A beautifully written book. Unusual descriptions and sensitively told. ( )

Death tells the tale of Liesel, a girl who learns to read and loves the power of words, during World War II in Hitler's Germany. Death speaks directly to the reader, offering insight into Liesel's life through personal interactions and through Liesel's memoirs. Liesel's adoptive family open their home to Max, a Jewish fist fighter, who they hide in the basement during part of the war. Learning to read and eventually putting pen to paper herself, Liesel's story includes stealing books, loving her best friend Rudy, and dealing with the loss of both her families.
A creative, stylistic, and poignant tale. ( )

Pretty perfect. I am sad it is over. ( )

This book is AMAZING. No exaggeration. No joke. It should be read by everyone alongside The Diary of Anne Frank. But it is about more than just the Holocaust. The book is a beautiful, heart-breaking, emotional, lovely tale about a young girl growing up in Munich. How she gets there, what she goes through, the people she meets, loves, and loses along the way. It is a story about words. The power, the beauty, the poetry, the art, and at times, the corruption and the ugliness of words, language, books, writing, etc. Above all it is a story about life, about people, and about love. I dare you to read it without crying. Unless you are heartless and immovable, if you read this book, you'll be a better person for it. ( )

I tried with this one but just couldn't enjoy it. I know I'm in the minority on this.
I found the style made it fragmented and that the death character device interspersed in the story was annoying. ( )

The author went off on too many tangents. It was a diffucult story to read and dragging it out made it harder. Interesting characters, though. ( )

I was not looking forward to reading another WWII/ Holocaust book. The territory has been so heavily covered lately - [Everything is Illuminated], [The Dream of Scipio], [The History of Love] - and while these are good and sometimes great books, they are all so sad. But Zusek has done something quite different .

He creates the character of Death, neither evil nor simple, a personality that develops along with the story. Death's descriptive language is utterly compelling, beautiful and creative, and through the perspective of Death, Zusak takes away and yet recreates the suspense in the story.

Zusak shows the effects of war from the point of view of children in Germany, children who are experiencing the only life they know, with its play and learning and puzzlement. That is not to say it is innocent. The job of children, after all, is to figure out the world, however confusing it might be. And one of their jobs, and the main character's job most of all, is to master language, written and spoken, and to realize its power.

And the author shows how people are with each other in a small town, in a small section of a small town, how they divide and how they come together, and how pain is felt throughout the community, how some people risk themselves for their sense of honor, responsibility and love, and how all suffer the inevitable sorrows of war.

All this with beautiful, unusual, and extraordinarily simple language, so that the reading flows effortlessly and the images are fresh, giving you new ways of seeing the world around you.

The book is generally found in the Young Adult section in the US, which can only be explained by a marketer's idea of the focus on the children in the story. Don't imagine that, as an adult, you are past the age to read this book. You would only be cheating yourself. ( )

I really wanted to love this book. It has many elements that I look for in a story—interesting and well developed characters that I cared about, an historical setting during WWII, and it’s a book about books. In addition it is well written with an unusual narrator POV that is very clever. At first I was intrigued with this aspect of the novel and thought it would be helpful to help shield the reader from the tragedies that this story seemed destined to have. However, that very “cleverness” became annoying after a while and kept me from becoming immersed in the story or to feel a connection to the characters. Instead of a shield, for me this narrator became a barrier. I enjoy stories where I ascertain from my reading foreshadowing of things to come but the narrator announces the foreshadowing and I found myself actually getting a stomach ache from the tension this created. This book has a lot going for it. I know many readers really love it and I can see why. I’m disappointed it didn’t work for me. ( )

At the end of this novel, Death, who is the narrator, tells us “I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant.” This is an excellent, concise review of The Book Thief. It is about a terrible time and place in the world, Hitler’s Germany. Yet it is also about a young girl coming of age, the beauty of her relationships and the birth of her creativity. War, death, love, loss, abandonment and the power of words are the major themes woven through the story but strands of humor throughout prevent it from becoming grim.

In a small town outside of Munich, nine-year old Liesel is brought to a foster home because her mother is too ill to care for her children. Liesel’s brother dies in route. At the burial, she grabs a book hidden in the snow, a grave-digger’s handbook. It is a sad souvenir, but her first connection with the written word.

Liesel is taken in by grouchy Rosa and gentle Hans, a poor but noble man who tries to side-step the Nazi’s edicts. While his own son calls him a coward, there is no doubt that Hans shows great courage when he hides Max, a young Jew, in the basement. Zusak makes it clear how difficult it was for good people stand against the Nazi tide and how the Germans, too, suffered.

Zusak is a master of character development, created largely through the constantly evolving relationships Liesel has with her foster parents, Max, her close friend Rudy, and several neighbors. He artfully teaches us that people are not always who they seem to be. Even Death, who is at first sardonic, becomes a character who wins our empathy.

One of the key themes is the power of words. Hans and Liesel bond as he teaches her to read. Liesel steals books and reads for comfort, which she shares with others. On the other hand, Hitler’s barrage of words is his first weapon. How fitting that Zusak’s language is so powerful. The imagery is so rich, so unusual, that one has to stop to take in its full meaning.

[The Book Thief] is categorized as being for young adults, but in spite of the fact that the main character is an adolescent, this novel will certainly appeal to adult readers. I think it is suitable for older teens, particularly those studying World War II or the Holocaust. ( )

I loved this book! I listened to it on audio tape and the guy's voice was amazing. It's a book set in WWII, so it has the themes you would expect when thinking of WWII. It's told from the perspective of a German family, which is the other side of the coin from what I usually read in WWII based stories. You'll love the characters and the style of writing! ( )

great read ( )

I need to make myself a bumper sticker or a t-shirt so as to announce it to the world: I FINISHED THE BOOK THIEF. Finally.Five tries. First time, I hated the idea of Death as main character. Gave the book away. Second time, I got irritated with all the sad, miserable people. Turned the book back into the library. Third time, I tried listening to it on CDs. The narrator’s voice was too supercilious for me. Fourth time, I again bought a copy. Found the choice of books Liesel was stealing to be poor choices. Gave book away again. Every time I gave up, I ran across a rave review of the book. I was determined to read the entire book this time.All the things that bothered me every time the other times I tried the book…they still bothered me a bit. But the book’s powerful story outweighs its irritations. From this book: Death is a sympathetic character. Love wins. Even people who come across as cruel have a good side. Death is the great equalizer. Compassion can beat back wickedness. Words can save you. ( )

This was another one of those books where I wasn't sure what to expect. I am super glad I read it though! It was a thoroughly entertaining, amusing, and heartbreaking read.

Death is the narrator of this novel in the most literal sense. He follows the story of a young girl Liesel. Liesel is a young girl following a tough road. Her mother, brother and her flee to a small town near Munich. When they get there her brother dies, and her mother takes her to be put into a foster home. Liesel finds a decent home with her foster parents and eventually befriends a young boy named Rudy. This book follows both Liesel's journey and the journey of those around her as they struggle through trying to make a living in Nazi Germany.

This was a fabulous book. Death as a narrator is genius. He is portrayed as a guy who does his job, but doesn't relish in it. He does what needs to be done and survives by looking at things with a dark wit and sardonic nature. Much of the narrative is darkly humorous and witty coming from Death's perspective. Occasionally Death bemoans the fact that Nazi Germany kept him extremely busy and wore him to the bone. Death occasionally gets off topic and rambles about what death a certain side character met, or a time when one of the characters narrowly avoided him. The narrative of Death is not all humor though; he is touched by compassion for humanity and sometimes struggles with the trials he sees humans put through.

Liesel is another fascinating character in what is a vast array of fascinating characters. She starts stealing books before she can even read them. In the end it is her book stealing (and reading) skills that help put the town at ease in a time of trial; in the end it is her book reading that saves her. It was fascinating to watch how Liesel and her friends struggle with being proper Germans in a Nazi Germany. You always here a lot about the races the Nazi's oppressed, but you don't often read about how oppressed the normal German people were under Hilter's thumb. Rudy is, of course, very interesting in his own right as is, Max, the Jew Liesel's family helps hide.

I was really impressed by how much depth and history all of the characters, even minor ones, bring to the story. All of the characters seem so real and you feel for them all. You even feel sorry for Death. Yet at the same time most of the characters look at their lives with a type of dark humor that makes life bearable.

This is a long book and not a quick read; but every page was worth it. The story always has some urgency as things get worse and worse for the townspeople, the Jews, and Germany in general. Towards the end I found myself cringing as I got closer and closer to what I knew wasn't going to be a very happy ending. Keep in mind this is about Nazi Germany, not much ended happy in that time for anyone. At times this book will make you laugh, at times it makes you angry, and at times it will make you cry. It is wonderful for a book to be able to evoke all those emotions, and to be honest the book took a couple days to process after I read it.

I think everyone should read this book. I think everyone's kids should read this book. People need to remember and know what happened in Nazi Germany and this perspective, from a common German girl's viewpoint, is a great way to get a relatively unbiased viewpoint. I will definitely read anything else that Zusak writes; this book is a keeper. ( )

Could possibly be my favorite book ever.  ( )

Nine out of ten.Narrated by Death, this is a stunningly simple idea that works really well at looking at life in Nazi Germany through the eyes of a child and the timeless Grim Reaper who cannot begin to comprehend everything that is happening.The book is quite addictive and can be both moving and amusing. Excellent.  ( )

A very annoying writing style full of "gratuitous" descriptions but a very emotionally and morally fulfilling story. ( )

 http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1383441...

A gripping narrative of a girl growing up in Munich before and during the second world war; she steals books from the Mayor's house, her foster parents hide a Jew in the basement and everything is distorted by Nazism and then by the war. The story is told in the first person by Death, who gets plenty of clients in the course of the book. Lots of good description, though I wasn't entirely clear about the conclusion. ( )

set in 1939 Nazi Germany .The narrator is death telling the story of Liesel's life.While being taken by her mother to a foster home because her father was a communist she witnesses the death of her brother on a train .At his burial she steals her first book 'The gravedigger's handbook"-her first stolen book.So begins a love affair with books and words as she learns to read with difficulty with the help of her accordion-playing foster father.Soon she is stealing books from nazi book-burnings the mayor's wife's library or wherever with the help of her friend Rudi.Her foster family hides Max a jewish fist fighter and son of a man who once saves her foster father dander begins.A huge friendship with max begins and he writes some beautiful books for and about her in the basement.When he leaves in order to keep her family safe she is devastated and later finds he has been capyured and is in a concentration camp and sees him walking through her . later while she lies in the basement writing her own story as max did a bomb strikes and she is the only one from her street who survives.Death himself steals her book which she dumps and returns it to her later when sh dies an old lady in Australia. An unusually written book very sad and traumatic at times and at other times a little slow moving for me--was not sure how well death as the narrator worked but inventive and poetic ( )

WOW!

I put off reading this book because the jacket notes didn't quite get my attention enough ... I was curious but not intrigued. In one way I wish I hadn't delayed reading it ... on the other hand I am glad to save such a gem of a book and read it when I had time to be fully enthralled by it.

Death explains through telling us one little girl's early life story how hatred and evil can be melted by love ... love of people, love of words (books) and love of life itself. The background to the story is harrowing ... wartime Germany with some graphic details of how the war impacts on every side. Death is working overtime and the sheer numbers of gathered souls is still traumatic to read even after all the time that has elapsed.

Liesel starts off at a disadvantage ... seemingly abandoned by her mother (although this is in fact her mother trying to make her safe) she is deposited in a strange household. Her foster parents come to love her and she them. At school Liesel finds herself well behind her peers in reading, writing and language skills. Her new Papa starts t read and teach her to read to counteract the nightmares which wake her distraught every night.

But it takes a similarly displaced stranger to bring her fully to love of words, books an life. Max is a Jew hiding for his life and the family take him in as a returned favour from the previous war . Max and Liesel strike up a friendship when she realises that he has nightmares like her. Also in her life is the 'boy next door' Rudy ... they are partners in crime ... stealing food and later books. Liesel's third friend is the Mayor's wife who gives Liesel the gift of access to a large library of books.

If you haven't read this book yet ... get your hands on it today and sit down to read it. Don't let the slightly odd style (almost journalesque) put you off, just open it at the first page and enjoy.

Thank you Markus Zusak. ( )

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak was a wonderfully pleasant surprise for me because it was not what I expected at all. This is the story of a young girl growing up in Germany under Hitler’s reign but the story is actually narrated by “Death”. I really thought the personification of Death was going to be morbid and dark, but Zusak gives Death a deeply moving, compassionate and humane voice which is captivating. The characters are beautifully developed and the story will stay with you forever. I definitely recommend this book. ( )

Synopsis:Liesel, is the book thief. Her first theft was The Grave Digger’s Handbook, which she stole from her brother’s graveside. After this theft, Liesel is taken to her foster family’s home on Himmel street. During the course of the book Liesel learns to read with her foster father’s help, makes friends with Rudi (the boy who perpetually wants a kiss), and begins to grow up in Nazi Germany. One day Liesel’s world is changed when her foster Father decides to hide a Jew named Max in her basement. During the course of his concealment Max and Liesel share their grief and inexplicable rage/sorrow forging a bond of words and friendship that would outlast all the bombs and beatings that Nazi Germany would throw at them. The longer Liesel goes without being able to articulate her grief/confusion and her secret the more she steals words- first by rescuing a book from a Nazi book burning, and then by breaking into the mayor’s wife’s library. These words sustain her through the war.Review:I was entranced by this novel from the very first page. The use of Death as a narrator was wonderfully creative and offered a refreshing point of view not typically seen in young adult books. Overall a good read for readers of all ages. ( )

Excellent read. Narrated by Death. Set in Germany in World War II. Favorite character was the foul-mouthed foster mother, Rosa Hubermann. The book thief is Liesel Meminger who encounters great evil and great good as she discovers the power of words to harm and heal. Death is a hoot as the narrator. ( )

"Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care, for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or evil." Those are the words of the Buddha, and the prevailing theme in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It is a historical fiction book that looks at World War II from a different point-of-view - Death's. The protagonist, a young Liesel Meminger, loses her mom and brother and is taken in by the Hubermann's. As kind Hans and stern Rosa raise Liesel, she learns the importance of family and love, and the consequence of war and abuse of power. She's a member of the silent minority opposition to the Fuhrer and the National Socialist party. Liesel finds out early on that she must quell any objection she has. Markus Zusak is also the author of I am the Messenger. I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars because it had everything. It made me think and feel a lot. Some parts made me feel warm and fuzzy, while others were so desperately sad I wanted to throw the book across the room. - Jade ( )

The Book Thief, which is narrated by Death, is the story of Liesel as she lives goes to live with her foster family just prior to and during World War II. The story centers around Liesel learning to read, making friends, growing up, and dealing with the effect World War II has on her foster family in friends. She is a girl who lives through nothing but tragedy but still has an open heart and clear head on her shoulders, well, at least most of the time.

After hearing so much about The Book Thief over the past year I decided I could not put off reading it any longer. I was completely blown away by this exquisite novel. I went in expecting something very YA, but still enjoyable and was surprised by how mature everything was. Death as the narrator gives insight into characters and situations that would be impossible to disclose otherwise, as well as keeping the overall mood of the book somber as he is always reminding the reader of the impending doom that Liesel's family and friend will face.

I think every book lover can relate to Liesel, not in a suffering in Nazi Germany way, but in a word transporting way. Her books are the most important things she owns, they are gifts from family, made by friends and stolen from fires and private library's. ( )

How do I describe this book? I am nowhere near as good at descriptions and word play as Zusak. The imagery is amazing. The personification of Death the best I've read. I mean this book is stunning. I could not put it down. You can feel and see what his characters feel and see. And thats just the characters. The story is very well written. It reminds me of Tom Sawyer meets Anne Frank with a dash of On a Pale Horse.

http://inthemindofdan.blogspot.com/20... ( )