Book Review: The Book Thief

The Book Thief

Written by:
Markus Zusak

Published: March 14th, 2006
I Completed: April 21st, 2014
My Rating: 5/5 stars

So I'm always looking for new books and movies to give a go.  I saw a preview last year for a new movie that was based on a book.  I was very intrigued as to the subject matter of the preview - and after some research decided that The Book Thief was going into my queue.

I wanted to read the book before I saw the movie because lets be honest, books tend to be better.  After I read a few other books this year, I finally decided to attack this book which was an entity of it's own. 552 pages is alot, especially compared to my normal size book which happens to be a little more than half of that.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I began the book, but as soon as I figured out the gist of it, I was completely enveloped.

The book is written in the perspective of death (grim reaper).  He's quite snarky (which I would expect of him) and his attention to detail is very specific.  Everything he mentions is important.  After all, he's entirely too busy releasing souls from bodies to discuss facts and details that are of no importance.

The story follows a little German girl named Liesel Meminger.   Death seems to be fascinated by this little girl, and her reactions to ongoings during World War II and the rise of Hitler.

In the very beginning - Liesel and her brother are on a train with their mother, on their way to a foster home.  The mother is unable to care for the children anymore and this was their only option.  Unfortunately - her brother gets sick and dies (very beginning of the story - I promise I'm not ruining anything!!).  They end up in a random German town to bury him.

After her brother is in the ground - one of the cemetery workers had accidentally left a book near his burial site.   Thus begins the illusive career of the Book Thief.

Liesel ends up with Hans and Rosa Huberman in Molching.  (Her foster parents, whom she calls Mama and Papa).  Here, she works with Hans on learning how to read and write.  The Gravediggers Handbook was the first of many stolen books.

The rest of the story follows her relationship with her foster parents, and the neighborhood kids.  And there also happens to be a Jew that hides in their basement at one point....

I don't want to give anything else away because I think that everyone should read it.   But following Liesel on her journey to learn to read, and use words is a beautiful story in and of itself - but the fact that she's growing up and maturing in Nazi Germany makes the story that much more poignant.  It's really a wonder to see the world through a child's innocent (or not) eyes.

The way the book was written - and split up - parts and chapters based on which book she had most recently stolen was extremely well done.  And I would definitely read another book written in the perspective of this particular grim reaper.

For those who want to know what happens without reading (cheaters!) you can read about it on the wiki page.

I'm pretty excited to see how the book translates into a movie - so stay tuned as I'm sure I'll let you know my thoughts about that too :)

Has anyone else read the book? What did you think? Have you seen the movie yet?