At the end of this month, while many families celebrate Halloween, many others--especially those with roots in Mexico--will celebrate Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. I am re-visiting the post I wrote for Dia de lost Muertos in 2008 because it highlights three of my favorite novels that celebrate life by dealing with death:
Here are three books (click on the link to view entire post)--We're in Trouble, The Brief History of the Dead, and The Book Thief--in honor of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), also referred to All Souls Day. This is a day, in Mexican culture and also in many religious traditions, to celebrate the lives of loved ones who have died and to pray for and honor them. These books do a little of both. Death figures predominantly in all of them and, therefore, there is a sense of sadness underlying each one, but they also reveal great beauty, love, and a celebration of life. These books offer readers what is best about fiction: the imaginative journey through all of life's possibilities.
Many readers might balk at the idea of reading a novel that they know involves something sad, but I hope you'll read the post and get a sense of what these books are about before deciding whether to give them a try. There is more hope than sadness in these stories, and they're beautifully written. Worth every minute spent reading them.
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