Much happens in the book after last post's summary. Werner has many troubles and it seems that his life gets much rougher as the book progresses. Frederick goes missing one day and, true to the saying, curiosity kills the cat when Werner finds out that after all of the bullying, some boys have hurt Frederick so badly that he needs surgery and suffers severe brain damage. This absolutely knocks Werner off his feet and he spends most of his time in a daze. To make matters worse, he is drafted to the army despite his young age. There he is reunited with Volkheimer (who was drafted a bit before) and a few other soldiers; they are all put in one crew as a form of bounty hunters who use the radio direction finding device that Werner creates to find partisans that try to sabotage the Germans. This role takes a toll on Werners mind as he has to see many deaths, some of which weren't as necessary. By the time he gets to Saint-Malo he develops something of a conscience, hiding radio transmissions from the crew including those sent by Etienne and Marie-Laure. Those two grieve over losing Madame Manec to illness and decide to carry on her sabateur work, getting codes baked into bread from the baker and reading them over Etienne's hidden radio transmitter in the attic. Marie-Laure is still saddened from the absence of her father but she gets along with Etienne and the support of the other ladies that were friends with Madame Manec. She frequently goes to a grotto that she was told about and listens to the snails and other marine life there.
If I were in the book I wouldn't mind being either Werner or Marie-Laure's friend. They both share a deep curiosity for how and why things are the way they are. If I were to be Werner's friend I would try to support him through the rough times that he is having, maybe trying to take his mind off of it in some way. If I were Marie Laure's friend I would probably help with the sabotage that they do and also describe things to her like her father did. In Werner's case I would get along well with Volkheimer because he seems to be a gentle giant that has good advice at important times. I would get along with Etienne because he would have many stories to tell and things to teach. I would probably not get along with either of the Neumann's in Werners crew (probably one more than the other) because they seem to be too annoying and it would drive me mad. There are not many people that I wouldn't get along with in Marie-Laure's storyline but I would probably scorn the occupying Nazis for taking so much from us, down to essential needs.
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After we left off we learned more about how Werner got into the army. He was accepted to Schlupforta, a higher education school that also trains them for war. There he meets Frederick a boy who cheated his way into the school because he has poor eyesight, Frank Volkheimer a very large intimidating character who is actually a gentle giant, Werner meets him because one of the professors sees Werner's proficiency in physics and engineering and Volkheimer is there to make sure he is indisturbed. Marie-Laure enjoys her time in Saint-Malo because her uncle opens up to her and shares with her all of these sciences. Her father gets a telegram to return to Paris and this scares Marie-Laure because she has never been away from her father. It gets worse because her father is captured by Nazis on the grounds of being a potential spy because he took measurements of the city for a scale model that he made for Marie-Laure.
The relationship between Marie-Laure and Etienne (the uncle) is a very interesting one. It is very childish in nature probably due to the fact that Etienne hasn't had much contact with people and Marie-Laure rubs off on him. They are both curious and have deep rooted memories to different aspects of science and nature. Marie has the ability to calm Etienne down when he gets paranoid and anxious and I think that this is a really special connection. Another very odd yet meaningful connection is that of Werner and Frederick. They start out as normal friends but as the terrible treatment by the commandant towards Frederick increases, he grows distant. Still they visit Frederick's family in Berlin and this excites Werner, but as they get back to the hell of Schlupforta Frederick is picked on more and more and eventually he tries to distance himself from Werner in an attempt to save him from being picked on next. The last interesting relationship in this book is that of Werner and Volkheimer, they are an unlikely friendship but Volkheimer is a pseudo-father figure that protects Werner. He is obviously still there when they are out on the field and Volkheimer still protects and instills hope in Werner. I appreciate that Volkheimer is a gentle giant character because he somehow adds calm to Werner's storyline. If I were to advise the main characters on these relationships I would tell them to keep them close and cherish them because you never know if they could leave from your life, and because they are the best chance of getting through these hard times. I feel that these supporting characters are more important than the main characters themselves because they instill hope and happiness in the otherwise drab and terrible environment around them. In the book so far we are introduced to the characters; a blind French girl named Marie-Laure LeBlanc and a German boy named Werner Pfennig. The setting is Europe on the verge of war. The majority of this section is flashback to introduce the characters and their personality. Marie-Laure lives in Paris with her father, a locksmith who works at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle. She learns to find her way around with the help of her father and as she refines her spacial awareness she develops a habit of associating things with smells or sounds. She becomes very interested in the worlds of books like Around the World in 80 Days and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea when her father gives them to her on her birthdays. Werner grows up in a very different situation. He and his sister Jutta live in a orphaned children's home run by a kind-spirited French-German nun named Frau Elena in a German mining town called Zollverein. Their father died in a mine collapse as is the case with a lot of the other orphans there. Werner is unique, however, because he has a burning curiosity to understand things and how they work. They salvage a broken radio and he manages to fix it and even go as far as improving its speakers so that the whole children's home can hear. The quote "The air swarms with so much that is invisible! How he wishes he had eyes to see the ultraviolet, eyes to see the infrared, eyes to see radio waves crowding the darkening sky, flashing through the walls of the house." describes his yearning to learn about science and the backstage of the world. Their paths come closer together a bit later when Germany threatens to occupy France and Marie-Laure and her father have to flee France to her Uncle Etienne's house in Saint-Malo. Somehow that is yet to be described, Werner is stationed in Saint-Malo as a soldier once it is German occupied, and that is where the first quarter of my book leaves off.
We know that their paths will cross soon and that this will probably cause, or be at the time that, the conflict arises. The war at this point is already in motion and this could add another level of danger. I hope that the two meet in good faith and bond over their curiosity for things, Werner probably knows some French because he lives with Frau Elena so they might have some conversation, Werner might even teach her some German. I wonder what will happen to Marie-Laure's family and that might be part of the conflict. I definitely love the book so far, I feel that it is a perfect combination of reality and fiction in my favorite era. I enjoy how the book is set up with the different settings and time frames, while some might consider it to be confusing and poor for continuity I think it is great and adds to the rising tension. I am very curious to see what happens next. I will comment on Melia and Lillie's blogs. |
AuthorFernando R. Archives
June 2018
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