Goodreads | The Book Thief

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the use...and misuse...of narrative voice	13	8 days ago, 07:21PM

Shannon rated it:

(review of isbn 0330423304)

04/06/08

bookshelves: 2008, contemporary-historical-fiction, favourite, magical-realism, ya

Read in April, 2008

This is a book to treasure, a new classic. I absolutely loved it.

Set in Germany in the years 1939-1943, The Book Thief tells the story of Liesel, narrated by Death who has in his possession the book she wrote about these years. So, in a way, they are both book thieves. Liesel steals randomly at first, and later more methodically, but she's never greedy. Death pockets Liesel's notebook after she leaves it, forgotten in her grief, amongst the destruction that was once her street, her ho...more

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Michael rated it:

(review of isbn 0375831002)

07/14/08

Read in November, 2006

recommends it for: anyone and everyone

Occasionally, you will read a novel that offers you new ideas about what a novel can actually do, how point of view and voice can be used differently but powerfully, and how characters can be developed to such an extent that they seem more human than those we come into contact with each day. This seems to be the case with Markus Zusak's 2005 novel, The Book Thief. I first read it on a recommendation from a librarian friend, and now find myself talking about it at great length to anyone wh...more Occasionally, you will read a novel that offers you new ideas about what a novel can actually do, how point of view and voice can be used differently but powerfully, and how characters can be developed to such an extent that they seem more human than those we come into contact with each day. This seems to be the case with Markus Zusak's 2005 novel, The Book Thief. I first read it on a recommendation from a librarian friend, and now find myself talking about it at great length to anyone who will listen (if you listen closely, you can hear my students start to groan...until they start reading it, that is). With any luck, I'll get it on my reading list at the school I teach at by next year. It's that kind of good.

The novel centers around the experiences of a young girl in World War II-era Germany. Contrary to my initial prediction, the girl, Liesel, is not Jewish but instead the orphaned daughter of two communist parents who were ostensibly murdered when finally caught by the Nazis. In any event, they never appear, which becomes painfully obvious during one particularly heartwrenching episode. Liesel spends most of the novel in the home of two poor but well-meaning foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann, who are patriotic enough not to be arrested, but dissenting enough that Hans has been refused admission to the Nazi party. Thus, through Liesel and the Hubermanns, we get a point of view of Nazi Germany to which we're not readily accustomed: not of the depraved and defiled victims of the Holocaust, nor of the gung-ho fundamentalist "Heil-Hiterl!"ing-every-five-seconds Nazis; but instead of those we rarely if ever hear from, those caught in the uncomfortable and inescapable middle.

Oh, and the narrator.

Zusak manages (ingeniously, I should add) to blend first- and third-person omniscient narrators by making his Death (with a capital "D," as in the Grim Reaper), an intriguing if not entirely surprising choice given the novel's setting. Through Death, we not only get Liesel's thoughts, feelings, and actions ( as well as those of the others who come into the tale on occasion) but also his own: we get to see just how much he hates his job and yet simultaneously sees the necessity of it; we see how he reacts when he comes to collect his quarry (positively tear inducing, as in a sequence near the beginning when he describes what it was like to have to collect the small, limp, and sickly body of Liesel's younger brother); and we get to know some of his curious personality traits (would you ever think that Death would be obsessed with--of all things!--colors?). Zusak's choice of narrator is at once utterly risky and entirely genious--after all, we could have been stuck with a morose and altogether boring narrator. Instead, we have a perfectly round character who seamlessly melds the first- and third-person point of view.

Novelists can have a nasty tendency to develop one or two main characters and leave the rest flat and uninteresting (case in point: essentially anything by the Clive Cussler's and Jackie Collins' of the contemporary scene--they fail to realize that people, not just plot, are interesting; unfortunately, many readers these days fail to realize this too). Zusak seems to suppress this urge however and manages to give us an entire cast of characters--including primary, secondary, and even tertiary characters--who are all very round and therefore very interesting. Take, for instance, the hunched-over old man named Pfiffikus, who at first seems to just be a cranky, foul-mouthed old codger but who we eventually find to be genuinely proud of his heritage. Then there is the Mayor's wide, who appears at first to be a paper-thin cutout of a character until we learn the reason for her projected flatness of character. And we could also discuss Tommy Mueller, a boy from the Hubermann's street who had so many ear infections (and operations on these ear infections) as a younger child that he has since been left with scars and an ever-present twitch.

Think that's a lot of information about a few characters? Here's the kicker: Pfiffikus, the Mayor's wife, and Tommy Mueller are not even main characters! But they were developed believably and interestingly enough so it seems they are, or should be.

This does not by any means imply that the main characters are boring stereotypes: they, too, are strikingly believable, and when the novel is finished, you genuinely feel as though they are people you know (or knew) from your own experiences. That is one of the most glorious aspects of this novel and--when it topples over its devastating denouement--one of the most tragic.

I have gone to great pains in this review to avoid giving away too much of the plot because seeing what unfolds for these people you feel you know is another of the novel's glorious aspects. However, the plot is perhaps the weakest link in the novel's chain. The book is by no means predictable, but the only really eye-opening and fist-slamming-on-the-table event comes at the novel's aforementioned denouement. The rest of the plot does seem to drag a bit in places, but I suppose this comes naturally in the balance when you have such juicy and unforgettable characterization. Actually, that the plot is as good as it is with fantastic characterization like we are presented with is something of a miracle.

In the year to come, this novel will rest on top of professors' shelves and "Best" lists alongside the likes of To Kill a Mockingbird, Ulysses, and Great Expectations. Certainly, you will be hard pressed to find a novel of this caliber much of anywhere on the current scene. Do yourself a favor: eschew The Book Thief's "YA" label and read it like the classic novel is already stands out as....less

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Colleen rated it:

(review of isbn 0375831002)

09/15/07

Read in August, 2007

recommends it for: People who want a fresh angle on the Holocaust.

I put off reading this book for the library book club. Here are my three reasons for doing so:

1) It's a Young Adult Book. I am an Adult. It can't be that good if it's written for young people.
2) It's about the Holocaust, and I think we've all heard enough about that. The author will probably even focus on colors among the grays, as in "Schindler's List."
3) I have WAY too many other books to read.

After avoiding the book for as long as possible, I sat down, hoping to e...more I put off reading this book for the library book club. Here are my three reasons for doing so:

1) It's a Young Adult Book. I am an Adult. It can't be that good if it's written for young people.
2) It's about the Holocaust, and I think we've all heard enough about that. The author will probably even focus on colors among the grays, as in "Schindler's List."
3) I have WAY too many other books to read.

After avoiding the book for as long as possible, I sat down, hoping to enjoy it enough to gain some clever comments for the book group.

Turns out, most of my concerns were right. But one other thing was also true: THIS BOOK ROCKS.

The first thing any review will say about this book is that it is narrated by death. So, I might as well get it out of the way. Death, the Hooded One, the Angel of the Night, narrates. He is very busy during the war years, as you might expect. Some people claim this is a mere gimmick, and that the story is strong enough as it is.

I agree that this is a strong story-- it moves like a sailboat on a brisk day-- but I think the choice to tell it through Death was a good one. Death foreshadows constantly, so we know a bit about which of the characters will die. Instead of ruining the shock value, this heightened my anticipation and dread. And isn't that how people feel during war? They know some of them are bound to die. They know they will lose loved ones. It's one long, hellish wait to see how it will turn out.

It's also an unusual take on the Holocaust because it focuses on Liesel, an orphaned German girl living in Hitler's birthplace. Liesel (The Book Thief) and the other characters in this book are rich, interesting, and wily. I say wily because at points in the book you hate them, but they change, and you grow to love them. For instance, Liesel's adopted mother is a foul-mouthed, abusive, sharp woman. (SPOILER--->) When Liesel's adopted father is shipped off to war, however, Liesel creeps through the house to see Rosa sleeping with her husband's accordian strapped around her waist. Rosa's changes prove one of the greatest reasons to read good literature-- to get insight into the type of people we don't usually give a second chance.
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Magdalena rated it:

(review of isbn 0375831002)

07/12/07

Read in February, 2007

recommends it for: adults (despite its genre in the US)

Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief has one of the most original and striking narrators since Julian Barnes introduced us to the canny perspective of a woodlice in History of the World in 10½ Chapters. There’s no caginess about it. The first word of the first chapter’s title makes it clear that the narrator is a personified Death: the not so grim reaper. Having Death as the narrator for a book set in Germany at the start of World War II starts the book on exactly the right blackly humorous t...more Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief has one of the most original and striking narrators since Julian Barnes introduced us to the canny perspective of a woodlice in History of the World in 10½ Chapters. There’s no caginess about it. The first word of the first chapter’s title makes it clear that the narrator is a personified Death: the not so grim reaper. Having Death as the narrator for a book set in Germany at the start of World War II starts the book on exactly the right blackly humorous tone which continues throughout. It’s a very Jewish type of humour. I’m thinking of the classic Borsch belt comedians like Sholem Aleichem, Milton Berle or perhaps even later comedians like Billy Crystal or Woody Allen. As Harvard Professor Ruth Wisse quoted in her Radio National piece on Jewish Humour, Saul Bellow calls “characteristically Jewish” a story in which laughter and trembling are so curiously mingled that it is not easy to determine the relations between the two, or as Death puts it: “A final dirty joke. Another human punchline.” (12) This is part of the power of what Zusak does in The Book Thief.

Although The Book Thief succeeds on the most post-modern of levels, its impact on the reader is as much due to superb old fashioned plot and characterisation as anything else. It is, afterall, simply a beautiful and painful story of a young girl as she deals with an important and tragic point in history. Liesel is nine and her younger brother six, when her mother takes her and her brother to Munich to be given to foster parents. En route her brother dies: “When the coughing stopped, there was nothing but the nothingness of life moving on with a shuffle, or a near-silent twitch. A suddenness found its way onto his lips then, which were a corroded brown colour, and peeling, like old paint.” (20) Liesel is then thrust into a nightmare/dream existance which involves the thieving of a book, the development of a relationship with her foster parents, Rosa and Hans Huberman, and her growing sense of self as she ages during this period. Liesel’s coming of age is a key part of the plot, and it is possible to read the book as simply the story of Liesel. Certainly Liesel’s characterisation is enough to carry the story. When Liesel arrives at the Hubermans she is scared, almost mute, and refuses to get out of the car or into a bath, but we have already begun to love her through the lens of Death’s sympathy

Death’s own role as a character is a strong one, and he hints at a conflicted inner life. In some ways he makes himself a slave of humans – dealing with the impact of their wars and atrocities: “The boss, however, does not thank you. He asks for more.” An afterlife is hinted at very subtly, but never clarified – bodies go cold and melt and sometimes warm again as their souls are gently removed. That’s all the reader gets. The rest is left open to imagination, as is the direction that Death as character might be moving in. He’s allegorical in one sense, but so real in his sensations, longings and emotions, that it isn’t hard to imagine some kind of progression for him. As character, he may not be nice, but he has his charms, as typified by the last line in the book. Death’s most striking punchline is delivered at the very end. And like the best Jewish humour, it works by turning both fear and convention on its head, in this case, making humans the ‘other’ haunting entity. It also places the final spotlight directly on life, and the celebration and triumph of it, even in the face of man-made hatred and horror. <cite>The Book Thief </cite> is a wonderful book, full of beauty, pain, longing, joy, and sensuality. It never skirts the horror of war, death, or pain, nor does it flinch at the very real tragedy it immerses itself, sometimes graphically, in. But even at its ugliest, this is a story of the beauty and celebration, however fleeting, of human life. ...less

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Tamara rated it:

(review of isbn 0375831002)

05/13/08

bookshelves: crowd-pleasers, teen, top-10

Read in August, 2007

I give this 5 stars, BUT there is a disclaimer: If you want a fast read, this book is not for you. If you only like happy endings this book is not for you. If you don't like experimental fiction, this book is not for you.

If you love to read and if you love to care about the characters you read about and if you love to eat words like they're ice cream and if you love to have your heart broken and mended on the same page, this book is for you.

This story is narrated by Death during World ...more

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Yosafbridg added it (review of isbn 0375831002)

05/24/08

bookshelves: own-and-read

Read in August, 2007

So here's yet another World War II book, yet another Holocaust book, yet another young adult book (though i'm not sure the classification is particularly apt in this case~it was originally published in the author's native Australia as an adult novel...), and yet another book i have to consider for that committee thing...

this one i've been hearing about for quite some time because my friend has been raving about how good it is and how we really should choose this one...

He's been bringin...more

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Tom rated it:

(review of isbn 0375831002)

04/27/08

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: Everyone

Markus Zusak originally wrote this book to be much shorter, only a hundred pages or so, but the extra length doesn’t bloat the tale at all. In fact this is one of the most succinct tales about humanity I have ever read, embodying all that’s best and worst about people in one childhood. It has a clear start, the death of her brother, and a clear ending that I won’t spoil for you.

First of all let’s get a few things straight.
Firstly: It’s set in Nazi Germany and features, amo...more

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Amanda rated it:

(review of isbn 0375831002)

06/29/08

Read in June, 2008

recommended to Amanda by: Chicks on Lit June 2008 book pick

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

6/09: So far, so slow. Don't get me wrong, I'm really liking it. But I thought it would be a quick read and that I wouldn't have to concentrate at all, but that's not the case. It's stylized, which makes it take longer. And all the colors and images are begging me to drink them slowly, savoring each drop. Not a good book to read on a deadline, or if your brain is fuzzy like mine is these days. I'll keep ya posted...

6/25: Ok, I'm still about 200 pages out from finishing this book. I ...more 6/09: So far, so slow. Don't get me wrong, I'm really liking it. But I thought it would be a quick read and that I wouldn't have to concentrate at all, but that's not the case. It's stylized, which makes it take longer. And all the colors and images are begging me to drink them slowly, savoring each drop. Not a good book to read on a deadline, or if your brain is fuzzy like mine is these days. I'll keep ya posted...

6/25: Ok, I'm still about 200 pages out from finishing this book. I was a little hesitant at first--too damn long (550 pages) and I don't like violence, particularly Nazi violence (and civil war violence). But there really isn't any violence, or if there is, I'm too American Television scar-tissued up to notice... Anyway, now I LOVE this book and am well on my way to five-starring it!

Don't let anyone tell you this book is about a little girl growing up in Nazi Germany. This book is about Death, the man. You know, cloak and sythe guy? (Don't tell him I said that.) The book is about Death walking through life, experiencing a horror like no other. And he takes moments to watch this little girl, to let his heart be warmed by her youth and growth.

I hope nothing bad happens.

6/27: Bad stuff does happen. Everyone she knows is obliterated. Jesus (Mary and Joseph). The death chapter at the end (just before the epilogue) takes way too long. Seems like Mr. Zusak got a bit full of himself. Which is a shame because it kinda colors the whole book now. Damn him.

Great book. Loved it! Hated the ending.

6/29: I wish I had reviewed this book before I got to the end. Because the end stole some of the beauty of the writing. For two reasons: 1, because I hate the fact that everyone in the town ended up dead. It's an issue with the storyline, that's all. 2, because Marcus Zusak went on and on and on and on about this death scene. Enough already. Stop with the flowery talk, dude. Methinks you're masterbating a bit.

Because, here's the thing. The rest of the book is flowery talk, too, but it's FANTASTIC! Smells have colors, emotions have scents, visions have texture, and life is three dimensional. That's why I like the book so much. It is alive with human nature. I'm very interested in reading other Zusak--Messenger next, I think.

6/30: Ah-Ha!!!! Epiphany! The reason I don't like the death scene at the end--I kinda thought Death and Liesel would have more interaction. Not that she would physically recognize him or anything, but more similar to the scene where the pilot died and Death said he knew Leisel could "see" him. I wish she could have emerged from the rubble seconds after the bombing and so could have been more present for this HUGE loss! Every other time some event happened, Liesel was there to witness it. The death of her brother; seeing Rudy chase her book down the river; retrieving the book from the fire and noticing the mayor's wife watching. Everything else was NOW. But this one event, was BEFORE. I long for that 'life breath' that I feel throughout the rest of the book.

Also, slightly off-topic side note: I'm glad we got warned about Rudy's death long before it happened. It made me want to savor every single moment he was on the page. I love Rudy....less

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Zannachan rated it:

01/11/08

bookshelves: general-fiction, young-adult

Read in March, 2007

I had a hardcover of this book. I no longer have it. I did not even finish reading it, because it irritated me so much and when I asked if it got better no one could convince me that it was worth persevering.

I know that there are many people who love this book, authors who's book I love, readers who's tastes I respect. But I couldn't stand the narrator. Every time the Narrator intruded on the story it felt like exactly that--an intrusion. A lot of people really like the narrator, and I ...more I had a hardcover of this book. I no longer have it. I did not even finish reading it, because it irritated me so much and when I asked if it got better no one could convince me that it was worth persevering.

I know that there are many people who love this book, authors who's book I love, readers who's tastes I respect. But I couldn't stand the narrator. Every time the Narrator intruded on the story it felt like exactly that--an intrusion. A lot of people really like the narrator, and I imagine if you did the book would be much more enjoyable to read. As it was I found the writing style consciously "artistic" or "literary" while the characters felt fake, superficial, and mechanical. I was too aware of the mechanics of the story and how he was manipulating the reader--kind of like going to a puppet show and having the puppeteer continually slipping and letting himself be seen. It kept knocking me out of the story.

Holocaust fiction is hard for me to read anyway, because it's an incredibly difficult period of history and human experience to read about. For me to want to read Holocaust fiction, it had better be better than okay, or even good--ti had better be absolutely amazing for me to be willing to put myself through the emotional pain and struggles that are inherent with a holocaust book. Real life is hard enough for me to get upset and stressed out by a mediocre book.

And please don't take that to mean that I only read books that are light and fluffy and safe, because I do read books that are hard, that are sad. But while some people same to take pleasure in reading a book just because it is sad ("Oh, this is a wonderful book! It made me cry!"), I don't enjoy crying in and of itself. For me to read a book that is heart wrenching, it had better offer me something besides an emotional train wreck--powerful characters I really care about, an engrossing story line, some new observation on human existence and human relations, something.

I do not usually read fiction to "learn," per se--that is, if I wanted to learn more about the Holocaust, I'd read non-fiction accounts. I have read non-fiction accounts. I have read a few things of Holocaust fiction as well, and I have read some scholarly work as well. So it doesn't sell me on the book that it is a painful story, that it shows that some Germans were good and how social pressures created the Holocaust. I needed it to be a book about people that really interested me, that I cared about, and instead I was bored with the characters and irritated at the narrator and the obvious manipulations of the author. Instead of getting wrapped into the story, every night I when I was reading it I'd throw it down and vent for a half an hour to my husband about something that annoyed me. After a few nights of this, I realized that unless someone could convince me that the second half of the book was much better than the first that it just wasn't worth my time to finish.

'm not saying it's a bad book. So many people wouldn't love it if it were bad. But it really did not work for me....less

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Auntie rated it:

05/03/08

bookshelves: finished

Read in April, 2008

My good friend, Barbara E. suggested this book to me. I went to the Youth section of Borders to find it, and discovered that it's a recommended book for High School age children.

What a treat it was to read this story set in prewar Germany. The narrator is Death and the main characters are preteen children and a slightly older Jewish teen. Sounds morbid, right?

That impression kept me from opening the book, for quite a while. However, once I began, I could hardly put the book down.

In m...more

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Lisa rated it:

04/01/08

bookshelves: bookclubs-secondary, childrens-and-ya, fiction, orphanded-and-quasi-orphaned-kids, reviewed

Read in March, 2008

recommends it for: anyone who appreciates the power of words, those who enjoy reading holocaust era fiction

I admit that I am perplexed about why this is considered a young adult novel and not an adult novel that could be read by those 12 and up. The title character is a young girl, but there are plenty of novels written for adults that have young main protagonists. And I have to say that I could have enjoyed it at 12 but perhaps it’s more appropriate for those 14 and up, although that obviously depends on the reader. But I know that I enjoyed it more reading it as an adult than I would have as a yo...more I admit that I am perplexed about why this is considered a young adult novel and not an adult novel that could be read by those 12 and up. The title character is a young girl, but there are plenty of novels written for adults that have young main protagonists. And I have to say that I could have enjoyed it at 12 but perhaps it’s more appropriate for those 14 and up, although that obviously depends on the reader. But I know that I enjoyed it more reading it as an adult than I would have as a young adult. (This book has been on my to-read list for a long time, since before I joined Goodreads, and I am extraordinarily grateful to the Goodreads YA Book Club group for choosing this as the first book read/the April 2008 book, because it’s why I motivated myself to read it at this time, possibly ever given the number of books I want to read. And I’m glad to have the opportunity to “discuss” it with others.)

I have a penchant for reading books about the holocaust, and this is the most unique book about the Nazi era I’ve read; in fact, it’s one of the most unusual novels that I’ve ever read. Although not for the very first time, I was able to feel empathy for and care about the non-Jewish German population during the holocaust era. I really appreciated the viewpoints shown.

This book is lyrical and poetic and powerful, and thankfully at times funny. And I really got attached to many of the characters: Liesel, Hans, Max, Rudy, Rosa, etc., death also actually. But it’s the author’s choice of narrator that elevates the quality of this book. Death is the narrator and, in my opinion, the perfect one, although I’d have never thought of this plot device myself; without Death telling the story I doubt this would have been a 5 star book for me. I loved how all of the characters felt like real people and how they changed, and how my opinions of them then shifted as well. The writing was so full of vivid imagery that I felt as though I was right smack in the middle with the people and place, more so than in most of the books that I read. I loved the books and pictures within the book.

I found it to be both a sad and exhilarating book. Although I got choked up at several points, I did not feel that it was a depressing book. It’s about friendship and love, the power of words, loss and abandonment, that which saves/heals us, and life and death.

And reading the book struck me at the very core of my being. I really identified with Liesel in so many ways. Some of the events of her life felt similar to mine, although most of the details diverged significantly, but the emotional potency imparted in this book felt so real and influential to me.

Death the narrator both drew me in and also gave enough distance from the tale to make the events more bearable.

And I’m really happy that the library gave me the paperback version that contains some discussion questions and an interesting interview with the author.
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Jessica rated it:

09/25/07

Read in September, 2007

Before going any further, let’s just get one thing out of the way: Damn Nazis! Okay, now that’s out of my system, I can discuss things a little more rationally.

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 N...more Before going any further, let’s just get one thing out of the way: Damn Nazis! Okay, now that’s out of my system, I can discuss things a little more rationally.

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 earned a permanent place on my bookshelf.

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.

I can't adequately express what this book did to me. Just read it!...less

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Walt rated it:

(review of isbn 0375831002)

03/29/08

bookshelves: young-adult

Read in March, 2008

recommended to Walt by: My Dear Wife
recommends it for: everyone.

Bravo Zusak! A standing ovation, a mighty opus. You stood Death on her head, removing her dark cloak and scythe, clothing her with feeling and letting us see she has eyes to see and a heart to feel, and the intellect to narrate a compelling story. I was so glad to find out she has a womb. Out of Death comes Life. She has greater aplomb than Nick in telling about Gatsby.

In the spring of 1968 at age 19, I made my way to Dachau. I lived just south of Munich and the visit to the defunct concentr...more Bravo Zusak! A standing ovation, a mighty opus. You stood Death on her head, removing her dark cloak and scythe, clothing her with feeling and letting us see she has eyes to see and a heart to feel, and the intellect to narrate a compelling story. I was so glad to find out she has a womb. Out of Death comes Life. She has greater aplomb than Nick in telling about Gatsby.

In the spring of 1968 at age 19, I made my way to Dachau. I lived just south of Munich and the visit to the defunct concentration camp had a haunting effect upon me that will last until Death comes for me and, I believe, beyond (but eternity’s yet another subject; this story was about life.) I went back to Dachau several times, the souls of the living and the dead calling me. As I worked among Germans in nearby Munich, I was surprised to encounter Jews still, or perhaps again, making their home there, so close to Dachau, so soon after Hitler and his henchmen. These early experiences furnished my life with both angst and vision: with angst to recognize the potential for evil within ever human being and with vision to see the possibility for courage and compassion, to pick up a piece of bread to feed a cipher.

And that’s a big part of what The Book Thief does for me: it captures and again reminds me of these viabilities as they play out near Dachau in the heart of World War II’s Nazi Germany in the lives of Liesel and her contemporaries, alive and dead. Death tells Liesel’s tragic yet wonderful, story in order to keep memory alive. In the words of Elie Wiesel, “Because if we forget, we are guilty, we are accomplices.” And surely this is Liesel’s story, not Death’s just as Gatsby's isn’t Nick’s. To remind us to stand up wherever tyranny and power put people down.

Zusak took the time and effort to invest the narrative with near perfect words, and wonderful sentences, and great paragraphs, and superb chapters. It would have been too cruel and ironic if the “book thief” had found herself betrayed by the words, sentences, and paragraphs of her story’s teller. Flesh fully clothes each character; conflict, action, and suspense oblige the attention of each reader; and the themes are true consistent throughout, start to finish, and the setting is hauntingly perfect. I hope because of this book I am closer to bending over and picking up some bread to give to a cipher, even if it puts us both at Death’s door.

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Michael rated it:

(review of isbn 0375831002)

06/24/08

Read in June, 2008

I am apparently one of the few people who just do not see what all of the hype is about on this one. I was really excited to read this after all of the glowing reviews it got, but I was left extremely disappointed. I found the writing stilted and stuttering (hard to stutter in writing, but this book pulls it off), overly sentimental, and heavy-handed on the symbolism.

I also found the author's approach to the story to be just plain gimmicky. The first and foremost gimmick (also see heavyy-...more I am apparently one of the few people who just do not see what all of the hype is about on this one. I was really excited to read this after all of the glowing reviews it got, but I was left extremely disappointed. I found the writing stilted and stuttering (hard to stutter in writing, but this book pulls it off), overly sentimental, and heavy-handed on the symbolism.

I also found the author's approach to the story to be just plain gimmicky. The first and foremost gimmick (also see heavyy-handed symbolism) is that the story is narrated by Death. Now, this might work in some books, but not this one. The choice of narrator adds absolutely nothing to the story; it is only a distraction to the reader, and it also encouraged the author to add trite observations about Death's perspective (for example, he doesn't carry a scythe, but likes the human image) that add nothing to the story. If Death here had been given developed personality or a unique perspective, then maybe (and even then it's a stretch) the choice of narrator would have worked. As it is, the story is told almost entirely as though by an omniscient narrator (is Death omniscient?) and we get absolutely nothing from the choice of Death to fill the role. It's a gimmick, and it falls flat.

The other gimmick I found most distracting (these are not the only two, but they are the most egregious) is the repeated use of little newsflash-type, bold and centered notes that appear periodically through the story to highlight some stupid point and add (in the author's mind) dramatic effect. These newsflashes, as I think of them, were irritating and served only to break up the natural narrative flow without adding anything significant. This is another example of the author hitting the reader over the head with his points, rather than trusting his own writing to get the message across. This is another ill-conceived and heavy-handed gimmick intended to correct for a poor narrative.

I think it is telling that while this book gets listed as teen fiction, Zusak actually wrote it for adults. For some reason, it got identified as being for teens when it got marketed in the U.S. (it was written in Australia). It seems to me that the explanation for this change is that the novel feels like it was written by a very immature author, and so the prose does not attain the quality one should expect of adult fiction.

I think good Holocaust stories need to be told, but the Book Thief fails at that endeavor. The story is trite; the narrative is sentimental and uninspired. I recommend that you look elsewhere for something better. If you want somet

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