ok so Markus Zusak is my favorite author. I have only read two of his books but, they where both the most amazing things I had ever read the two books where:Getting the Girl and The Book Theif I have a few ideas on what makes his books great but I am not able to actauly deconstruct them from memory characters: they are human. they have inner thoughts and actions that follow there character. there character is interesting plot/setting: the plot is relatable but unique the book theif wwII in germany getting the girl modern day in europe slums. the characters in the plot interact with the setting and the plot seems to fit the characters and the character fit the plot ( not copy and paste character and setting to make a story ) writting style: he writes in interesting ways. He uses poetry and beautiful imagery all written or seen from the characters point of view and the character have a very interesting point of view. is there anyone out there that would like to add to my deconcruction of this amazing author. the reason I want to find out his methods is to improve my writting I think many of us can benfit from learning from his techinques.
I've not read this author, but you have hit upon a central note which I think deserves a highlight. Reading your favorite authors with an eye for why they are your favorites is a very good exercise indeed.
I've read 'The Book Thief' and absolutely loved it. As for what makes them so great, well from the top of my head as I haven't read it in years, I'd say briefly that it was because the characters were interesting, the plot was exciting and that it was written in an engaging way. I remember I didn't want to put the book down as soon as I started reading it. But yeah, finding out his methods and what made his books successful is a good way to improve your own writing.
alright so I have both these books in my school's libary and I will be posting every day or so what I think me the chapter I had just read interesting I will be using getting the girl as my refence material. I agree with both of you examing books ( regradless if they are you favorite author or not ) can help improve your writting style wether that teaches you what to avoid or what you learn from. I think this is also the same concept behind the review room write and share and deconstruct what is writen and learn from what is shared alright so chapter one of my desconstruction. first thing I notice is the words in some of this chapter are spaced more like a poem than a story. I think this is to grab the readers attention through short choppy setences and dilibartly spaced out sentences. He also uses some very nice imagery for example; Rube's statement reverberated inside me till his voice was like a hamer ( Getting The Girl by Markus Zusak Chapter 1, page 18 ) this allows the reader to realy understand what the character is going thorough as well give the reader something to think about and imagine. imagry is important and is a good thing to have when you write anything. Markus Zusak uses many figurative language techiniques I think this is what makes him great. At the end of chapter One Markus Zusak writes a poem from the point of view of the main character. I think this is a very unqiue tool and if it is used correctly ( as it is in this book ) can make the reader realy think about the characters inner conflicts or phsyical struggles or whatever the poem may be about. Poetry in a story as well as any other unique writting traits like running metaphors or character philosphies can make story a much more interesting and harder to put down. the fact that all of this is in the first chapter realy makes me think if this was done intellioly to make the reader want to contiue reading. Chapter four ok so not doing one of these every chapters Markus Zusak seems to have a forulm of sorts for this book belivable characters combined with a main character who has deep inneer conflicts ( kinda of like the main character in the book theif ) he also uses lots of figurative language and there are some running metaphoring going on here the main one I have noticed so far is the Wolfe which is the main characters last name his last name is main source of figurative langauge for this book. also there is alot of poetry in this book and it is written with a certain amount of skill that you would expect from the main character. that is all the deconstruction I will do for today. alright here is an updated of my deconsturction. chapter 6 of my deconstruction. I have noticed that this book is written with the voice of the main character. to tell the truth I noticed the first time I read this book, but I think this is a key point on what Markus Zusak good. he uses voice not of himself but of his characters. his characters have interesting thoughts and feeling and a unique outlook on life and he uses these to craft a voice for them and writes the book as if there telling it. here is an example; Her eyes smiled at me, for just a moment. One of those hurt smiles a person gives you to let you know they're okay, even though they're far from it. ( Getting The Girl by Markus Zusak Chapter 6 page 72 ) This proves serval of my points. First the use of voice. He could have easily said she give me a hurt smile ( or something like that ) but, since the main character thinks deeply about everything he eleborates on that and makes it sound like the main character is talking not the writter. it also proves my point about interesting thoughts and feelings especaily with this part of the line ... One of those hurt smiles a person gives you to let you know they're okay, even though they're far from it ( Getting The Girl by Markus Zusak Chapter 6 page 72 ) he expands upon the smiles with great discription to show its meaning to the character. In this book Markus Zusak finishes each chapter with an interesting peice often a poem of just a unique thought the character has. I think this help make the reader more interested. It also helps to improve the characters inner thoughts and give them more depth. slang as well as language is used in thoughts and speach to show the characters personality and in other parts educated words or in depth thought are used to shown the characters ulitmate power. the strugle for the charcter contiues thorough the book even if something good happens. for example chapter 7 he almost gets a girlfreind but is unalble to speak. physical-mental conflicts that often interesect. I will be contiueing this very shortly as my copy of this book just arrived in the mail.
