Deathly Confessions

No apologies this time. It's sooner than any other updates for what? The past year? Have been. I'll try and keep them coming quicker. 

My favourite book charter ever is Death. Yep. You read that right: Death. Obviously I mean an anthropomorphic Death (i.e the grim reaper) and not simply the cessation of life. I really hate it when book characters die. Weeeell, not really; I mean the best stories are ones that change your thoughts and feelings, making you feel and breathe along with the characters, and the passing away (I hate this euphemism of death, but it's an easy distinction between Death and, well, death) of characters is often useful in achieving that goal. Anyway, that's a discussion for another day, today I want to talk to you about Death, not death. 

I first fell in love with the personification of Death in the novel 'The Book Thief'. It's brilliant and you should go read it- to quote a school project where I talked about it: "The Book Thief was the first book that broke my heart, ripped up my insides, and then blended them with crushed glass. My perspective on life was transformed."(Confession, 2013). If you're a bit of a reader, you'll know that that's actually a compliment to the book. The Book Thief is told from Death's perspective, with this lovely voice and tone. I was, of course, familiar with the concept of the grim reaper, but a Death with personality and what could almost be called emotions was a startling revelation. 

Just imagine that this is Death, not Sherlock. Or just admire Sherlock. Or both. Both is good. Talking of Sherlock. Season 3 teaser trailer means that a proper trailer is coming soon! *squeee!*

Then I read the Discworld novels. If you don't know what they are, go read this and then you are worthy to be my friend. I'm kidding, I'm happy to be friends with you anyway, it's just that it'll be easier for you to understand my life if you at least know who the most glorious and esteemed Terry Pratchett is. Anyway, back to the Death of the Discworld. He speaks ALL IN CAPITALS, is somehow hilariously comic and deathly (pun unintended until after I'd written it. Then it became very very intended indeed) serious at the same time, is at the head of a family tree (I don't really understand the technicalities either) consisting of a glorious succession of wonderful characters who have their own novels, is visible to all (or is he…?), has a friendly 'Death of Rats' as a sort-of-not-really pet, and often has very deep and philosophical thoughts (such as, 'Cats. Cats are nice.'). I know my attempts at describing his brilliance are hopelessly pathetic, but rest assured, he's brilliant! Please don't take my word for it- go and read!

I'm not really sure what to write as a conclusionary (I'm in a making-up-words type mood right now) paragraph. I guess just that it's wonderful how a character often portrayed as cold or heartless can be rewritten as something entirely different. The Death of The Book Thief is a tired and sad character, the Death of Discworld is technically still cold and heartless, yet endearingly not. Please try reading one, even if Death is not your cup of tea-The Book Thief is acclaimed for many other factors (and trust me, it deserves all the praise it can get) and the Discworld novels (and other Pratchett books) are mostly not Death-centric, and have whole hosts of other brilliant things going for them!

Allon-sy!

xxx

Confession

P.S Yes, I know it should 'technically' be 'deadly' in the title. It wouldn't be such an appropriate title though. Sorry. Not really. 

P.P.S As ever, although never previously stated by me, if any of the images used in this post (or others) are yours and you object to them being used please let us know and we'll remove them straight away :)