pagingserenity's Review of The Book Thief

by Markus Zusak

"It's just a small story, really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, a Jewish fist fighter, and quite a lot of thievery ..." Narrated in the all-knowing matter-of-fact voice of Death, witnessing the story of the citizens of Himmel Street: When nine-year-old Liesel arrives outside the boxlike house of her new foster parents, she refuses to get out of the car. Liesel has been separated from her parents - 'Kommunists' - for ever, and at the burial of her little brother, she steals a gravedigger's instruction manual which she can't read. It is the beginning of her illustrious career. In the care of the Hubermans, Liesel befriends blond-haired Rudy Steiner, her neighbour obsessed with Jesse Owens. She also befriends the mayor's wife, who hides from despair in her library. Together Liesel and Rudy steal books - from Nazi book burning piles, from the mayor's library, from the richer people of Molching. In time, the family hide a Jewish boxer, Max, who reads with Liesel in the basement. By 1943, the Allied bombs are falling, and the sirens begin to wail. Liesel shares out her books in the air-raid shelters.
But one day in the life of Himmel street, the wail of the sirens comes too late ...A life-changing tale of the cruel twists of fate and the coincidences on which all our lives hinge, this is also a joyous look at the power of book to nourish the soul. Its uplifting ending will make all readers weep.

This review first appeared on Paging Serenity.

You know a book is good when you’re willing to sacrifice time at the happiest place on Earth (Disney World) to read it. That’s exactly what I did with The Book Thief. Yep, I willingly read it while I was at Disney. It was that good.

The Book Thief is far from your typical historical fiction novel set during the Holocaust. After all, Death has some interesting viewpoints and he is not your usual storyteller. I loved reading the novel from Death’s point of view. It was almost a bit like it was written in the third person, but with extra goodies, such as foreshadowing and additional thoughts. The Death’s input and voice made a unique story even more special.

And the characters! Oh, the characters! Where do I start? They were all so well written and three dimensional, another aspect of the book that makes it stand out. Usually, only the main character is very well developed, but in The Book Thief, all the characters that had a role in the story were. I loved Liesel’s innocence (and love of books), Hans and his courage, Rudy’s friendship with Liesel. They are all the type of characters you start to miss once you finish reading the story.

The Book Thief was filled with beautiful writing. It flowed well and also broke my heart. The Book Thief was very good at hitting my weak spots. The spots that kept me turning the pages. The spot that made me keep reading it, even as I started to ugly cry, even though I was in public, on a plane filled with my classmates. I almost shouted “WHY! WHY! WHY!” and “NO! NO! NO!” as we flew back home from Florida before I remembered that I still had to see these people for another three months.

IN CONCLUSION…
With its unique story and storyteller, well-developed characters, and beautiful writing, The Book Thief has won a place in my heart. It will forever be one of my favorite books and the only one I am willing to read at Disney World.

The Book Thief

by Markus Zusak

Reviewed by pagingserenity on Mar 14, 2016

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