(For the sake of this post, I'll just pretend I haven't read the full book and am only familiar with the parts of the book the questions refer to! May make it easier to answer the questions as the book is so long!)
I am enjoying the book so far, although the start was a bit slow. It didn't really take me too long to figure out that the narrator himself was actually Death, the cloaked figure that haunts many dreams. Something that surprised me, and instilled in me even more awe for Markus Zusak as an author: in the first chapter, the narrator is downright likeable! Is it possible for Death to be friendly and have a sense of humour, whilst still having to carry out the somber task of collecting human souls? We see how this unusual interpretation of Death notices small Liesel Meminger when he comes to collect the soul of her dead younger brother. He watches her, in her immense grief, collect a book: The Grave Diggers Handbook. It is, as Death phrases it, "Her first act of book thievery."
The writing style is very poetic, with small subheadings followed by realisations sprinkled throughout. Markus Zusak's vocabulary is immense, his phrasing unusual and his characters detailed, as though they are people he is really familiar with outside of his books. The opening chapter is enthralling, drawing you in, and before you know it you've finished Part 1 and Liesel's living with the Hubermann's and learning to write.
