Epub
Icelandic language
Published July 30, 2014 by JPV.
Bókaþjófurinn eftir Markus Zusak hefur vart vikið af metsölulistum víða um heim frá því hún kom fyrst út árið 2005 enda nær hún til allra aldurshópa. Bókin hlaut verðlaun starfsfólks bókaverslanna sem besta þýðing ársins. Sagan gerist í Þýskalandi nasismans þar sem dauðinn er sífellt nálægur – og ferðast víða. Þrisvar sér hann bókaþjófinn, hana Lísellu litlu, níu ára gamla stúlku sem býr hjá fósturforeldrum sínum í Himmelstræti eftir að móðir hennar er send í fangabúðir. Lísella hefur dálæti á bókum en til að geta eignast þær verður hún að stela þeim – og í bókunum uppgötvar hún mátt orðanna og tungumálsins og um leið mátt illskunnar sem oft er tjáð í orðum. Þetta er sagan um hana og fólkið í götunni hennar sem bíður örlaga sinna þegar sprengjuregnið hefst.
I am going to read this book and I have already got a task from my teacher to write a literary analysis. I am going to do a thorough search and use essay samples from essay-writings.com/
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 …
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 …
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).
Yet another YA book, that is reportedly hugely popular among the teenagers. But this one works well for adults too. We found the use of Death as a narrator intriguing and effective. He was the ultimate outsider, but intimately privy to the best, and worst, of humanity. Horribly overworked and yet striving to be tender with his most innocent charges. The characters were well-drawn, and surprisingly sympathetic and we found ourselves caring about them.
While I enjoyed the narrative and the writing style of this book. I had too many issues with this book to really like it, I would usually write a review but that turned into a blog entry which you can read here
I'm normally bound to genres or working my way through classics, though this was a book for a local Meetup reading group that I never got around to joining.
It's one of the most amazing books I've ever read and I'd probably go as far as saying it's now my favourite book. Completely floored me, and I recommend it to everybody.
If you're a genre reader and wonder if there's something more out there than these templated novels and series that many of us love, then give this book a try. I doubt you'll regret it.
Teil 1 habe ich gelesen, aber mich fesselt der Roman einfach nicht. Vielleicht lese ich später (in ein paar Jahren..) das Buch weiter - jetzt breche ich es erstmal ab.
"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 …
"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.
