Book Review: The Book Thief

Title The Book Thief

Author Mark Zusak

Release Date March 14, 2006

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 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.

Review

The Book Thief has been on my to-read shelf for over a year. I finally made the decision to read the book because I'd like to see the movie (which I'll be doing as soon as I'm finished with this review).

This was a strange book to read. The story is narrated by Death. While this isn't strange, the frequent interjections that Death makes into the story are strange. They are also rather annoying. These strange interjections remove you from the story. I felt like they took away from the story rather than added to it. The story would have felt smoother and would have been, likely, more enjoyable without those interruptions. Aside from the strange narration, I found the random German words (and their immediate English translation) to be... well, useless. Yes, the story takes place in Germany and that's what they speak, but what do they add to to the story? Nothing. I'm probably nitpicking, but whatever.

After all that is said, I loved this book. It was a slow reading book, but that was okay. It made it easier to savor. The Book Thief is truly a book to savor. Yes, it broke my heart and made me cry. I wouldn't have it any other way. It was a wonderful book and I'm truly so glad I decided to read it. I can only hope the movie is half as good.

Rating

5 out of 5 stars