by Markus Zusak
One of the most beautiful, grim, intriguing, lovable books that I have ever read.
And that, as many of you know, is saying a lot.
Yeah, this book pretty much rocks. It's told in an...original way. And the narrator is now one of my all-time favorite book characters.
The Book Thief takes place (refreshingly, I thought) in Nazi Germany. I've heard a lot of the Allies' side of WWII. I enjoy historical fiction and found it interesting to learn about the life of ordinary German people at this point in history.
One of the most beautiful, grim, intriguing, lovable books that I have ever read.
And that, as many of you know, is saying a lot.
Yeah, this book pretty much rocks. It's told in an...original way. And the narrator is now one of my all-time favorite book characters.
The Book Thief takes place (refreshingly, I thought) in Nazi Germany. I've heard a lot of the Allies' side of WWII. I enjoy historical fiction and found it interesting to learn about the life of ordinary German people at this point in history.
As the story opens, nine-year-old Liesel Meminger is traveling by train with her mother and little brother to Munich, where the siblings will live with a foster family. Liesel's brother never makes it. When the mother and daughter arrives in Munich several days later, Werner is dead from illness and buried in a nameless town's cemetery and Liesel carries a stolen book in her snow-bitten hands.
That book is the first of several, and it is through the books that Liesel's story is told.
Still reeling from grief and plagued by nightmares, Liesel settles into life in her new home on Himmel Street in the poor part of town. Life with the Hubermanns has few luxuries, but she comes to love her kind foster father and even her hard-edged new mother. She befriends the irrepressible Rudy Steiner (who is widely acknowledged by all to be insane), learns to devour books with a passion, and dutifully attends all her Hitler Youth meetings. However, war and Nazi ideals overshadow the lives of all German citizens, and Liesel's happy enough lifestyle is threatened when a promise made years ago brings a Jewish refugee to hide in her home.
One of my favorite things about this book is the excellent job Zuzak does developing the characters into real people with faults, virtues, dreams, and adventures. It's a great, complex plotline and a realistic historical setting where childish escapades can mean playing with life and death.
for: Adults and teens
Content rating: 3/5 There's plenty of death, violence, swearing, and crime. I'll add that I am now more familiar with German profanity than I ever thought I'd be.
My enjoyment: 5/5
Read. It.
That book is the first of several, and it is through the books that Liesel's story is told.
Still reeling from grief and plagued by nightmares, Liesel settles into life in her new home on Himmel Street in the poor part of town. Life with the Hubermanns has few luxuries, but she comes to love her kind foster father and even her hard-edged new mother. She befriends the irrepressible Rudy Steiner (who is widely acknowledged by all to be insane), learns to devour books with a passion, and dutifully attends all her Hitler Youth meetings. However, war and Nazi ideals overshadow the lives of all German citizens, and Liesel's happy enough lifestyle is threatened when a promise made years ago brings a Jewish refugee to hide in her home.
One of my favorite things about this book is the excellent job Zuzak does developing the characters into real people with faults, virtues, dreams, and adventures. It's a great, complex plotline and a realistic historical setting where childish escapades can mean playing with life and death.
for: Adults and teens
Content rating: 3/5 There's plenty of death, violence, swearing, and crime. I'll add that I am now more familiar with German profanity than I ever thought I'd be.
My enjoyment: 5/5
Read. It.
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