The Book Thief in Crazy Challenge Connection

Jul 24, 2010 Barbara ★ rated it did not like it

Shelves: did-not-finish, fiction, x-set-in-europe, young-adult, read-2010, x-set-in-europe-germany

Despite rave reviews, I found this book tedious as hell and boring to boot! I'm a book lover and a reader so with a title like "The Book Thief", I thought how could I lose. Boy was I wrong! Unfortunately this is actually a story about a young orphaned girl (the book thief) living in Nazi Germany during WWII. I abhor Hitler and anything to do with that time period and had I known this was the backdrop of the story, I never would have even thought of reading it.

It's written in Death's perspective ...more

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

Shelves: europe, young-adult, youth, war, historical-fiction, fiction, 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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Dec 25, 2010 Nancy Brady rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Told from the perspective of Death himself, this is the story of Liesel Meminger, her foster/adopted parents, her best friend Rudy, her special friend Max, and the other inhabitants of Himmel Street in Germany during World War II. Told with both humor and sadness, Liesel's story could be anyone's story, but more than that, it tells the story of what it was like in Germany during the war for the citizenry, both Jews and non-Jews alike, as seen through the eyes of Liesel and Death. ...more

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Oct 20, 2012 Carol rated it it was amazing

A little girl, Liesel Meminger, is separated from her parents and must live with her foster parent,s Rosa and Hans, during WWII in Germany. Hans and Rosa have been hiding a Jew named Max in their basement. When Max is very sick, Lisa reads him a book every day and resorts to stealing books to read to him, only to return them back on completion. Great characters, that have a strong personality and had a mix of both positive and negative traits. The Mayor's wife, was by far the most interesting ch ...more

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Feb 26, 2018 TheReadingKnitter/ Kasey rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library, audiobook, 2018

Really a 3.5 star book for me. But I have to be honest and say this is not one of my favorite books from the holocaust era. I love reading and learning about this time in history though so I had to read it. I did however like the ending and I’m glad it ended the way it did.

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