The Book Thief

I'd been avoiding THE BOOK THIEF for awhile. Not sure why. It was recommended to me by one of my students so I took the dive. Excellent book. Not only did Zusak take us back in time to create - recreate - WWII problems, he found a way to make the connection pertinent to the 21st Century, but any century. Well done.

The Book Thief This is a beautifully balanced piece of storytelling by a young Australian writer: Marcus Zusak. The book is narrated by death himself. Death is rendered vividly. He is a lonely, haunted being who is drawn to children, who has had a lot of time to contemplate human nature and wonder about it. We are introduced to this narrator in the beginning and he is with us till the very end. It gives away the end and still wants you to keep reading on. The narrative is easy flowing with glimpses of what is yet to come: sometimes misleading, sometimes all too true. We meet all shades of Germans, from truly committed Nazis to the likes of poor Hans Hubermann who hides a Jew in the basement of his very modest home. I was humbled by the realization that most of us are incapable of doing what noble souls Hans and Rosa do for saving the human race. This is what makes this novel truly remarkable. The author says he was inspired by two real-life events related to him by his German parents: the bombing of Munich, and a teenage boy offering bread to an emaciated, withered Jew being marched through the streets. Both the boy and Jewish prisoner were whipped by a soldier while hapless crowd looked on! It is also the way in which Zusak combines such terrible events with truly believable characters and the details of everyday life in Nazi Germany. All this made The Book Thief so special for me. In addition to the protagonist Liesel (the book thief of the title), there are some very important characters in the story. Those who particularly stood out for me are Rudy Steiner, a close friend of Liesel who is obsessed with the black athlete Jesse Owens. Ilsa Hermann, the mayor's wife, who has never recovered from the loss of her own son. Liesel's adoptive parents Hans and Rosa Hubermann and of course Max Vandenburg the Jew decorator whose father had saved Hans’ life during the first world war when they are both German soldiers. The growing relationships between Hubermanns and Liesel and, later, Liesel and Max Vandenburg are central to the plot. Max writes and illustrates a strangely beautiful short story for Liesel over whitewashed pages from a copy of Hitler's Mein Kampf (the original print can still be seen through the paint). The powerful short story and illustrations almost broke my heart. Hans, who can’t read very well himself, teaches Liesel to read. Liesel is effectively an orphan. She never knew her father. Her mother disappears after delivering her to her new foster parents. Her younger brother died on the train to Molching where the foster parents live. Death first encounters nine-year-old Liesel when her brother dies. It (death) hangs around long enough to watch Liesel steal her first book - The Gravedigger's Handbook, left lying in the snow by her brother's grave. Death has in his possession (I have always considered death as ‘she’) the book Leisel wrote about 1939 to 1943. In a way, they are both book thieves. Liesel steals randomly at first, and later more methodically. But she's never greedy. Death pockets Liesel's notebook after she leaves it, forgotten in her grief, amongst the destruction that was once her street, her home, her mama and papa. Death carries the book with him. As I went through the book I kept feeling how real Liesel was! She was a child living a child's life. A life that has chores, soccer in the street, stolen pleasures, school fights, sudden passions and a full heart! Around her bombs are dropped, maimed veterans hang themselves, bereaved parents move like ghosts, Gestapo take children away and the dirty skeletons of Jews are paraded through the town. However, there are a number of things that prevent this book from being all-out depressing. It is very powerful from the beginning but not morbid. A lively humor peeks through the pages. (a comment about German’s loving pigs, the childish chats between Rudi and Liesel). Furthermore, the vivid descriptions as well as the richness of the characters lift your spirits up. In this balanced story, ordinary Germans - those with blond hair and blue eyes are as much at risk of losing their lives, or are being persecuted, as the Jews themselves. It made me cry.

Although WW2 has been much written about I loved reading this book for several reasons: The style of writing is beautiful and the choice of narrator unusual, making for a range of narration styles from rather detached, to deeply emotional to abstract. To me this made it very real because this is representative of how humans experience the horrors not only of war but of life itself. Yet at the same time everyday life continues and sometimes we simply experience a bluntness just to get by. I have heard and read many stories of ww2 and not all Germans were horrid Nazis. Many were decent human beings taken over by events beyond their control. Experiencing this time through the life of a young girl who simply lives and survives with her friend, her love of books, and the love and caring of her foster parents. The book does not lecture, it does not tell us what to think, it just lets us experience. I believe that a good children's or young adult book is one enjoyed by all ages and The Book Thief delivers this. I highly recommend this book to adults of all ages.

A vivid narration by Death Himself, this book chronicles the life story of a German girl (the eponymous Book Thief) during the WWII..yes, the Nazi era. Each book she steals depicts an important point in her life in her own history, an important lesson learned, a challenge overcome by her or an important person in her life. This is not a story of a revolution caused by some great name, but a simple story of a child who shakes the simple lives around her with her simple words in a tremendous way. The perspective of the story is to highlight the suffering of the poorest sections of the Nazi society through the eyes of Death with the clear focus being this child who happens to be a book thief. But this thief is remarkable- from her struggle to let go of the grim dreams seeded from her brother's death and mother's abandonment to her growing love for her foster parents, from her gradual victory over the words that were once her enemy to her beautiful friendship with Rudy and Max. She grows so much throughout the book and survives so much that slowly you start suffering everything with her, with Death. Whatever I write in the review cannot justify the way the narration touches you. Just go and read it, you will understand what I mean. On an end note, Death, you are some narrator!

The TV movie of The Book Thief is a lovely, extremely well-casted movie showing humanity at its best and worst. The Narrator conceals his identity until the end.

“First the colours. Then the humans. That’s usually how I see things. Or at least, how I try.” The Book Thief is narrated by Death, himself. Death—although portrayed as almost sympathetic—watches from afar the life of Liesel Meminger who is the thief herself. An adopted daughter to Hans and Rosa Hubermann, she finds her consolation in words. Stolen words that start to give her a sense of camaraderie with her foster father. Stolen words that comfort her neighbors in basements during bombing raids. Stolen words that comfort a Jewish man in her basement. Death has a personality. He warns you ahead of time when something bad is about to happen. He feels the same trepidation, the same sense of foreboding you will when you know something’s wrong. He’s trying to understand the human race as desperately as humans are. Muskus Zusak accomplished a great feat – making me ache for the people and children of Nazi Germany, reminding me that people , whether good or bad, deserved to be loved because they are, after all, only human. This book is an ode to the people who managed to keep their humanity in the midst of war, a tribute to the people who did not succumb to the evil around them and an acknowledgement of all those brave souls who were punished for doing what was right. “So much good, so much evil. Just add water.” Rudy Steiner, the boy with hair the color of lemons, capable of so much love, so much life whose death devastated me. A death that was so casually and off-handedly mentioned by Death. A wasted life with so much potential, so much capability for doing good. “How about a kiss, Saumensch?” He stood waist-deep in the water for a few moments longer before climbing out and handing her the book. His pants clung to him, and he did not stop walking. In truth, I think he was afraid. Rudy Steiner was scared of the book thief’s kiss. He must have longed for it so much. He must have loved her so incredibly hard. So hard that he would never ask for her lips again and would go to his grave without them.” Max Vandenburg, a Jewish nobody but someone you’re going to cry for. He fist fights with the Fuhrer and somehow, he’s going to fight his way into your heart. “THE LAST WORDS OF MAX VANDENBURG: You’ve done enough.” Rosa Hubermann. She’s described as being the woman with a filthy mouth and a wardrobe figure. And yet you know. You just know that this woman has a heart of gold. “Make no mistake, the woman had a heart. She had a bigger one that people would think. There was a lot in it, stored up, high in miles of hidden shelving. Remember that she was the woman with the instrument strapped to her body in the long, moon-slit night.” But if there were a true “hero” of the story, so to speak, it would be Hans Hubermann. Death, in the earlier parts of the novel, describes Hans Hubermann as the type to slip by you unnoticed. The kind of gentle humility this man is capable of is astounding. And Hans’s ability to be “not noticeable” turned out to be his greatest asset. A flashier guy may have not been able to hide a Jew in his basement for almost two years during the Holocaust. Hans has true strength of character as shown by his acts of resistance against the Nazi’s and his willingness to risk everything for a Jew, which in those days could have only meant death. “His soul sat up. It met me. Those kinds of souls always do – the best ones. The ones who rise up and say “I know who you are and I am ready.Not that I want to go, of course, but I will come.” Those souls are always light because more of them have been put out. More of them have already found their way to other places.” I could keep quoting this book forever but at some point words are just words. What’s more important is that you remember and believe. Remember that humanity is capable of good even in the worst situations. Believe that amidst sorrow, there is joy. Amidst darkness, there is light. Amidst Death, there is always Life.

I really enjoyed this book. It was beautifully written. The characterization was expertly done. Even a less important character such as Frau Holtzapfel's character development was sympathetically and humanely done. There are many instances where Zusak gives lifeless objects human qualities, eg "Hans Hubermann had her by one hand. Her small suitcase had her by the other" (p 36), and "A bathrobe answered the door" (p 49). I made countless notes on my Kindle of beautifully written passages, which I have never done with other books. The Book Thief started slowly, though. If it wasn't for the fact that other reviewers gave it such good reviews, I may not have finished it. But I am glad I did. This book will stay with me for a long time.

Once you pick up this book and open its fantastical pages, you won’t be able to put it down. Soak it in. Learn from the mistakes and misfortune of our ancestors. Allow your own imagination to take you to places you e never been before. War torn countries and their exhausted populations. The beauty of this book is the spirit of hope that just won’t be extinguished. It is influential in teaching us that only in the darkest night can you see the light of all the stars.

very excited to read! hear lots of great things about it

رواية رائعة مليئة بالاقتباسات و تشدك بالاحداث و فكرة ان الرواية تُروى عن طريق الموت متجسد بشكل شخصي و مطّلع على شخصيات الرواية اضافت جمال و أسلوب سرد جمييييل ، استمتعت فيها بكل تفاصيلها و الشخصيات و الاحداث مختارة بعناية 👍🏻👍🏻

A wonderful story I could not put the book down until the end.

The Book Thief is one of the most beautiful and soul-touching books I’ve ever read. Markus Zusak takes an incredibly hard and painful subject and tells it with such tenderness, depth, and sensitivity that it stays with you long after you’ve finished. Every character feels alive, every moment is written with emotion, and the storytelling is simply breathtaking. I loved everything about this book, it’s a rare gem that moves you, changes you, and stays in your heart forever.

It’s a dark story yet beautiful. The only complaint I have, is that death(the narrator) could’ve been more elegant in its descriptions. I would say that the book is close to a masterpiece 😁