The paradigm shift of a parent!

Now that I've let my own story telling cool off for a bit I have decided to do a bit of reading once more.  As I perused my personal bookshelves debating again and again which book I should dive into (Lord of the Rings was in that contest for a very long time) I decided to split from the world of fantasy briefly and picked this beauty:

The last time I read this book was about 4 years ago.  I didn't recall a lot of details about the book other than death is the narrator, it is WWII Germany, and there is a hidden Jew in the book.  I also recall absolutely falling in love with the story and the story telling so I decided it was high time I give this another read through.  

Keep in mind my first child was born just a little over a year ago so the first time I read this I was a childless woman.  As I opened the pages and started reading through the first two chapters it took everything within me not to fall apart as I read about the death of a young child and how death, the narrator, describes the scene and the mother's reaction. There are moments in life when your entire paradigm shifts and suddenly everything is viewed in a different light, this was one of those moments.  

Since I didn't have a child the first time I read this I didn't understand the depth of that loss or the love that mother felt.  I read it, it made me sad, that was it.  Now as a first time mother the thought hit me in the gut like a sack of bricks!   I just couldn't help but have an internal dialogue with this book when I kept thinking "Oh how the tides have turned since last we met my friend!"I almost couldn't make it through the first few chapters but somehow I managed.  Once I made it past that part the story telling and reading of the story became much easier I fell in love with the book all over again.  

I still maintain that this is one of the most brilliantly written pieces of fiction I have ever read!  I will still recommend this to anyone who asks but I will be sure, from now on, to include the disclaimer that if you have a child be prepared for a tug at the heart strings within the first few pages. I just can't believe how differently the story struck me now that my perspective has changed.  I fully intend to pick up another of my beloved books (Lord of the Rings?) and I am curious to see how this new shift will impact my reading of those titles?  Only time will tell.