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The Book Thief

Markus Zusak

Start date: April 1, 2013

Finish date: April 30, 2013

Discussion: Past Reads

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What Members Thought

Apr 13, 2012 Shirley Thomas rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2012, need-more-of-these

I first heard of this book several years ago actually, 2008 or 2009. I wanted to read it solely on the account of the title, The Book Thief. (I'm not in the habit of reading reviews anywhere, I always prefer going into a book knowing as little as possible.)

Circumstances got in the way and it was an article that actually reminded me I still hadn't read this book. A discussion arose on Twitter & blogosphere a while back when TIME's Joel Stein said adult readers should have read all the adult ficti I first heard of this book several years ago actually, 2008 or 2009. I wanted to read it solely on the account of the title, The Book Thief. (I'm not in the habit of reading reviews anywhere, I always prefer going into a book knowing as little as possible.)

Circumstances got in the way and it was an article that actually reminded me I still hadn't read this book. A discussion arose on Twitter & blogosphere a while back when TIME's Joel Stein said adult readers should have read all the adult fictions before they started reading YA, meaning never. A counter article stated a reason why YA fiction is enjoying a widening readership: its writers are taking chances and trying new things. The article writer cited examples, one of them being The Book Thief: "...using Death as its narrator."

That got me like nothing ever before. Death as the narrator? Now we're talking.

It started slow, however. The style, which I thought would be something exciting, turned out to be annoying at the beginning of the book. I think Mr Zusak wanted to portray the jagged nature of Death but the way narration was frequently cut with short burst of explanations and notes irritated me.

The foreshadowing was also a bit too heavy for me. What's more, Death Himself (Itself?) once defended such choice and I thought, So you know. There is only one blatant foreshadowing that I could see was important but others... we all could do without them.

However, when Death hit His stride telling the story, it was amazing. And there was honest, simple poetry in Mr Zusak's voice that made me long for the stories my Chinese grandma used to tell me, old stories that are both burned into your memory and yet fading into nights.

In the parts of the book where Death forgets to be this persona of His and simply tells the story, we get amazing glimpses of Liesel's life, rich and telling portraits of people in small town pushed into war, caught between the need to survive and the tugs on the heart to reach out and help, if only one person.

I appreciate the way Mr Zusak described the nature of war. I believe writing about war is difficult for both those who have experienced war and those who have not. For the first, it means reaching into real memories and all the consequences of such action; for the latter the fear of not being able to respectfully do the job. Mr Zusak didn't write it grandly or gory; he simply described what happen, the cruel randomness of it, the small moments of reprieve, the guilt of those surviving, the fear of a better tomorrow... for nobody in war wants to believe in a better tomorrow.

I'll spoil as little as possible here: One of my favorite parts is when Liesel, the girl who has been hungrily reading books, sees the possibilities of creating your own books, writing your own stories. Another one is the survivor's guilt I mentioned earlier. It was painful and I didn't see it coming - and yet it was painful because it was real. It could happen and has happened.

I love the bread, in both scenes (again, I don't want to spoil anyone) and, of course, I love Hans Hubermann. You will too. I love this story, which, like many of the books I love, is about love story. Personally, I see it as a love story between a father and his daughter, but there is lots of love to be found in The Book Thief and I'm sure you'll find your own version of love story in it. ...more

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Jun 15, 2012 Lauren rated it really liked it

Shelves: tbr-july2012

It is difficult to review a book about a sensitive subject matter with anything less than 5 stars. I felt so torn about giving 3 stars to Schindler's Ark. I find it impossible to point out exactly what it was about this work that made me deduct that star.

This novel will undoubtedly become a classic one day. The language is poetic and haunting. The story line is heart-wrenching. The characters are imperfect, flawed and absolutely lovable. While reading this one cannot help wanting to lovingly sw ...more

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