The extraordinary #1 New York Times bestseller that is now a major motion picture, Markus Zusak’s unforgettable story is about the ability of books to feed the soul.
It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.
Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by … existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist-books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.
In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak, author of I Am the Messenger, has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.
From the Hardcover edition.
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A truly great read of the haulocaust.
This book is a love affair with words. From beginning to end, I thoroughly enjoyed the vocabulary, phraseology, and storytelling. I listened to it and read it. A wonderful treat both times!
It is amazing. I have read it more than three times.
Broke my heart in the best way.
Death has some great lines in this book. It is a unique perspective. This is my third time reading this book.
This book is a wonderful read.
I’ve been putting off reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak for years, because honestly, aren’t we all a little tired of WWII historical fiction? This year however, I decided to do the Words & Whimsy 3 Degrees of Difficulty Challenge, and one of the prompts is to read a WWII historical fiction. So, I figured it was as good a time as any to finally read The Book Thief, and I’m so happy I did!
If you don’t already know, the novel is narrated by Death, as he recounts his memories of a young German girl, Liesel Meminger. While many of the stories throughout the novel are technically ordinary, they are told in such a meaningful way. By the end of the novel I felt like I knew Liesel personally. I should also mention that I listened to the majority of the book on Libby, so the narrator, Allan Corduner, is also very talented in my opinion.
Obviously I don’t want to spoil the book if anyone else has put off reading it like I had, but I will warn you that I cried. I take that back… I sobbed, while reading the end of this book. Overall The Book Thief was so much more than another WWII historical fiction novel. I was truly taken by surprise by how much I cared about the characters by the end of the book. Markus Zusak is certainly a creative genius for conceptualizng and executing such a wonderful novel!
This book is Genius. Written from the perspective of Death, as a being, who walks with people, sees everything, and narrates the story. A truly unique take on WW2 as Death stalks Liesel, Papa, Mama, Max, and Rudy; one is a foster child who comes to love and be loved by new parents, one is a Jew in hiding and one is a best friend.
This book is moving in that it shows a side of the Germans not often seen in the depiction of WW2 stories; that they too struggled with the treatment of their fellow humans. That they too suffered great loss, heartache, and devastation.
The author is extremely descriptive, using colorful ways to explain ordinary events by painting vivid word pictures. Not an easy read as the author expects his reader to participate in the art of language, with all its nuances and trickery. Personally, I found that as enjoyable as the story.
I will admit this was the second time I picked up the book; the first time I was unsuccessful in finishing it. This time, I was sad that it was over. What changed? Perhaps my place in time.
I highly recommend this book, but read it with an open mind. Don’t expect it to flow over you like a gentle river; it is more like a class four whitewater ride. I loved it.
I thought you couldn’t make a voice impact with book formatting.
I was wrong.
I love Omni-pov. I like it no matter if omniscient voice threatens to come out like in The Handmaid’s Tale, or really comes out like in Nevernight, or just remains as an introduced narrator voice–the kind you saw in The Name Of The Wind.
In this book, The Book Thief, you will experience a unique voice. And the voice will speak to you in bold-centered formatting inside those pages.
The pages that you will find flowing whenever you read it aloud. The prose will melt in your mouth for a long, long time. Soon, you will realize the pages are running really fast. You will think you might be around page 30, but no, you’ll find yourself on page 50. You will realize the engaging voice has made you connect with the Book Thief.
It matters not what thief’s book holds. What matters is the memory the book connects to. That is her brother’s death.
It’s a good book.
And the book taught me how writing matters first, and the story later.
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Liesel being a rather unusual girl, inquisitive about books started reading at a very early age, thanks to her Papa. She drank the words, she felt the words, she saw the words, the words came alive with each breath she breathed.
Her obsession in time grew daringly, with the knowledge and sightings of the Germans who deliberately had regular bonfires to burn books that had nothing to do with their believe system. Here we discover, listen, and learn with interest how Liesel steals without being caught, plus leading a double life with having a Jew stashed in her families basement.
I listened to this as an audiobook from BorrowBox Audio, it is set in the 1930s, Germany, and classed as YA Historical Fiction
The narrator, Dennis Olsen, was extremely creepy, hypnotic and I felt I was watching some sort of horror film. The sound effects were used every now and again that really gave off a sense of like being in a cave where it was slightly echoing, foreboding.
The blurb it tells us its narrated by “death”… but I struggled with the concept of this, to me, it was just a creepy voice telling a story.
The whole of The Book Thief has you in a trance, with every word, letter, description, there is another world we go into, this book is extremely unusual, one of a kind. Since I listened to this as an audio, the only thing I didn’t like was the accordion music that was used every now and again, I found it was too cheesy, (and I cringed everytime it was used) although I can see why it was used.
Many characters I loved too, Rudy, even though he was a defiant little so in so!! Liesels mother, although at first I thought she was cold hearted, in the end she warmed to me and I had to chuckle at her demeanor. Max! .. Max, poor Max, in that basement for so long, thin, then fell dreadfully sick, the air raids where he peeped through the black out curtains and then … goodness knows where he drifted off to. Then Liesels so called father, he was a very interesting man.
So I dug out bits that stuck with me:
Papa teaching the toddler to read (in German of course) was extremely interesting using each letter with a picture.
I loved the scene of Liesel in her school classes. The nun who chose everyone but Liesel to recite in class and then she stands up for herself, unfortunately with disastrous results. The antics that these kids get up to and the dreaded “corridor”. I didn’t like this nun at all.
There were quite a few books mentioned in this story, but the three mentioned more than once was, The Gravedigger’s Handbook, The Shoulder Shrug, and The Whistler, all of which seem to have a life of their own and leaves you so curious, that like me you will be scrambling off to Google the titles.
Making snowmen in the basement and then Max getting sick and ending in Liesels bed.
Rudy running away and coming back again with Liesel, tired and their feet sore.
The word shakers that climbed trees.
“what the hell do we do with the plate?” … after eating all the biscuits.
Giving a tremendous 5 star review on this one, and will suit anyone interested in creepy stories, historical fiction lovers, especially the YA ones. I wanted “something different” and I certainly got that!… this was a pick of my own.
ok
Hard to read book for me.
This is an amazing book. Made me feel!
I loved this book. What a gifted writer!
One of my all time favorites….
Great story in an historical setting. I cares about the characters! They were wonderful and interesting. It held moments of humor amid the tragedy of war.
Amazing read
OMG!!!!!!
I’ve read this book when I was in grade 10 because I saw many of my classmates reading it at that time and I got interested in it.
All you need to know is that it takes place at World War II and the narrator is Death. Just have this in your mind and read it without knowing anything else. Trust me it would be more enjoyable.
What I loved most about this book is the writing style. It was crafted for beautifully. It is a book that I wished I wrote it. Also the choice of narration was so unique. Like really, Death? Amazing!!!!!!!
This has become my favorite book of all time and the book that got me into reading so it means so much to me and I hope it will mean a lot to you too.
Original and unique in perspective and narrative style. Loved it. Disturbing but great message of love and loyalty.
Lovely story, beautifully-written, unforgettable characters.