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***MY GENERAL RULE FOR FICTION***
I stay away from WWII fiction.
It was awful enough with fictionalizing it.
Of course it is impossible to stay completely away from WWII stories. I allowed myslef the exception with The Book Thief.
It's good for YA fiction. It's a charming story. You have to love a girl who reads. But it stops there. For adults it's a shallow read. It lacks any real substance. I would recommend it to my 14 year old neice, but no one any older.
***FINAL THOUGHTS***
After finishing it ...more
I stay away from WWII fiction.
It was awful enough with fictionalizing it.
Of course it is impossible to stay completely away from WWII stories. I allowed myslef the exception with The Book Thief.
It's good for YA fiction. It's a charming story. You have to love a girl who reads. But it stops there. For adults it's a shallow read. It lacks any real substance. I would recommend it to my 14 year old neice, but no one any older.
***FINAL THOUGHTS***
After finishing it ...more
I was a little disappointed in this book after all the hype. It's beautiful and even brilliant in places, and the choice to have Death narrate the story gives it an extra edge of originality. But it's really just a character study of how a particular neighborhood lived through (or didn't live through) World War II. It does a good job of touching on the many issues involved -- politics, fighting, the holocaust, the desired Aryan race -- without being overly heavy handed. The illustrations in the
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Yes. I'm one of those people who didn't love this book. I didn't hate it, either. But according to the "mouse-over" headings for the Goodreads rating system, 3 stars seems fair. I feel as if there could have been more meat to the story. The character development was good, but it served little purpose because most of characters' actions were of the mundane. Maybe the movie is better?
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can't give 5 stars. I was expecting a 5 star-er but it just was not for me. I loved the narration and the weirdness, the end is fantastic.
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October 1,2012
