The Book Thief in Crazy Challenge Connection

Dec 03, 2010 Anne (Booklady) Molinarolo rated it it was amazing

Shelves: great-literary-fiction, favorites, summer-2014, permanent-library, classics, read-around-world, young-adult, anne-booklady-500-page-books

Death comes, we think quietly then leaves. Not always so, Death says. Sometimes he lingers and a living person left behind interests him. He sees colors when he carries souls away. The last time he saw the book thief, it was red. But he doesn't start there - he goes back to the train where she saw him take her little brother's soul. A cough and Werner is gone, forever 6 years-old. He sees the book thief steal her first book in the grave yard, though she's illiterate. She craves words, smells the ...more

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Apr 28, 2010 mussolet rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: theme-history, read-notmine-c

There is no question about it that in a time where the Holocaust is denied in some places, and where ideas supported by the Nazis are surfacing again, and not just in Germany, young people need to learn about that time in history.
And there is no question that they will want to learn it from a book written for them, instead of reading highbrow-literature (Robert Merle comes to mind as one who has written excellent, non-YA-friendly books on the subject). The question is whether this book serves i There is no question about it that in a time where the Holocaust is denied in some places, and where ideas supported by the Nazis are surfacing again, and not just in Germany, young people need to learn about that time in history.
And there is no question that they will want to learn it from a book written for them, instead of reading highbrow-literature (Robert Merle comes to mind as one who has written excellent, non-YA-friendly books on the subject). The question is whether this book serves its cause well.

For the most part, the characters are interesting. The reader can relate to Liesel, whether it is about school, or about her friends, or her parents. The portrayal of a small town in Bavaria also paints a clear image about how much people just don't care about politics if they have enough problems of their own. There is a certain kind of comfort needed for people to be able to afford caring about rights, and a disinterest in politics is not always the sign of people in agreement with what is happening.

Also on the plus side is the fact that, although it was written by an Australian author, this story feels like it takes place in Germany. Which is important to me, I want a story to be as real as possible, and few German settings by non-German authors feel real.

This leaves my negative point. I say point, actually it is a constant disappointment throughout the book, and it destroyed my enjoyment enough to warrant the low rating.
*** What annoyed me: ***
- Death
Yes, you may have heard that this book is narrated by Death. And while that might have been a great idea, the execution is not enjoyable at all.
There are a few interesting, if dark and sarcastic, observations, but for the most part it was just annoying.
*** What I found particularly annoying: ***
- foreshadowing
- making totally uninteresting points in bold script
- the bold script in general
- AND THE FORESHADOWING!!!
Why did I think that I need to deduct a point for that? Because I do not want to read a story where I am told what will happen in the end (page 600) on page 250. This happened with the statement that "what happens is not as interesting to me as how it happens", and while that might be true, the "how" then has to be interesting enough to carry the entire book on its own. Which it wasn't.

Overall, this makes three stars. I wouldn't recommend it, but if you already own it or come across this book in a library, do check it out. But I will keep looking for a really good YA book on that subject. This was not it.

PS: On a pedantic sidenote, I would have loved to read excerpts of the first book that Liesel steals. But not a chance. ...more

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Jun 04, 2010 Rusty rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, historical-fiction

The Book Thief is such a good read. I liked the narrator (death) very much and Liesl, the heroine. The story is based on an interview the author had with people who told him what it was like to live under Hitler's reign when you were not supportive of him and his policies. To understand what an average German family must have endured during that period The Book Thief helps addresses their lives, thoughts and emotions. The child, Liesel, enters school and seems unable to learn to read. Through th ...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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Apr 10, 2010 Nadine Smith rated it liked it

Shelves: 2010, chosen-for-me, 2017

I think the book would have been better without the profanity and swearing.
Which I must say there was a quite a bit of it. I liked how the story was told from the view point of death. It was interesting look at World War II.

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