The Book Thief

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The Book Thief is a novel written by Markus Zusak and published in Australia in 2005. The book has been quite successful being translated into scores of languages and made into a film.

The book is set in Nazi Germany just as it enters World War II and is narrated by the personification of Death. The story follows a 10-year-old young German girl named Liesel who is adopted by foster parents after her younger brother dies and her Communist mother is disappeared by the Nazi. Death describes the childhood of Liesel who, growing up especially poor, and unable to read, but has an obsessive love of books. Her foster father teaches her how to read and, as she grows up, she learns more about the atrocities committed by the Nazis around her.

Personal

While looking for a new novel to read, this one caught my eye. I knew I had heard the title of this book, but I didn't know from where, and had no idea what the book was about. After discovering that the audiobook was professionally read, I decided to listen to it. I'm currently listening to the audiobook read by Allan Corduner.

Review

Good

  • The book is well-written. There are plenty of moments of intensity, good use of foreshadowing, a lot of poetic word usage, etc.
  • I'm glad that the author doesn't take a common route of presenting the majority of Germans as being average people ignorant to the horrors of the Nazis as is common in WWII fiction. Instead, there are plenty of jingoistic racist German characters who express unflinching support of Hitler, just like how things really were at the time.

Bad

  • Hans's falling out with his Nazi son doesn't mean much. If more effort had been spent adding backstory to their relationship, the scene could have been more meaningful. I know the story is centered on Liesel, and she wouldn't know their backstory, but Death's narration often focuses on other people, so it would fit with the framing device.
  • I could deal with not having to read the word "saumensch" on every page.

Ugly

  • Nothing.

Media

Covers

Links

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