The Book Thief

4.25 The unique style of the book's narrator (Death, who clearly has a somewhat Anglo-Saxon relationship to the German language) sets it apart from other wartime stories of ordinary people. It works very well 98% of the time and the few examples where the German eluded the author don't detract much from the charm. Though the book sometimes veers into clichés it manages to keep clear most of the time. The people depicted are mostly decent, though they mostly still let the Holocaust happen without getting too uncomfortable about it.

The one thing that brings the book down from a perfect read is that the promised book-thievery is quite tame in the end and none of the stolen books, except for the first (a gravedigger's handbook) manage to stick in the reader's mind. The lead-up to the inevitable end, which Death spoils repeatedly from the beginning also falls considerably in the last third of the book. What's neat about the repeated showing of the end is that you first have no connection to it and slowly build that up until you're crying at the end. The catharsis is good, the reading enjoyably unique and the small annoyances can't take away from the fact that this is very good book.

What an unusual book:
- It tells the story of a German family in World War II (which at one point houses a Jew in their basement). This is unusual because the majority of fiction I encountered on WWII so far focused on the Jewish experience.
- Its narrative is very unconventional. It is narrated by Death himself (or as I as a Sandman-fan like to think, herself).
- The narrative is not exactly chronological.
- It has A LOT of chapters, some of which are incredibly short.
- It uses idiosyncratic language and makes heavy use of odd metaphors.
- It uses interesting stylistic methods.
- It's a book about Germany written by an Australian author in English with Bavarian embellishments.

So what did I like about the book?
- It is an incredibly easy read. A book of over 500 pages seemed a bit daunting, especially in the middle of the semester. But I soon discovered that its lightweight writing style captivated my attention easily, and I kept on reading. It's doesn't happen very often that I read such a big book in such a short amount of time.
- Despite its occasional naivete, it can be emotionally touching. The story reminded me of some of the things my ancestors experienced in the war.

...and what I didn't like:
- The aforementioned naivete seems a bit weird at times for me as a German. Early on, Nazis aren't explicitly attributed as evil immediately. That just doesn't feel right as a German, because Nazis must always be evil, otherwise we feel guilty. Throughout the book, however, it becomes quite obvious that they are very evil (duh). I do realize that we're meant to see Nazi Germany through the eyes of the Germans at the time, which is a very complicated matter.
- The book has some passages which are mildly uninteresting and where nothing of importance to the plot seems to happen.
- The main characters don't seem particularly intelligent. Learning to read can't be that hard, especially for someone who eventually reads so much.
- The ending was a bit anti-climatic. And the whole romantic aspect of it was totally unnecessary, the book could have done without it.

In summary, I think it's a book very well worth reading, as it captures the atmosphere of everyday life in Germany in the early 1940s nicely (or rather, gruesomely).

Wow, a beautiful book. I can see how this one would invoke a either love or hate reaction. It was pretensions, it told you everything that was going to happen before it happened, it had an intricate complex structure, it was narrated by Death (similar to but slightly more poetic and haunted than Death from the Discworld novels), and so on. But wow, it worked for me.

There have been millions of books about life in the Battle of Britain, so it was nice to have something set in the same circumstances but in Munich. The Germans may have been lead by a horrible person with a powerful subset of the population pushing along the culture and policies of aggression and hatred, but in the midst of that there is a general population and good and kind-hearted people who are caught in that. Hiding a Jew in your basement is a serious proposition, in a place where any sign of sympathy towards Jewish people could leave you in a very dangerous position.

There were many beautiful touches, such as the hand painted book painted over the pages of Mein Kampf. After reading this, I'm surprised it is a young adult book. I can see how there are many elements that lend itself to that audience, a young protagonist, lots of explanations of complex words, a complex narrative structure which helps lead you through complex subject matter in a gentle way, but even though it remains challenging for adult readers.

I'm still mulling over exactly how I feel about this book. It's very, very rare for a book to ever make progress from my "partially read" shelf to my "read" shelf. I'm still a little shocked that I actually read this book. I meant to just make another college try at reading it, so that I could reshelve it without guilt. Instead, I found myself 50 pages in, than 100, than 300.

I think part of the reason that I hadn't gotten very far in this book before is that I picked it up knowing nearly nothing about it. Being a big fan of [b:How to Buy a Love of Reading|5975766|How to Buy a Love of Reading|Tanya Egan Gibson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1267911725s/5975766.jpg|6149015] and [b:Special Topics in Calamity Physics|3483|Special Topics in Calamity Physics|Marisha Pessl|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1309200115s/3483.jpg|910619], I anticipated it to be another meta-book. I was extremely disappointed to open it and realize that it was a holocaust book.

You see, I spent much of my childhood haunted by the specter of the holocaust. My maternal grandparents are concentration camp survivors, and it felt like it was the only thing that my grandparents ever talked about. Every day in Hebrew school and day camp and overnight camp seemed to be Holocaust day. I think every fiction book my mother has ever read, and certainly every book she has sent to me unsolicited has been about the Holocaust. I think I've read nearly every Holocaust book every written, and the only one to date that I've liked has been [b:A Thread of Grace|16047|A Thread of Grace|Mary Doria Russell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166697257s/16047.jpg|882031] To say I am burned out on the Holocaust is a major understatement. And, more importantly, I was extremely skeptical that there is anything new to say about the Holocaust that hasn't been said already.

But once I actually got into The Book Thief, it was gripping. Liesel was so vulnerable in the beginning, Hans was so warm and, I figured, at least it's about communists, not Jews. And then I got into Hans teaching Liesel to read and the beauty of those stark, midnight scenes, illuminated only by paternal love and the desire to read was so beautiful written, and the choice of the Gravedigger's Handbook both poignant and hilarious.

Ultimately, what kept me reading was the characters. There's not a single character in the book who is forgetful. And far from being caricatures, all of the characters are well-rounding, with flaws and virtues and react appropriately to situations and change. Perhaps my favorites are the damaged, uncertain mayor's wife and the coarse, prickly, but loving Rosa.

The imagery of words is heavy-handed, and often it feels like Zusak is screaming "I'm using imagery here! Look at me!" That being said, the animation of words as a concept is fascinating, and a powerful thread linking the book together. Words fly out of people's mouths, fall heavily and a thousand other movements.

Much has been written about death as a narrator, but to me, it felt like a minor part of the novel. It certainly was not overdone: death barely made an appearance in the first 300 pages. By the time he did, it added a nice foreshadowing and helped contextualize the activity within a very small community within the broader setting of world war II.

"I am haunted by humans" ....Death confesses

Just a few words, to tell you about this superb book, “The book thief”. It is the story of a girl in a small town in Germany during the WWII. Death himself narrates this creative and unusual story.

I try to find the most appropriate words to describe this book. There are moments that it is funny, else it is sad and painful. Sometimes, I found it hard to go on. I had to stop reading in order to absorb all this pain, the anger, the hate, the despair.

It is also a book about love and friendship. Mostly it is a book about words and their power. Their power over people.

The author understands very well this power; he likes to play with the words and the language. The use of language, especially in the short story of Max Vandenburg, “The Word Shaker” is brilliant. Authentic, honest, original, like a child's narrative.

I finished "the book thief" this morning and my heart is still sore.