From the Bookshelf of Nothing But Reading Challenges…

The Book Thief

Markus Zusak

Start date: December 1, 2010

Finish date: December 31, 2010

Why we're reading this: We voted and this one won the poll for the Historical fiction category.
[close] We voted and this one won the poll for the Historical fiction category.

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What Members Thought

May 12, 2010 Lindsay rated it did not like it

Shelves: read-in-2016, 3stars, 1star, ya, read-in-2010, library-read, reread

First read May12/10 to May14/10
3 stars

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Jul 05, 2010 Chris rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, youth, historical-fiction, fiction, europe, war, literary-fiction

I put off reading this book for years. I am wary of war books. But after loving Zusak's I Am the Messenger, I determined to give it a try. The book is absolutely brilliant, destined to be a classic, and Zusak is an amazing writer.
The idea of Death as the narrator seems gimmicky at first, but I found it to be an intriguing way to tell a story that has been told many, many times before. It sounds trite to say it made me think of death in a whole new way, but it's true.
Leisel sees death for the f I put off reading this book for years. I am wary of war books. But after loving Zusak's I Am the Messenger, I determined to give it a try. The book is absolutely brilliant, destined to be a classic, and Zusak is an amazing writer.
The idea of Death as the narrator seems gimmicky at first, but I found it to be an intriguing way to tell a story that has been told many, many times before. It sounds trite to say it made me think of death in a whole new way, but it's true.
Leisel sees death for the first time as she is traveling with her mother and brother to be handed over to a foster family in pre-war NAzi Germany. Her brother dies aboard the train, and the image haunts her. At his graveside she steals her first book, despite being illiterate. But it is her fascination with words that shape the rest of her life.
Bereft of her brother and seemingly abandoned by her mother, Leisel is forced into the home of Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Rosa is a churlish, cursing bull of a woman. Hans is a sweet and gentle house painter and accordian player. Next door is Rudy Steiner, who will become Leisel's best friend and romantic interest. All around them are the signs of Hitler's Germany. The swastika flags and pictures of the fuhrer. The dessecrated homes of Jews who once lived peacefully in the city. Rudy and Leisel and all their friends belong to the Hitler youth groups.
It makes you think how people must have really lived in these circumstances. As horrible as it may seem now, you have to understand that most people will go along to get along if it means keeping their own families safe.
So it is a huge deal with a young Jewish man shows up hoping Hans will make good on a promise made many years before to help him. The man lives in the Hubermann basement, never seeing the light of die. A deep relationship develops between Leisel and him. And again words and books become a key part of that relationship.
As the war progresses and Allied bombs begin to fall on the city their lives will be shattered in many different ways. The image of Death gently gathering up the souls that emerge from the chimneys at Dachau is seared in my brain.
I also loved the way Death told the rest of the story bringing closure and even a modicum of happiness. ...more

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Apr 20, 2009 Cheryl rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 1001-books-you-must-read-before-you, favorites

This goes on the list of one of the best books I have ever read. I loved it. It was so refreshing to have another WWII Nazi Germany story but told from a totally different perspective. A shocker for me was that the book was so poetic, but I loved it because of this! The characters were endearing and so real. It portrays the people of Germany as so much more three dimensional and not as they are so often in WWII stories. I think that that is what I appreciated most about the book. I do not think ...more

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Jan 11, 2011 Trisha rated it really liked it

Shelves: drama, ya

What a great novel! The narrator was certainly....unique, and it gave the novel a very interesting point of view. What I did not like were the constant interruptions with little bold-printed blurbs giving small lists, word definitions, or what not. They really took away from the flow of the story and, in my opinion, were completely unnecessary. Zusak did an amazing job bringing his characters to life and giving them each such endearing qualities that I couldn't help but fall in love them. You mi ...more

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