Book: I am the Messenger
Author: Markus Zusak
Pages: 360
Time it took me to read: 3 hours
Plot Summary: Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He's pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery.
That's when the first ace arrives in the mail with what looks like three addresses. What does Ed need to do with them? Does he need to go check out those addresses? But then what? So, Ed goes and looks at each of the addresses mentioned in the card.
That's when Ed becomes the messenger.
Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains: Who's behind Ed's mission?
Characters: There is Ed, of course. 19, laid back, lost and confused. He spends his days, illegally, driving a cab and spends his evening playing cards with his three best friends- Audrey (who he is hopelessly in love with), Marvin (Marv) and Ritchie. Ed does not have the most cordial relationship with his mom, who for some reason seems to hate him more than she hates any of his other siblings. Ed is not at all ambitious and he is more than happy to move along from one day to the next doing nothing more than he needs to in order to survive. Ed lives with an old (and supposedly stinky) dog called 'The Doorman' and he is more than satisfied with the way things are. Ed, sort of, becomes a reluctant hero when he foils a bank robbery. The media attention makes him awkward, at best, and exposed but he knows all of this will fade away shortly; true enough, once the media madness dies down, Ed receives an Ace of Spades in the mail. The card has four addresses written on it along with time. Initially, Ed thinks this is a prank one of his friends is playing on him and ignores the card. Soon, he realises that the card can not be ignored and he goes about trying to help the people living in these addresses.
The other characters in this book are all the people that Ed goes about helping. From a large struggling family, to an abused wife to an old lazy with Alzheimer's, Ed's interactions with all these people is what makes this book astoundingly brilliant!
What I Liked: I love the core message of this book, which is- we should not close our eyes and hearts to the suffering and loneliness around us. I love Ed's character- the way he was and how he grew as he went through all the 'tasks' that were laid before him. I loved reading about the people Ed helps. Basically, I loved every damn thing about this book. It is brilliant!
What I Didn't Like: Nothing. This book is amazing!
Will You Like It?: Yes! If you like books full of kind acts and sweet characters yet written in a tongue-in-cheek sort of a tone, you will love this book!
Rating: 5/5
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