Thursday, January 08, 2015

Review: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

From Goodreads: It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still. By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found. But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jewish fist-fighter in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.

My Rating: 4.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: When I tried forcing myself to read Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief before the movie was released last year, I gave up after a few pages. I attempted to read it again a few days ago; and after finishing it, can understand why so many people loved it.

Because I’m having a hard time figuring out how to write a proper review for The Book Thief, I decided to do a pros and cons list instead. 

Pros:
  • Set in Nazi Germany, The Book Thief does a great job of showing both the compassion and cruelty that humans are capable of. 
  • The book is narrated by Death, who provides a unique perspective because he can talk about the lives of many people and reflect on how their stories intersect. 
  • All of the characters are well-developed. 
  • The writing is lovely, and the slow pacing allowed me to truly appreciate this story.
Cons:
  • Since Death doesn’t care about spoilers, finding out that certain people would die before they actually died kind of reduced the emotional trauma of their death. 
  • Death could have been a bit clearer about what happened to the living characters after WWII. 
  • As much as I enjoyed the writing, Death’s introspections were sometimes distracting from the actual story. 
The Book Thief was released by Knopf Books for Young Readers in March 2006. 

Comments About the Cover: I like the symbolism of the dominoes. 

7 comments:

  1. I absolutely loved this book! I had to read this one for my YA class in grad school was blown away. I actually thought Death's commentary heightened the emotional trauma for me. Glad you gave this one another shot. The movie adaptation I thought was done quite well.

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  2. This book is beautiful! I only read it last year, right before the movie, and it was beautiful. Death was such an interesting narrator and the writing was gorgeous.

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  3. I've definitely been curious about this one Z, particularly the fact that Death is the narrator. I can see how knowing who was going to die a bit ahead of time would reduce the emotional impact though. Glad it was still a fantastic read for you overall!

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  4. It sounds like Death is the main problem with this book, Z :P But I am quite curious about Death being the narrator! This sounds interesting. Great review!

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  5. So glad you were able to power through this one and ended up really loving it!! I did, as well (though I've yet to see the movie!). I remember thinking Death was being awfully spoiler-y too, haha. But I liked him/her/it as a narrator.

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  6. Loved this book! I think this book has induced one of the most intense bookish hangovers of my life. I remember finishing it right before dinner, and being completely torn apart, going down and finding that life was going on as normal. I couldn't understand it. I absolutely loathed the movie though. Like hated it! Don't watch it.

    Anywho, thanks for the review, I am glad you liked this one.

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  7. I would recommend this book to anyone in high school and older, because it can give one a different perspective of life, especially when seen through a young, troubled child's eyes.

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