Book Review- The Book Thief
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| The Book Thief by Markus Zusak |
♥♥♥♥♥
Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Published: 2006
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Genre: Fiction, Middle Grade,
Historical Fiction
Plot: ♥♥♥♥♥
Characters: ♥♥♥♥♥
World Building: ♥♥♥♥♥
Flow: ♥♥♥♥♥
Synopsis:
Trying to make
sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel--a
young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain
her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors.
Review*:
I can totally see why this book is considered a modern classic. The writing style that Zusak uses is unique in a way that isn't common in current popular literature. The book is written from the perspective of death watching over the characters in the book. Using death as the narrator is very powerful by itself, but in a book set in WWII I think it's amplified.
Leisel is a little german girl who is dropped off by her mother utilizing what appears to be Germany's foster system. Along the journey, and within the first few pages of the book, we are already met with our first death and the first stolen book, as Leisel's little brother passes away and the man that buries him loses a book she picks up.
When Leisel meets her foster parents, she doesn't initially like them. Rosa is a sour woman who would yell and use names and Hans was a painter who loved his cigarettes. Hans tries to form a relationship with his foster daughter and they form a bond as he teaches Leisel to roll his cigarettes and how to read.
The relationship between Leisel and Hans really draws you into the story, but unfortunately as she progresses into adolescence, that dynamic starts to dissipate. The deeper dimension of Leisel's character changes from a girl who is learning to trust to a more two dimentional character. The momentum of the novel becomes more like a slow moving machine and at times a little stagnant, which is why I think my motivation to read it slowed so much during the second half of this year.
My favorite descriptions, and the most poetic of narrators is death. A specific example is as we move father into the story and deeper into the war, more death is happened around this story about Leisel. In those moments, we get a little separation to explain our setting further. An example of this is death talking about a new day and that the "Sky was the color of jews." This is such a powerful piece of imagery because you can imagine the dark sky of sorrow for all the unnecessary hate and lives lost that happened during this era of time. These moments help the story so much because the actions the Hubermann's take is more scrutinized, such as harboring a jew in their basement, or not showing patriotism during rallies. While we are grounded back to the weight of the war around these characters, it made me worry the most for the Hubermann's and what would happen to them. At the same time it made Leisel seem almost invulnerable as she fearlessly stole books and stole from her neighbors.
Overall I can see why this is a very popular book, especially for a younger audience than myself. The writing is so creative both in the descriptions but also the point of view that allows younger readers to become familiar with the beauty of writing. I would suggest this to anyone looking to read it.
Have you read this before? What did you think of the writing or the story in general? Let me know in the comments below.
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