Book Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Date Started: August 7th 2013
Date Completed: August 12th 2013
Genres: Historical, Romance, Adventure
Rating: Five stars
Review:
I honestly don't think I could write a review that would do this book justice, but I'll see how close I can get. There's a lot of hype around The Book Thief, and that sort of thing always makes me doubt whether it's just human nature making something bigger than it is to fully interest them. At points, I thought that this was the case with this novel. But after reading the entire book, I can't get away with saying it isn't one of the best books I have ever read.
The Book Thief is set in WW2 Germany, on one of the poorer roads in Molching: Himmel Street. Number 33 Himmel Street to be exact. After losing her brother during the freezing train ride there, nine-year-old Liesel Meminger takes up residence with her new foster family; a fierce, stubborn woman and an gentler accordionist. But Liesel has a secret: she steals books because they are there to take, and as she grows up, it seems that her thievery has a peculiar affect on the world around her.
Zasak's writing is wonderful. There's a certain directness, by the narrator, that tells the reader a great deal of information and detail. But there's also a subtler to the description, and often the main prose, that makes the reader consider what he's saying and gives them the perspective of someone completely detached from the situation of the characters, as if they were an onlooker from the street.
In a way, this is true for the whole story - we are being told it as if from a separate place, rather than living through it with the characters. And this is because the story is narrated by Death. I think this was a stroke of genius, and the persona behind the words is so realistic, that by the end you almost feel like you know Death. He isn't some anonymous storyteller, he actually has emotions, and a sort of humour about him that makes you really empathise with him and what he has to do.
Another great thing about the writing style was that, even though we were being told the story from a detached point-of-view, I still felt as though I knew the characters as individual people and that the story was true. I know from experience that this is a really hard thing to do, so I admire Zusak for pulling it off so well.
For a lot of this book, I wasn't actually sure whether there was a story running through it. It's almost like lots of little clips of Liesel's (and a few other people's) lives, all packed together into one. But actually, when you get to the end, although they may still be little snippets of the character's lives, it all ties together and you can understand why a certain detail was mentioned here, and another event was described there etc.
When I read books about the holocaust, there's always a small niggling feeling at the back of my head, worrying that the author will portray the events badly and unjustly, and for some reason I'll feel guilty about that (let's discuss my strange paranoia another time). Or perhaps maybe learning about the evil that used to exist - and probably still does exist in some parts of the world - makes a person uncomfortable. But the way Zusak wrote World War Two was the most believable fiction I've experienced. Since the story is told almost through Liesel's eyes, there's an almost innocent take on what happens, and a clear air of misunderstanding. Honestly, I don't know what to say here - Zusak wrote Hilter's reign in it's full horrific glory.
The set-out of the book was different from what you might usually get. There was a lot of cross-cutting between parts in Liesel's story. Although justified by the narrator, I did feel that certain previews of the story did take away the full effect when they actually happened - but having said that, I did still cry.
Going back to the actual plot, there isn't a rock-solid one that I'm used to reading. But instead, there's an almost more mature idea: this isn't a story about a little girl growing up in Hilter's Germany. This is the little girl's story - all of it.
The thing about these characters that I don't think i've ever experienced before is that I never once doubted their behaviour or actions. I didn't stop and think 'wait, would someone actually do that?'
Liesel was a very good protagonist. Like I said previously, this is her story, and as we go through the years with her, we can start to understand and empathise more with every action she takes, and just how she acts towards everyone. Some might say how her story ends is cruel, but I think she always knew it would end like that. Apart from what happens to her, she is primarily a very clever and kind girl. She might steal books and beat up boys, but in actual fact she has a very big heart, and she's only doing what she thinks will serve best in the end.
Papa was a wonderful character. I wasn't quite sure about him at first, since the typical 'grandfatherly' character he seems to have has never much appealed to me for some reason. But actually, as the story went on, it did tug at my heart when he acted certain ways. He was an extremely brave and selfless man, and I think I overlooked that quite a lot during the book. But he risked everything - and lost a fair amount - because of the choices he made to save other people.
Rosa was genius. There needs to be a grounded person to prevent the story from really turning into a work of fiction, and she did this perfectly. But at the same time, when the reader gets to know her more, we understand that actually she's a lot softer than she seems. But she's not hiding behind closed doors because she's insecure or the usual ideas. She's tough because she needs to be to live in the world she does. This again, brought the full force of the setting and time on the reader and brought everything into context once again.
Max was my favourite character. He was so interesting and such a lovely person, and my heart broke for what happened to him (not just out of principle). It could've been easy to make this harboured Jew a rather two-dimensional character, and just have him as the hidden secret of the house, but Zusak made him into a real, intelligent, wonderful, gifted person. Whilst I wish we could have learnt more about him, his life before the war, and how he lived after Himmel Street, I do appreciate that by not knowing he becomes a more interesting and mysterious character - and it lets us understand how little information these people had about the people they were hiding. (And, I suppose, we do get a reasonable amount of detail about his life before the war.)
Rudy was the reason I cried. Even when he got older, there was always that feeling of innocence around him, despite his thievery with Liesel. His banter towards her created a clear image of his conflicted heart, and I was mentally kicking him for being so slow. He was very nearly my favourite character, but Max's situation and story unfortunately topped it.
Isla was a very good character, and I wanted to mention her because I felt she was another thing that kept Liesel grounded, and once again showed the affect of the war on a variety of people.
I've already written a little about Death, but since I feel he was a primary character in the book, I thought I'd mention him again. Death started off as a almost reluctant narrator, but as it went on we learnt more about him, his feelings, his experiences etc. By the end I honestly felt like he was a friend, and it was clear that he cared about Liesel, and therefore they became very good friends at the end as well.
The pace differs, but there are definitely build-ups to the climaxes. But they're so subtle that you just get this feeling that something's bad is going to happen, rather than the thought popping up in your head saying 'we're getting to the important part'.
Some of the down-time sections can be boring, and I admit I did find myself about a third of the way through, wondering if everything was going to make sense, or if this was just a collection of short narratives. (If you've already read the previous parts of this review, will know that it does in the end.)
I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. I think this should be in the school curriculum, because I think I might have picked up the same amount of information and emotions from a 500 page book as I did in a couple of terms at school. It really gets you to think about the war and it's affects on everyone - not just Jews and Britain.
On top of that it's a wonderfully written and thought-through piece of literature that was a great read. There's slivers of romance and action in there, but I'd class it under historical fiction. But it's a very unique book that I think appeals to a huge audience of all ages and preferences.
Image Source: http://subblime.com/media/cache/b1/e8/
b1e8b86f20b08e221e868d941b9a86f8.jpg
I honestly don't think I could write a review that would do this book justice, but I'll see how close I can get. There's a lot of hype around The Book Thief, and that sort of thing always makes me doubt whether it's just human nature making something bigger than it is to fully interest them. At points, I thought that this was the case with this novel. But after reading the entire book, I can't get away with saying it isn't one of the best books I have ever read.
The Book Thief is set in WW2 Germany, on one of the poorer roads in Molching: Himmel Street. Number 33 Himmel Street to be exact. After losing her brother during the freezing train ride there, nine-year-old Liesel Meminger takes up residence with her new foster family; a fierce, stubborn woman and an gentler accordionist. But Liesel has a secret: she steals books because they are there to take, and as she grows up, it seems that her thievery has a peculiar affect on the world around her.
Zasak's writing is wonderful. There's a certain directness, by the narrator, that tells the reader a great deal of information and detail. But there's also a subtler to the description, and often the main prose, that makes the reader consider what he's saying and gives them the perspective of someone completely detached from the situation of the characters, as if they were an onlooker from the street.
In a way, this is true for the whole story - we are being told it as if from a separate place, rather than living through it with the characters. And this is because the story is narrated by Death. I think this was a stroke of genius, and the persona behind the words is so realistic, that by the end you almost feel like you know Death. He isn't some anonymous storyteller, he actually has emotions, and a sort of humour about him that makes you really empathise with him and what he has to do.
Another great thing about the writing style was that, even though we were being told the story from a detached point-of-view, I still felt as though I knew the characters as individual people and that the story was true. I know from experience that this is a really hard thing to do, so I admire Zusak for pulling it off so well.
For a lot of this book, I wasn't actually sure whether there was a story running through it. It's almost like lots of little clips of Liesel's (and a few other people's) lives, all packed together into one. But actually, when you get to the end, although they may still be little snippets of the character's lives, it all ties together and you can understand why a certain detail was mentioned here, and another event was described there etc.
When I read books about the holocaust, there's always a small niggling feeling at the back of my head, worrying that the author will portray the events badly and unjustly, and for some reason I'll feel guilty about that (let's discuss my strange paranoia another time). Or perhaps maybe learning about the evil that used to exist - and probably still does exist in some parts of the world - makes a person uncomfortable. But the way Zusak wrote World War Two was the most believable fiction I've experienced. Since the story is told almost through Liesel's eyes, there's an almost innocent take on what happens, and a clear air of misunderstanding. Honestly, I don't know what to say here - Zusak wrote Hilter's reign in it's full horrific glory.
The set-out of the book was different from what you might usually get. There was a lot of cross-cutting between parts in Liesel's story. Although justified by the narrator, I did feel that certain previews of the story did take away the full effect when they actually happened - but having said that, I did still cry.
Going back to the actual plot, there isn't a rock-solid one that I'm used to reading. But instead, there's an almost more mature idea: this isn't a story about a little girl growing up in Hilter's Germany. This is the little girl's story - all of it.
The thing about these characters that I don't think i've ever experienced before is that I never once doubted their behaviour or actions. I didn't stop and think 'wait, would someone actually do that?'
Liesel was a very good protagonist. Like I said previously, this is her story, and as we go through the years with her, we can start to understand and empathise more with every action she takes, and just how she acts towards everyone. Some might say how her story ends is cruel, but I think she always knew it would end like that. Apart from what happens to her, she is primarily a very clever and kind girl. She might steal books and beat up boys, but in actual fact she has a very big heart, and she's only doing what she thinks will serve best in the end.
Papa was a wonderful character. I wasn't quite sure about him at first, since the typical 'grandfatherly' character he seems to have has never much appealed to me for some reason. But actually, as the story went on, it did tug at my heart when he acted certain ways. He was an extremely brave and selfless man, and I think I overlooked that quite a lot during the book. But he risked everything - and lost a fair amount - because of the choices he made to save other people.
Rosa was genius. There needs to be a grounded person to prevent the story from really turning into a work of fiction, and she did this perfectly. But at the same time, when the reader gets to know her more, we understand that actually she's a lot softer than she seems. But she's not hiding behind closed doors because she's insecure or the usual ideas. She's tough because she needs to be to live in the world she does. This again, brought the full force of the setting and time on the reader and brought everything into context once again.
Max was my favourite character. He was so interesting and such a lovely person, and my heart broke for what happened to him (not just out of principle). It could've been easy to make this harboured Jew a rather two-dimensional character, and just have him as the hidden secret of the house, but Zusak made him into a real, intelligent, wonderful, gifted person. Whilst I wish we could have learnt more about him, his life before the war, and how he lived after Himmel Street, I do appreciate that by not knowing he becomes a more interesting and mysterious character - and it lets us understand how little information these people had about the people they were hiding. (And, I suppose, we do get a reasonable amount of detail about his life before the war.)
Rudy was the reason I cried. Even when he got older, there was always that feeling of innocence around him, despite his thievery with Liesel. His banter towards her created a clear image of his conflicted heart, and I was mentally kicking him for being so slow. He was very nearly my favourite character, but Max's situation and story unfortunately topped it.
Isla was a very good character, and I wanted to mention her because I felt she was another thing that kept Liesel grounded, and once again showed the affect of the war on a variety of people.
I've already written a little about Death, but since I feel he was a primary character in the book, I thought I'd mention him again. Death started off as a almost reluctant narrator, but as it went on we learnt more about him, his feelings, his experiences etc. By the end I honestly felt like he was a friend, and it was clear that he cared about Liesel, and therefore they became very good friends at the end as well.
The pace differs, but there are definitely build-ups to the climaxes. But they're so subtle that you just get this feeling that something's bad is going to happen, rather than the thought popping up in your head saying 'we're getting to the important part'.
Some of the down-time sections can be boring, and I admit I did find myself about a third of the way through, wondering if everything was going to make sense, or if this was just a collection of short narratives. (If you've already read the previous parts of this review, will know that it does in the end.)
I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. I think this should be in the school curriculum, because I think I might have picked up the same amount of information and emotions from a 500 page book as I did in a couple of terms at school. It really gets you to think about the war and it's affects on everyone - not just Jews and Britain.
On top of that it's a wonderfully written and thought-through piece of literature that was a great read. There's slivers of romance and action in there, but I'd class it under historical fiction. But it's a very unique book that I think appeals to a huge audience of all ages and preferences.
Image Source: http://subblime.com/media/cache/b1/e8/
b1e8b86f20b08e221e868d941b9a86f8.jpg
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