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Emily May's Reviews > The Book Thief
The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak (Goodreads Author)
sigh. I hate it when this happens, I truly do, it makes me feel wrong inside when everyone else loves a book that I find to be rather underwhelming... I mean, what's wrong with me?? Did I not get it?? Obviously it must be a lack of intelligence or something of that sort because everyone seems to rate this 5 stars, I was looking through my friend reviews hoping that someone would share my opinion at least a lickle tiny bit, and after seeing 5 stars, 5 stars, 4.5 stars, 5 stars... I found Stephen's review, thank god for small mercies.
Stephen managed to put into a couple of sentences exactly how I felt about The Book Thief: "I liked the characters, loved the writing and certainly loved the originality of the story. But in the end, I didn't enjoy it as much as I would need to in order to rate it higher." It's that simple.
I can appreciate that Markus Zusak is a very talented writer, some of the sentences he uses are quite beautiful and reminded me of poetry rather than prose. And the story idea? A tale narrated by Death and set in Nazi Germany... original and ominous. But it was the story-telling that never really worked for me. This is one of those incredibly "subtle" books that are told in a series of anecdotes and are meant to cleverly build up a bigger picture... but, the stories just didn't interest me.
I could imagine I was reading a collection of short stories (and not a full-length novel) about playground fights, developing friendships, WWI stories and death. They were supposed to come together and form a novel that is all kinds of awesome at once, but it was so bland. I also think that nearly 600 pages of "subtlety" can make you want to slit your wrists with annoyance... anyone read To the Lighthouse and spend 99% of it just wishing they'd get to the effin' lighthouse?! Well, I did.
I'm giving this book 3 stars for the pretty words and the concept. But other than that this book unfortunately won't stay with me, I find it an easily forgettable novel and I know for that I will probably cause some controversy and no one will ever read my reviews again because I'm clearly an idiot who doesn't appreciate beautiful works of art like this book. It's true, I don't. I'm sorry :(
by Markus Zusak (Goodreads Author)
Emily May's review
bookshelves: ya-na, historical-fiction, 2011, its-me-not-you
Mar 30, 12
bookshelves: ya-na, historical-fiction, 2011, its-me-not-you
Read from October 28 to November 01, 2011
sigh. I hate it when this happens, I truly do, it makes me feel wrong inside when everyone else loves a book that I find to be rather underwhelming... I mean, what's wrong with me?? Did I not get it?? Obviously it must be a lack of intelligence or something of that sort because everyone seems to rate this 5 stars, I was looking through my friend reviews hoping that someone would share my opinion at least a lickle tiny bit, and after seeing 5 stars, 5 stars, 4.5 stars, 5 stars... I found Stephen's review, thank god for small mercies.
Stephen managed to put into a couple of sentences exactly how I felt about The Book Thief: "I liked the characters, loved the writing and certainly loved the originality of the story. But in the end, I didn't enjoy it as much as I would need to in order to rate it higher." It's that simple.
I can appreciate that Markus Zusak is a very talented writer, some of the sentences he uses are quite beautiful and reminded me of poetry rather than prose. And the story idea? A tale narrated by Death and set in Nazi Germany... original and ominous. But it was the story-telling that never really worked for me. This is one of those incredibly "subtle" books that are told in a series of anecdotes and are meant to cleverly build up a bigger picture... but, the stories just didn't interest me.
I could imagine I was reading a collection of short stories (and not a full-length novel) about playground fights, developing friendships, WWI stories and death. They were supposed to come together and form a novel that is all kinds of awesome at once, but it was so bland. I also think that nearly 600 pages of "subtlety" can make you want to slit your wrists with annoyance... anyone read To the Lighthouse and spend 99% of it just wishing they'd get to the effin' lighthouse?! Well, I did.
I'm giving this book 3 stars for the pretty words and the concept. But other than that this book unfortunately won't stay with me, I find it an easily forgettable novel and I know for that I will probably cause some controversy and no one will ever read my reviews again because I'm clearly an idiot who doesn't appreciate beautiful works of art like this book. It's true, I don't. I'm sorry :(
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Quotes Emily May Liked
“I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.”
― Markus Zusak, The Book Thief
― Markus Zusak, The Book Thief
Reading Progress
| 10/30/2011 | page 155 |
|
27.0% | |
| 10/31/2011 | page 317 |
|
54.0% | "There's obviously something wrong with me... GR members, why am I not loving this?? :(" |
Comments (showing 1-23 of 23) (23 new)
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Alyssa
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rated it 5 stars
Oct 28, 2011 12:28pm
Beware: tears fall here.
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There are no bad books, just the right book at the right moment. This isn't the moment for you and this book. Trust me, I enjoy fantasy but have only managed to read Tolkien once. ;)
I felt the same way when I read Daughter of Smoke and Bone. As I'm sure you know, everyone loved it (including you - I see your 5 star review :P). 5 stars across the board. I totally felt like I had read a completely different book. But oh well, it happens.
If it makes you feel any better, I have the same problems with Zusak myself. I tried this book and tried his others, but it's always been a struggle, I am not sure why. His writing skills and his characters are all fine, but, but... something is just not there. But what can you do, right?
Thank you both, and Tatiana, that makes me feel so much better about it :)@Bonnie I know what you mean about feeling like you read a different book, I've had that quite a few times. I suppose if we all had the same opinions the book review industry would be very small.
Honest review. I haven't read it yet despite several death threats, but I'm really curious! I'm sure I won't stop reading your reviews.
Thanks Lisa, I'm glad to hear it :)You should read it as it seems to blow most people's minds. I look forward to reading your review :)
I wasn't that taken in by this book either (and you rated it higher than I did)--my main problem was that I was far too aware of how the book was emotionally manipulating my reading experience. It's like being backstage at a performance and seeing all the mechanics.
Hmm, that's an interesting way of putting it. For me, I'm not sure exactly what it was but it never lived up to my expectations.
I'm using the android goodreads so I can't like your review (what a stupid thing, by the way), so I can only comment;) anyway, great review and don't be sad!!!~ Nothing wrong with you;) Happened to me a few times too (Nightshade. seriously bad bad bad shit and I don't get why so little people agree;p), I guess happens to all of us. I sometimes feel guilty for liking a book that almost no one else does! Makes me feel too stupid or something;))
Thanks! :) And I've also experienced liking a book that everyone else didn't... though, to be fair, that usually happens when they all saw the conclusion to the mystery coming a mile off and I remained clueless til the last page ¬_¬ hehe
Great review, Emily, and thanks for the kind words about mine. I'm glad I am not alone in my reaction to this book. So many wonderful components that for some reason didn't move me as much as I had expected. At some point, I am going to give this a re-read and see if I have a different experience the second time around.
great review emily, theres always some books out there that arent always everyones cup of tea, but i enjoy reading your reviews because youre always so completely honest and you dont sugar coat everything. dont worry i dont think i ever could stop reading your reviews :)
Thank you so much Jasprit :) I do try to be as honest as possible, even when that doesn't fit with the popular opinion.
I recently read this writing article and it covered all the reasons this book didn't work for me. http://writerunboxed.com/2012/09/13/t... Maybe it will make you feel better about your opinion? :)
I loved the book but I know exactly how you feel when you don't like something everyone else loved. I completely agree with Deb about reading the right book at the right moment, I'm currently thinking about re reading a book that's a favorite amongst my friends again just to see if I feel differently this time around.
I do that quite a bit, Ashley. I convince myself that it must have been me and try again. Sometimes it actually pays off - like the book I'm reading at the moment - and you enjoy it more the second time :)
