The Book Thief in Around the World in 80 Books

Oct 07, 2017 Linda Martin rated it really liked it

Shelves: families, historical-fiction, fiction, war, gaaaaaah, 2017, poverty, geo-germany

This is a thick and awesome book - about 550 pages, and it took me months to read it. I'm slow like that sometimes. Slow to get started on this 12-year-old best-seller . . . and then for a long time I would read it only at bedtime. Unfortunately, I was so tired by the time I got in bed, I could only read one chapter each night. The chapters are very short - this is a YA novel - and they were perfect for my limited attention span after getting in bed at midnight being already nearly asleep. Well, ...more

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May 26, 2010 Katie rated it it was amazing

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. After several days of thought, I think I've reached some conclusions about this book.

First, I will agree with other reviews that I have read. This is not a light and fluffy quick read. The prose is simple (aimed at teenagers, in fact) and the plot is never extraordinarily complex. Even many of the themes are basic and uncomplicated - love of family and friends, and the value of loved ones during times of hardship. I think what makes this novel really meaty is the wartime setting. It is sometime After several days of thought, I think I've reached some conclusions about this book.

First, I will agree with other reviews that I have read. This is not a light and fluffy quick read. The prose is simple (aimed at teenagers, in fact) and the plot is never extraordinarily complex. Even many of the themes are basic and uncomplicated - love of family and friends, and the value of loved ones during times of hardship. I think what makes this novel really meaty is the wartime setting. It is sometimes necessary to set the book down and let some ideas readjust in your mind. For instance, after reading a passage in which a group of starving, desperate Jewish prisoners is paraded through town, it's difficult to continue breezing through a book after an image like that is burned into your mind's eye.

I found great value in this book's unique perspective on World War II in Europe - you never hear what it was like in Germany during that time. And although I don't belittle the terrible things that occurred at the hands of Hitler and the Third Reich, I think it's important for the world to remember that Germans suffered during this time too, and many of them had done nothing wrong. I'm glad this book provides an opportunity for people to consider the other side of things.

The book was stylistically excellent. The characters were flawless - whole and real in my imagination. Liesel was perfect - she was 100% young teenage girl, and every moment she rang true to me, having once been a young teenage girl myself. Her loved ones - Rudy, Max, and Hans, especially - were delicately flawed but infinitely lovable, which makes the ending's tragedy all the more poignant. I was in public as I finished the book, and had a hard time stopping the tears. It seemed so needlessly tragic and violent, but that's exactly what WWII was - needlessly tragic and violent.

I would recommend this book to just about anyone. It's appropriate for teens and adults, history lovers, book lovers... I think there are many important things to be learned from The Book Thief.

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Nov 23, 2008 Johanne rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I just finished reading this book. It's the first book in AGES the actually made me cry. It's a beautiful story about a little girl growing up in Germany during WW2. It deals with love and hope and death and cruelty and the power of words. I haven't read that many stories about what it must have been like for Germans during the war, many of whom must have been good people caught up in tragic circumstances. It's a beautifully written, very poetic book, which is intended for young adult readers, a ...more

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Oct 28, 2011 Nancy H rated it really liked it

What a uniquely-written book! The narrator is Death, and at first I didn't think I would like a book with a narrator like that. However, I became absorbed in Liesel's story, a girl who is living in a small German town during the Holocaust, as she has to deal with daily life in war-time, as well as the vicissitudes that are thrown in her path because of the choies she and her foster parents make. It is a very good book. ...more

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Nov 24, 2010 Nadia rated it liked it

it's dark. simple words, but with heavy meaning. it's just could be a little bit shorter, the end is too dragged. ...more

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May 03, 2020 Carla rated it really liked it

Shelves: best-writing, my-favorites, historical-novels

I was totally engrossed. A couple of times I had to put it down and put some distance between me and how events unfolded. A totally original take. The narrator was a surprise - knowing he was a cog in a wheel of life, but observing with heart. Surprises all along - beautiful, sad and glorious surprises.

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