as many men as I can handle. At the age of 21, I should be thinking of marriage, he said. I laughed.

from google photos

I do not want to remain single, of course. I want to get married before I reached 30. 

Our department is planning to come up with an additional page for the Lifestyle section. The coming love month inspired our editors to publish a special Valentine issue; I was tasked to do a ‘boyfriend-girlfriend wish list.’ In addition to that, I am currently assigned to our “Better Half” issue. Every Sunday, we publish love stories of married couples. Their love and life anecdotes inspire me, leave me in awe, and make me believe that someday, l-o-v-e (this four-letter word that makes the world go round), will also come my way.

I do not want to remain single by the time I have wrinkles.  

Ah, the thoughts that February 14 makes! 

weddings and happy endings

What is it with weddings that make you cry? Or maybe it is just me, an emotional creature. But I think people who don’t like happy-ever-after stories, fairy tales, and weddings either have their heart broken a thousand times or are just plain Grinch.

Today, January 8, a day before the feast of the Black Nazarene, my office mate Kuya Caloy and his girlfriend of 13 years, Jenny, tied the knot. They are high school sweethearts. I do not know their love story but what’s more important is they ended up together.

The marriage rite wasn’t grandiose, few selected people witnessed the union of Carlos and Jennifer. But it was memorable on its own right. Their vows were heartfelt and delivered in Filipino, which made it more meaningful and 'relatable'. Of course, it was sealed with a kiss (and some photo ops).

Everybody—office mates, relatives, friends, spectators—was sporting smiles and best wishes.

What is it with weddings really that pull our heartstrings and make us believe on the power of love?  

Ah, it is good to be in love.

sugar-rushed by your reading...

My heart started to skip a beat when I saw a girl reading a book in a jeepney on our way to Quiapo.  Not because she was reading on a moving vehicle (haha!)—which reminded me of my mom on how she used to scold me whenever I read in a car—but, because she was holding a book published by my former publication company and she was reading it intently.

Well, not really long ago, I just resigned from that company five months ago. I wasn’t able to see the title though, if I once handled and edited that reading material. But it was okay, at least someone’s reading our book!  And she was so engrossed. She almost missed her destination.

I was of course kilig. Wait, what’s the English word for that? I Google translate it before and said ‘hoity toity’ was its English version. But, I doubt it! ‘Hoity toity’ means frivolous, right? Mr. Webster said so.

But then I remembered Kuya Kim said on his Twitter account that kilig means sugar-rushed in English.

So there, I was sugar-rushed!

I did not write the book but at least I knew how it felt like to be an author. I was sugar-rushed by that fateful Saturday morning when I was on my way to my new work.  

perks of the perks of being a wallflower

Stephen Chbosky’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is one of the movie-tie-in-fictions that I liked even more when translated to a 120-minute episode.

Chbosyky’s was just another coming-of-age novels that I read two years ago, I could not even help but compare it with the “Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger.

However, the movie was able to adopt the essential parts of the book and inject exciting scenes and dialogues that added flare and flair to the original version.

Lorgan Lerman, Esra Miller, and Emma Watson furthermore brought to life the characters of Charlie, Patrick, and Sam.

The film taught me the value of living in the moment and savoring each instant—because days just seem to just pass us by.

"There are people who forget what it’s like to be 16 when they turn 17. I know these will all be stories someday. And our pictures will become old photographs. We’ll all become somebody’s mom or dad.But right now these moments are not stories. This is happening, I am here and I am looking at her. And she is so beautiful. I can see it. This one moment when you know you’re not a sad story. You are alive, and you stand up and see the lights on the buildings and everything that makes you wonder. And you’re listening to that song and that drive with the people you love most in this world. And in this moment I swear, we are infinite.”

 

                                                                          – Perks of Being a Wallflower

The quotation above, if my memory serves me right, was not in the novel, which made me love the film more than the book because those are my favorite lines! 

I guess it’s wrong to generalize that movies degrade and damage the concept of the paperbacks. 

from tumblr

Another yesterday

Random, rants, and ravings

I terribly miss school, sembreak, and class suspensions.

I want to write, write, and write…

I want to enroll and graduate again.

I miss the comfort of school.

I miss my friends.

I miss my classmates and our classrooms.

I miss AB and UST.

I want to constantly learn.

I want to achieve and do big.

I want do simultaneous jobs.

I want to contribute what I know and leave a mark on earth.

Give me back my mojo!

Life constantly moves fast and one thing you know, it will be another yesterday. Today will not wait for you so better keep up!

Our time will come...

21

JobStreet greeted me a day ahead. :''>

not so fast, march

How could a person miss many activities in just a short span of time?

My blog had been in hiatus for the last three weeks. Apparently, even I was missing in action. Because of inevitable circumstances I was put into (I had on and off sickness), I skipped most of my classes, missed bonding with my friends and the other moments that I should have witnessed and participated.

I even missed an important job interview, but thank Heavens the corporation was considerate enough to reschedule my appointment, twice!

After my recuperation, I was again faced with the familiar feeling and atmosphere: deadlines all over the place. But I was not annoyed or anything, I perfectly understood the demands of graduating and finally stepping out from my university.

It’s just that the last few days have gone so fast…

touched

retreat letters :''>

I was touched to receive notes from unexpected people. I didn't see them coming, seriously.
I would like to thank my friends and acquaintances for all overwhelming notes I received, you know who you are! 

I'm still young

2025 – 2012 = 13 + 20 = 33

What the hell are these numbers? Basically, that is a computation on what the Earth would be like when I reached 33 years old. It’s because according to science experts, by the year 2025 there would have worldwide scarcity on water and even bald forestation.

Moreover, by the time my contemporaries and I reached 2030 (which means we’re 38 years old by then) there is a high possibility of low supply of fossil fuels, a kind of energy used by the country for electricity demands.  We recently experienced a one-day Metro Manila blackout because of a typhoon and it totally freaked the people out: no laptop, no internet connection, no television, no air condition. Nothing.  What more after 18 years?

These are facts according to a six-month research of GMA 7’s documentary, ‘Oras Na’ hosted by Richard Gutierrez.

I have a wide imagination that the docu scared the heck out of me, I am still relatively young (33 years old) by the time the Earth has reached its limit. Thirty three years of existence? I could still imagine myself having a career and building my own family. Oh my God! By the time I have my own children, they would not see the beauty of the world anymore.

Everyone has deadlines to beat and meet that people overlook the Earth’s own cut-off date.  I hope it’s not too late to beat the world’s ‘deadtime’.

P.S. Documentaries like Oras Na are so illuminating and scary-in-a-good-way that it ought to be televised earlier so that more can watch!!!

Everything shall perish under the sun…

*photo grabbed from google

fate

Call me loser or anything, but I just had finished watching 500 Days of Summer a while ago. I thought it was beautiful. Okay, ‘beautiful’ is such a blah word, but for the lack of better adjective let’s leave it that way.

My friends said that it wasn’t that good, that the movie was very indie-ish, but on the contrary if I were to rate it, I would give the storyline a perfect score.

500 Days of Summer is not a love story we’re all used to, rather it’s a coming-of-age anecdote on how one comes into perspective about a very profound subject-- love.

Tom, the protagonist, thought all along that Summer, his love interest, was her destiny that until they broke up he would not admit that they were really not just meant for each other.

I liked how the movie ended, when Tom somehow, has come full circle. He met a would-be lover, Autumn (yeah, what a cliché.)

It just goes to show that sometimes, we overlooked some things in front of us, those that are more important, because we keep on chasing on what we thought was that something we’re looking for.  (Did I explain myself clearly? Whatever. LOL.)

Tom: “I’ve never seen you before.”

Autumn: “Maybe you weren’t looking.”

***

On the other news, it’s only less than 10 weeks before my graduation. Oh my goodness!

Malady

Robbery, murder, rape has been part of the daily news programs that the audience becomes apathetic towards these stories. The news about a  Chinese kid, who has been brain dead after run over twice, proves the indifference and callous minds of people.
Nakaka-inis at nakaka-lungkot lang, dahil wala ng pakialam ang tao sa kapwa nila! Urgh.
This brings me back to one of my favorite poems, "Man of My Time" by Italian poet Salvatore Quasimodo.


MAN OF MY TIME (SALVATORE QUASIMODO)
You are still made of stone and sling,
man of my time. You were the cock-pit
with the malign wings, the sundial of death,
-I have seen you- in the chariot of fire, at the gallows
at the wheels of torture. I have seen you: it was you 
with your exact science persuaded to extermination
without love, without Christ. Again, as always, you
have killed, as did your father kill, as did
the animals that saw you for the first time, kill
and this blood smells as on the day 
one brother told the other brother: "Let us
go into the fields." And that echo, chill, tenacious, 
has reached down to you, within your day.
Forget, o sons, the clouds of blood 
risen from the earth, forget the fathers:
their tombs sink down ashes black birds, the wind cover their heart.


oOo
Ever since we discussed this poem in our Literature class, "Man of My Time" has become one my favorite poems. The subject deals with man's efficiency in killing his neighbors as time goes by. 'Killing' may not be taken per se, it may allude to man's detachment and indifference in life; still Quasimodo's work transcends through time, and is most applicable today. 
oOo
The following are pictures taken from the Daily Mail.

Apathetic man walking past the poor child.

Dead malice

Finally, after 20 passers by, a compassionate lady!

way to go!

Geez. I haven't seen my grades, yet! MyUste, please don't prolong my agony! I am quite anxious to see how I did this semester. To state "I did my best" would be an understatement, seriously. I have poured my heart and soul to every commitment and I can't afford (and I don't know what will I do) to see myself slowly slipping from getting that Latin distinction. Please. Don't give me that look now, I know that grades do not make a man, but I am banking on the principle that, mag-aaral ka na nga lang, bakit hindi mo pa galingan?
Anyway, others have seen theirs and I'm quite envious that they have entered the site, without much ado.
My crush (haha!) happened to post his grades, and I was like O.O you already! I am contemplating on posting his grades since it's not mine in the first place, who am I to post such things? But come to think of it, he posted it on Facebook which means it is for public-consumption. HAHA. His grades inspired me to do better and give my best shot since it's the last semester and I am finally graduating. Another plus for you dude, way to go! *hands down*

Thank You!

Finally! I could smell and taste my much-awaited sem break!
But before anything else (read: shopping, reading pocketbooks, partying, sleeping until wee hours) I would like to thank my first semester 'adventure' for letting me experience--happiness, struggles, anxiety and apprehension--in a jam-packed five-month-school-stay.
My Broadcast Journalism subject has opened my horizons and technical knowledge on "television mechanics." Today, I would critique some news programs especially now that i'm backed up with our lessons. Before, I would just dumbly watch a program on face value, now i know some camera angles, techniques and rules. Despite the struggles in meeting all the demands of the said subject, what mattered most was the experience and lessons gathered from every wanting days.
Non-academic wise, the last semester also taught me how to balance my time, endure conflicts within my paper organization, and end up with a smile painted on my face as if nothing happened.
Thank you, first semester, for that roller coaster ride!

Bianca and Cj's birthday celebration in Shakey's. *photo courtesy of Bianca*