The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak was the best-selling debut literary novel of the year 2007, selling over 400,000 copies. The author is a prize-winning writer of children's books, and this, his first novel for adults, proved to be a triumphant success. The book is extraordinary on many levels: moving, yet restrained, angry yet balanced -- and written with the kind of elegance found all too rarely in fiction these days. The book's narrator is nothing less than Death itself, regaling us with a remarkable tale of book burnings, treachery and theft. The book never forgets the primary purpose of compelling the reader's attention, yet which nevertheless is able to impart a cogent message about the importance of words, particularly in those societies which regard the word as dangerous (the book is set during the Nazi regime, but this message is all too relevant in many places in the world today).

Nine-year-old Liesel lives with her foster family on Himmel Street during the dark days of the Third Reich. Her Communist parents have been transported to a concentration camp, and during the funeral for her brother, she manages to steal a macabre book: it is, in fact, a gravediggers’ instruction manual. This is the first of many books which will pass through her hands as the carnage of the Second World War begins to hungrily claim lives. Both Liesel and her fellow inhabitants of Himmel Street will find themselves changed by both words on the printed page and the horrendous events happening around them.

Despite its grim narrator, The Book Thief is, in fact, a life-affirming book, celebrating the power of words and their ability to provide sustenance to the soul. Interestingly, the Second World War setting of the novel does not limit its relevance: in the 20th century, totalitarian censorship throughout the world is as keen as ever at suppressing books (notably in countries where the suppression of human beings is also par for the course) and that other assault on words represented by the increasing dumbing-down of Western society as cheap celebrity replaces the appeal of books for many people, ensures that the message of Marcus Zusak’s book could not be more timely. It is, in fact, required reading -- or should be in any civilised country. --Barry Forshaw

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Disappointing waste of a story - Rated
Disappointing; I expected more but, for me, The Book Thief failed to deliver any lasting impact.

The story covers a few formative years in the life of Liesel, a young, orphaned, German girl growing into her early teens through the Second World War in a town near Munich and not far from Dachau. It chronicles a series of incidents that depict growing relationships in extraordinary circumstances, as the war takes its toll on the everyday life of a provincial town and its citizens.

Liesel's scrapes with Rudy, the young schoolboy classmate next door, for example, and her slow-to-emerge love for her working-class foster family and their secret Jewish hideaway show love and true friendship. There are some wonderfully evocative passages, particularly between Liesel and Rudy, that capture the essence of two young children living every dangerous moment together, prepared to fight to defend each other against older bullies and Hitler youth, and walking home together at the end of every day. Liesel is the eponymous thief, fuelling her yearning to read by acquiring a handful of books by various means.

Perhaps life in such circumstances has to be lived on the surface if you want to survive, it is, after all, at those times when deeper emotions are allowed by the characters to take them over that the greatest danger emerges.

This bold book presents its story in brave fashion, with theatrical asides breaking into the staccato chapters to maintain the high tempo. However, this simple series of events through time, narrated by Death as a character with a strangely human presence, fails to make any real point.

Little is made of the opportunity to explore the tensions felt by ordinary folk as anti-Semitism takes hold of a population. Is Liesel's Papa the only person in Germany to have doubts about a policy of such persecution? Or is it only when it is applied to his personal Jew, the one he has accepted responsibility for, that such horrors become too much to bear? And what of using the more susceptible minds against those who might ask awkward questions, employing the younger generation to pressurize and, in extremis, inform upon their parents, an approach repeated in the ghetto where Jew was forced to inform upon Jew. Such events are ignored in favour of a simpler, sentimental tale which lacks any real punch.

It suffers badly as a result, is a hundred and fifty pages too long and, ultimately, boring.

A hugely disappointing read. - Rated
During the summer I saw so many people with this novel and became interested in reading it for myself. A quick look at the back and I thought it sounded like an innovative take on a period of history which has understandably been the subject of so many well-told stories. I found the idea of death narrating particularly intriguing and so I settled down with my copy full of expectation. How disappointed I was!

I very quickly became annoyed with the voice of the narrator. It seemed stilted to me and it sapped my interest in the story. As other reviewers have pointed out this story could have given us a genuine insight into Nazi Germany from the point of view of an ordinary citizen, an ordinary family. Unfortunately I found it impossible to build up any interest in the characters as the author provides us with SO much unnecessary detail. I understand the wish to build up our understanding of the characters but this could have been done with much less detail about the chosen key events.

I found that at about 550 pages this book is simply too long and could (and should) have been greatly reduced. I hate to give up on a book and so I soldiered on with this one....finally finishing after about two months because I took a number of breaks. Each time I picked it up again I found that I had forgotten what had happened (in truth usually not very much) in the previous chapters. Never a good sign. I did find the ending well-written and slightly moving but that's not really enough of a reward after such a long, difficult slog.

too patronising and pretentious - Rated
I have never written a review of a book before and never felt the need to do so until I had read this book. It was so hyped, and both the front and back inside cover are packed full of positive quotes from newspapers and magazines. At some point I was wondering whether I was missing something because after about 70 pages I got so annoyed that I threw the book down. I found the writing style very pretentious, and the excessive use of imagery was in most cases neither clever nor did it even make sense. Like other reviewers said, the author was trying too hard to be clever, not just with the language, but also with the characters and the story, so that it completely backfired in my opinion.

It also was not clear what this book was really about. Was it about life in Nazi Germany and the holocaust (many very good books have been written about this non-exhaustive subject before, and this was not one of them), was it about the power of words or did the author just want to create a framework for the memories of some of his family members (which is not a bad thing in itself, don't get me wrong)? I don't think that trying to make it all three really works.

I also found the book quite patronising at times, and some of the critical comments on the behaviour of 'the Germans' during the time of Nazi rule are easy remarks to make from modern-day Australia, and placing them in the mouth of Death does not change that fact. This brings me to the next point: that the novel is narrated by Death. It sounds great, but did not work in this case. Some of Death's little comments were just silly. For example, his complaining about the fact that he is often depicted with a scythe and a black robe, when 'in reality' he does not own a scythe and only wears a black cloak when it is cold. This contrast of bits of humour and silliness with a rather brutal and dark story works for 'Life is beautiful', but not for this book.

I found it difficult to decide whether to give this book two or three stars. In the end, I gave it three because there were moments when I enjoyed reading it. I also felt that the fact that I grew up in Germany probably does not allow me to be as objective as I would like to be. Yet, the fact remains that this book is not a literary masterpiece, but an interesting story at most.

Simply brilliant - Rated
This is the best book I have read for a very long time. There is a plot that keeps you hanging on, characters you really believe in and engage with; and the writing itself is astonishingly original and accomplished. Liesel, who Death, the narrator, calls "The Book Thief," lives through horrific experiences during the second world war. We desperately want Liesel and her friends and family to survive. I felt as if every single word has been lovingly chosen and placed, without a single cliché or trite phrase. I loved: "pimples were gathered in peer groups on his face" and "a yellow mist, which stroked the roof tops as if they were pets". There are some authors whose talent ensures all their books are all worth reading, and I feel Markus Zusak will be one of those.

Wonderful - Rated
I just can't compete with the other praise lavished on this book. It is simply spellbinding. It has gone right up there for me alongside To Kill a Mockingbird. Please read it.