From the Bookshelf of BücherWelt & LeseRausch…

The Book Thief

Markus Zusak

Start date: October 5, 2013

Finish date: October 10, 2013

Discussion: BUDDY READS

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BUDDY READS

* BUDDY READS - Anfragen/ Vorschläge/ aktuelle BR/ vergangene - Sammelpost
By Tina ♥ Bookah… · 17 posts · 136 views

last updated Aug 04, 2025 03:23PM

BR: Crescent City 1 - 3 - SJM (currently 1&2)
By Chiara · 79 posts · 29 views

last updated Oct 16, 2025 07:55AM

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What Members Thought

May 21, 2010 Alexandra rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: belletristik

Wow! Eine wundervolle Geschichte voller Liebe, Phantasie, Trauer und Erzählkraft geschildert vom Tod höchstpersönlich. Liesl Memminger kommt in Nazideutschland nach dem Tod ihrer Familie in eine Pflegefamilie, und ein Umfeld, in dem bei allem Wahnsinn manche Menschen totz einiger Fehler Menschen geblieben sind. Juden werden in Kellern versteckt, die Obrigkeit herausgefordert, Rückgrat, Zivilcourage und Liebe werden gezeigt aber auch Mißtrauen und Ängste werden gelebt, wüste Beschimpfungen und Ge ...more

12 likes · Like · see review

Oct 04, 2013 Nadine rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2013, group-reads

Maybe it was a mistake to read the English version, because to me those names, German sounding, but written in an English fashion (Rudy instad of Rudi, Tommy instead of Tommi) and some sloppily researched dropped facts made me doubt every last info or fact and made the whole book seem sloppy. To me it made it so obvious that the writer was penning his novel from quite a distance from a very foreign point of view. (I heard though that the translators „corrected“ these and other things too when tr Maybe it was a mistake to read the English version, because to me those names, German sounding, but written in an English fashion (Rudy instad of Rudi, Tommy instead of Tommi) and some sloppily researched dropped facts made me doubt every last info or fact and made the whole book seem sloppy. To me it made it so obvious that the writer was penning his novel from quite a distance from a very foreign point of view. (I heard though that the translators „corrected“ these and other things too when transferring it to German.)

But I had more severe problems with the book:
The narrator. Death himself: I liked the idea and here and there it did work out nicely, but overall it seemed overdone and frankly ridiculous. And it never felt like „death“ was telling the story, it felt like a quirky idea the author came up with to set his book apart from others.

The little breaks in the narrative, little inserts, which I enjoyed in the beginning became annoying after about 50 pages and felt just pretentious to me. I rarely felt like they added much to the story, let alone the atmosphere.

The fact that „death“ threw out spoilers all the time could have worked, but it was just too much for me, every bit of suspense was killed ahead of even starting to grow. The whole narrative especially in the last part was so anticlimactic, it felt like a slap in the face in parts (I guess it was meant to be shocking, well - didn't work out that way to me, I just felt let down by the author to get deaths of beloved characters thrown into my face. (I guess that's the way „death“ is supposed to be, huh?) )

I did like the (potential of the) characters a lot and the story itself is a good and strong one but to me it was pushed aside by a „show-off-y“ narrative/ style.

I tried to like it but this book didn't work for me at all. Overall I felt like the narrative was far more important to the author than characters or storyline and to me it was killing the feeling of connection to the characters or events.
...more

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Aug 22, 2012 Elwen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: stand-alone, favorite-stand-alone, 01_bookshelf, _moved-in-2013, historical, c-all-about-books

Die Bücherdiebin stiehlt Geschichten und sich in dein Herz. Ganz leise, poetisch und wunderschön schleicht sie sich ein, bricht es mit einem Wimpernschlag und hat doch für immer einen Platz darin. Gleich neben dem Tod, der sich mit seinen Worten direkt neben sie gesellt.

10 likes · Like · see review

Jun 25, 2013 ♥ Becky 22 rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, awesome, favorite-heroines, love-the-characters, loved-it, 22, made-me-cry, best-of-13

“One was a book thief. The other stole the sky.”

A story about the power of words. Narrated by death.

Yup, I highlighted half the book. This is one of the saddest books I have ever read, but it's also one of the best. It's heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. I absolutely recommend it. ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

Sep 24, 2011 Zara rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 01-bücherregal, 2013-gelesene-bücher, sonstiges, 2010-gelesene-bücher

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28.04.10
*BUCHTIPP!*
Das Thema ist düster, traurig, schockierend, doch Markus Zusak schaffte es, mich ständig zum Schmunzeln zu bringen. Ich hatte schon ein komisches Gefühl dabei, als ich mich beim ersten Mal bei einem Schmunzler erwischt habe, denn damit habe ich bei dem Thema 2. Weltkrieg nicht gerechnet. Nachdem der (liebenswürdige) Tod die Geschichte erzählt, ist es aber in Ordnung. Wer, wenn nicht der Tod, darf sich etwas Humor bewahren? Aber es ist ...more

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Jan 15, 2014 Birgit rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: there-s-a-movie-too, reading-journey-2014, read-2014, ya, ww-ii

ok, wo fängt man so ein buch zu beschreiben? ich hab, glaub ich, noch nie so schnell ein buch gelesen. es hat mich wirklich berührt und ich konnte es einfach nicht aus der hand legen obwohl ich gern länger etwas davon gehabt hätte...

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