Oh, it's infinitely better than The Night Porter. It's hard to completely sum up Trumbo's book, but yeah, basically, the best parts are, to me, the ones that involve Grieben and Liesel.
It's interesting to me that Grieben, who is, by all means a despicable man, is able to feel so strongly for someone to the point of madness. His love for her almost humanizes him. Trumbo was contradictory in parts (it is unfinished, and there are his notes and details left to go on), with how Grieben is not capable of real, true, love, yet it's made explicitly clear that Liesel is the only person he's ever loved. It's his love that ends up destroying her, as the only times he's ever cared for anyone has led to their demise. There's a line I love, wherein it's stated that yes, he has passion for the cause and his political career, but not even the strength of his beliefs can surpass what he feels for her (especially since she's Jewish).
For instance, she's standing there nude in this office, when earlier she was out shopping for stockings, and now she's being sent to Auschwitz. Behind the two way mirror, he's watching her adoringly, because now, to him, is their chance to finally be together. He regrets the circumstances for their reunion, but his reaction is almost like out of a romantic comedy when the characters finally get together due a whacky situation or something. When he gets her alone, he courts her as if they're just picking up where they left off. It's both horrifically comedic and oddly touching of him.
I could ramble on forever about it, really. I have a fanmix already compiled for them, which I want to supplement with graphics and book excerpts.
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Watch Basterds. It will cheer you up. I watched it last night. ;)
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Dalton Trumbo was such a talented writer, but omg. According to his notes for Night of the Aurochs, it was difficult for him, too.
You know, I probably should. Though both share the same WWII backdrop, IB is made of unicorns and rainbows in comparison to Aurochs.
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It's interesting to me that Grieben, who is, by all means a despicable man, is able to feel so strongly for someone to the point of madness. His love for her almost humanizes him. Trumbo was contradictory in parts (it is unfinished, and there are his notes and details left to go on), with how Grieben is not capable of real, true, love, yet it's made explicitly clear that Liesel is the only person he's ever loved. It's his love that ends up destroying her, as the only times he's ever cared for anyone has led to their demise. There's a line I love, wherein it's stated that yes, he has passion for the cause and his political career, but not even the strength of his beliefs can surpass what he feels for her (especially since she's Jewish).
For instance, she's standing there nude in this office, when earlier she was out shopping for stockings, and now she's being sent to Auschwitz. Behind the two way mirror, he's watching her adoringly, because now, to him, is their chance to finally be together. He regrets the circumstances for their reunion, but his reaction is almost like out of a romantic comedy when the characters finally get together due a whacky situation or something. When he gets her alone, he courts her as if they're just picking up where they left off. It's both horrifically comedic and oddly touching of him.
I could ramble on forever about it, really. I have a fanmix already compiled for them, which I want to supplement with graphics and book excerpts.