The Book Thief

This book is a fast great read. The authors writing style is very unique and keeps the story propelled forward. The stoy is told by a benevolent death figure and gives great insight into his subjects.

My book club read this book and it was a marvelous discussion. There are discussion questions in the back of the paperback edition.

I lived in Germany in the early 80s. I loved it there, loved the people, loved the country, even loved the order. The older people I knew there were, of course, anti-Hitler and assured me that all the Nazis had died in the war because they wanted to. Mostly it was a topic avoided. But this book actually talks about the simple heroes of such a time, the normal people who might otherwise be apolitical but were thrust into an environment where the political is essential and each action must be weighed with its impact on one's ability to survive. The story is stirring and moving, and one that you hate to see end. Though it is classified as a young adult book I have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone of any age.

I loved this book. I was fascinated with how this book was written from Deaths point of view. The Book Thief painted a vivid picture of life in Germany during the years of Hitler's rule and how it affected all German citizens including the rich, the poor, the patriots, and the Jews. This has become one of my new favorites.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It is very well written and written differently than most books. The book was recommended to me by a friend and will be a book that I keep in my bookshelf.

In The Book Thief, Zusak's narrator engages the young reader immediately with sensory images (color) and humor. The age of the main character, Liesel, may be the lower limit for the reader of the novel, a good thing to keep in mind for parents who want to read the book with their children. For the characters in the story, reading aloud to family and friends is important as they huddle in a neighbor's basement during air raids. There is no upper limit of reader age for the enjoyment of the book.

The story matures with the characters' development allowing Zusak to introduce images and ideas that are increasingly realistic and disturbing. Strong emotions develop in readers of all ages relating to universal themes of love, loss, devastation, and hope. As time passes, the books Liesel steals in the novel involve increasingly complex ideas about what morality means in an apparently chaotic world.

In many works of art the setting of world war plays a key function in character development. A common denominator is that wars provide an opportunity for the spirit of love to flourish. Although fearful events occur in the lives of Liesel and her friends and family, a life sustaining connection between them is realized and persists. The narrator is astonished by this vital interdependence but is not sentimentally impressed. His/Her preoccupation is the harvesting of souls that are pure and good regardless of the social roles played during people's lives.

The Book Thief provides a wonderful opportunity for families to read aloud and discuss the episodes of the book. Like Liesel, this type of communication can be a uniting experience of shared emotions and can lead to an understanding of the amazing continuity of humanity. Between the horror of the holocaust and the idealized life of a quiet village heroes choose to emerge. Readers of all ages can learn to understand the transcending power of the written word to describe and value our common fate.