* Originally reviewed on 9/27/07 on another of my blogs. *
It was The Book Thief’s title and cover that made me pick it up, and it was the subject matter and award on the cover that made me buy it. It was the writing, though, that made me finish the almost-600 pages in just three days.
Starting with The Devil’s Arthimetic, Summer of My German Soldier, The Diary of Anne Frank, and Number the Stars and moving through Survival in Auschwitz and Night, I have been fascinated by novels or memoirs that take place during World War II for most of my life, particularly those that focus on Nazi-Germany. The Book Thief has definitely earned a permanent place on my bookshelf – as a book about the Holocaust and as a book about life.
Though The Book Thief takes place in Nazi Germany during the early 1940s, there is no Nazi villain at center stage. Rather, it is the aftershocks of usually faraway war and the behaviors of neighbors that ripple through this quiet German town. The book focuses on the lives of non-Jewish Germans during the war: the terror, the pressure to join the Nazi Party, the starvation, the shame of living only miles from Dachau, the humiliation. But also, it shows hope and love and kindness and words and music in the midst of the bleakness.
Told from the point-of-view of Death, the opening sequences are like poetry, in prose form. The descriptions, the turning of phrases on their ends, the colors, it all comes together to create an atmosphere of reading. The words are almost characters themselves.
After the introductory remarks from Death, the story begins with illiterate nine-year-old Liesel, the book thief herself, on a train with her mother and younger brother. The threesome is on their way to Himmel Street in a town near Munich to deliver Liesel and the boy to foster parents. Her brother ominously coughs once on the train and dies. At the gravesite, one of the gravediggers drops a book, and Liesel steals it. She lands on Himmel Street sans brother but with her book. The next four years of Liesel’s life on Himmel Street are chronicled in some of the most beautiful language I’ve ever read.
Warning: though this is touted as a young-adult book there is quite a sprinkling of swearing. Much of it, though, is in German, which tends to soften the blow for me. Another thought: normally, I get irritated with authors for sticking in random foreign words that I can’t understand, but Zusak manages to keep the reader in the know while infusing the book with German.
Markus Zusak (via Death) presents the beauty and the ugly of humans without preaching, without a solution, but with wonder and awe.
The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak 
This book qualifies for the Printz Project.
Other Reviews:
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Muse Books Reviews
The Hidden Side of a Leaf
In the Louvre
Rebecca Reads
Cheryl’s Book Nook
Books I Done Read
Things Mean A Lot
Book Nut
Maw Books Blog
It’s All About Books
Becky’s Book Reviews
An Adventure in Reading
A Variety of Words
SmallWorld Reads
Books. Lists. Life.
So Many Books
Stephanie’s Written Word
Buy The Book Thief
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Indeed an amazingly book! Here’s my review: http://smallworldreads.blogspot.com/2007/08/book-review-book-thief.html
I have Zusak’s I Am Messenger on my TBR list and am hoping it’s halfway as amazing as this one!
The Book Thief was easily in my top five reads of 2006; I’m glad to see you loved it too. Markus Zusak’s an incredible writer and an incredible storyteller… if you haven’t read his other books, I’d definitely recommend them (mainly I am the Messenger, although his earlier books are pretty good as well). None of them quite live up to The Book Thief, but they’re worth the time if for no other reason than to get more of his beautiful writing!
I have just finished this book and I bawled my eyes out. It was such a lovely read for the language and the characters, during a time period that wasn’t lovely at all. I loved it and have just reviewed it on my site.
I recently reviewed Book Thief here: http://mangomissives.wordpress.com/2008/08/31/reads-the-book-thief/
I loved this book! It is a great read for book lovers.
Have you read “The Reader” by Bernhardt Schlink? Same time period, partly, simply written but complex ethical/moral issues. Very interesting!! One of the best books I’ve ever read.
It’s such a great book. I love what you said about it being a book about life as well as a book about the Holocaust.
You know this one of my favorites! Great review.
I remember how almost all the book bloggers were raving about The Book Thief and out of my rebelliousness I didn’t pick it up. Now your thoughtful review has convinced me to pick it up. I’ve been stumbling upon few books that are exploring this subject, including, also written for young adults, The Boy in Striped Pyjamas.
I found the swearings funny, especially when they come from Rosa! Yeah, at least Zusak remembered to add in the translation to some German phrases. If not, I wouldn’t be able to completely follow it. Truly, it’s one of the best and saddest books I’ve read.
Here’s my review of the book. :D