Title: The Book Thief
Written by: Marcus Zusak
Series: N/A
Publisher: P
Publish Date: March 14, 2006
Genre: YA Historical Literary
Pages: 560
Source: Bought
Buy the Book: The Book Thief
Synopsis: Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.
The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still. (Via Amazon)
Shaunta: I don’t normally like war book much, which is why I had The Book Thief sitting on my shelf for months and months before finally picking it up when we made it out June book of the month. As soon as I started reading it, I knew it would be an exception. The Book Thief is inventive, and told from a really fresh perspective (Deaths!) and was absolutely masterful in it’s ability to mix breaking my heart with making me feel good in just the right measure. The Book Thief is the story of a young German girl in Nazi Germany. It’s the perspective of this book that gives it a feeling of something new–and old story told through the eyes of different players. I fell in love with Liesel and Rudy and her foster parents and Max. Her love of books was instantly something I could relate to. That much of the book was about her learning to read was really interesting. Mark Zusak built up these relationships that centered on Liesel, and presented them from the quirky, inhuman perspective of Death–who is as fascinated by Liesel the book thief as the reader becomes. All in all, I was drawn into this book.
Brian: I, like, Shaunta had The Book Thief on my shelf for months, and was a little wary to read it because it was a 600-page whopper of a book set during wartime. I was excited to get the chance to read it, but unfortunately this one just didn’t hold my interest. I’m all for an author taking risks, but having Death as the narrator felt odd to me from the very first scene. It felt too much like a gimmick. I would have been able to overlook this, however, if it weren’t for the extremely choppy nature of the narrative, which after awhile, to me, made reading the book feel like homework. I really wanted to get invested in Liesel’s story, but the way this story was written just made all the events too removed for me to care. I’m glad Shaunta enjoyed it, though, and I know there are millions around the world who really took to it!
Shaunta: The very distant omniscient point-of-view takes a little getting used to. I’ll admit that the first chapter or two of the book wasn’t as good for me as the rest. Once I was invested in Liesel, I was in love. Until then, the book feels a little strange. Death has a habit of skipping ahead, giving a teaser about what’s coming, then backing off and not going there yet, which isn’t exactly common in modern story-telling. For me it helped, because some really tragic, heart-breaking things happen, and they were never sprung on me. The narrator gave me a heads up. I’m someone who reads the back of the book, because I can’t stand anticipation, so that worked for me. I can see where it might have lessened the impact for people who prefer to be blindsided by tragedy. And you know in a book set in Nazi Germany, there is bound to be some. The end of The Book Thief is both upsetting and moving. I can’t even say much without giving it away, but these sense of loss and devastation is so strong, and the heavy foreshadowing that came before it only served to make it feel more inevitable and tragic. It’s the rare good things that happen, especially at the end, that come as the real surprises, and that has the same effect–it heightens the relief and the good feelings.
