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Apr
23
The Book Lady and The Book Thief
2009 at 10am Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
I read this book for the Book Awards Challenge, and since I feel like I was basically the last person on the planet to read it, I’ll forego the formal review and just share a few thoughts.
First, a synopsis from the publisher:
It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .
Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel 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 before he is marched to Dachau.
This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.
What I Liked
Despite the fact that I’ve successfully avoided reading full reviews of this book for the last couple years, I knew quite a bit about it going in, and I was still pleasantly surprised. I loved that the Zusak chose to have Death narrate the story rather than using a generic third-person narrator. Because Death is not human, he can comment on the human condition from an outsider’s perspective. Those bits of insight were some of my favorite pieces of the story. I also loved that Death was able to provide a sort of meta-perspective on Liesel’s experiences. She might be too young to understand that words, the very things that are saving her life, are also the the things that give power to the Fuhrer, but Death gets it, and he’s not shy about discussing it.
I would have liked to see a bit more of the conversation about rhetoric and the use of language and propaganda in Nazi Germany….then again, that would have made this a heavier, more mature novel and would have quickly propelled it out of the YA category, so I understand why it isn’t there.
Zusak’s writing is vividly descriptive, and he brings his characters to life by revealing their strengths, weaknesses, quirks, and secret hopes. I didn’t feel that any of the characters, even those that existed primarily in the background, were flat or one-dimensional. I could picture their faces, hear their voices, and feel their struggles. Zusak’s great success in this book is in bringing a story about humanity and the resilience of the human spirit to one of the darkest moments in world history.
I also really enjoyed seeing how Liesel’s relationships with her adoptive parents and her best friend Rudy Steiner developed. She is a young girl, not quite ten years old, when the story begins, and as she finds herself in extraordinary circumstances, she grows into a 13-year-old young woman who learns how to think and behave ethically, even when it is not easy or accepted. This is a fantastic book for starting discussions about morality and ethical behavior with young people and adults alike.
And it is very, very emotionally affecting.
What I Didn’t Like
To put it bluntly, Death isn’t very subtle. As a narrator, I mean. Instead of foreshadowing or hinting at events to come, he flat out tells us what’s going to happen—who’s going to die, how it will occur, how many books Liesel will steal, etc.—and like Softdrink, I would have liked a bit more complexity. Now, I get it that this book is written for younger people, people who may not necessarily be familiar with the Holocaust and who, because they are younger, may also need their stories to be more straight-forward. Death’s narration is probably spot-on for the YA audience (though I wouldn’t really know, since I hardly ever read YA novels), but really, a little more of the element of surprise couldn’t hurt.
Because I’ve been hearing nothing but rave reviews of this book for the last couple years—even the New York Times said it had the potential to be “life changing”—I had very high expectations. I thought and hoped this would be an unputdownable pageturner, but I found that it lagged a bit in the middle. Not surprisingly, I usually felt the lagging when Death was filling in the details of events he had already told us were going to take place. A little extra editing could have gone a long way. This book doesn’t really need to be 550 pages.
So, what’s the verdict?
Overall, I really enjoyed The Book Thief. Is it the best book I’ve ever read? No. Did it change my life? No. But I can see how it has the capacity to make a huge impact on readers, especially younger readers who do not understand the full scope of the Holocaust. By putting several very human faces on an important and painful era in world history, Zusak transforms the Holocaust from an abstract concept into a horrible thing that people did to other people. But he also spotlights the ways in which individuals reached out, despite the threat of death, to help and save others, and he shows that one person who is willing to step out and make the right decision really can make a difference.
I am glad I finally read this book, and I know that I will recommend it to readers young and old who are looking for a new perspective on a story that has been told a thousand times. This is a beautifully and powerfully told story that I will not soon forget. And I imagine that if I had read it as a teenager, it would have opened my eyes and changed my point of view and made me fall even more in love with words. Now, I finally understand what all the hype was about, and I think this book deserves the recognition it has received.
Have you read The Book Thief? What did you think?
No related posts.
I suggested this one for my book club’s reading list and they all shot it down (like they did with The Road). However, they are all reading it on their own now (like they did with The Road) and have been raving about it.
You are not the last to read it. I knocked it off my list when my club was so against reading it but maybe I will add it back.
You are not the last person to read it. I haven’t read it yet myself. It is on my TBR list, but I keep waiting for it at the library. It has a long waiting list. Grrr… I don’t know what I will say when I review it for the same Book Awards Challenge that has not been said already, too!
I just finished this myself and loved it. I actually liked the lack of surprise, especially considering the age it’s written for. It gives readers a chance to prepare for certain scenes that might otherwise be difficult to cope with, or even off-putting.
I am probably the only person in the world who didn’t like this book. In fact, someone commented exactly that when I posted a short review on All Consuming. Ah well.
I really like the way you did this review. I’d still like to read this book – I think I’d enjoy it since I know not to expect to be blown away.
Well, you’re not the last person to read it…It’s still sitting on my shelves. I’ll come back for your thoughts when I finally get to it.
I did enjoy this read as well. I have read others that were more powerful about the holocaust and its impact, but this one because of the perspective really felt like a new approach. I think it was more artsy than some of the others, as most of the other ones I have read are memoirs. It was good, but I agree not completely earth shattering, still it was one of my faves from last year.
I haven’t read this either, no matter how long its’ been on my reading list. I didn’t read your post but will be back later after I’ve read it.
You aren’t the last to read this..I haven’t yet! My bookclub is reading it in May, though. I can’t wait!
I read this and enjoyed it very much, but like you said, it wasn’t life changing for me either.
But for kids I could see it having a much more powerful impact, especially if they haven’t learned much about the holocaust.
Great review, I loved how you broke it down in such a conversational way
I loved this book to pieces… so much so that I haven’t stopped thinking about it since!
I actually appreciated the way Death would flat-out tell us what was going ot happen, mostly because of the subject matter. I was so edgy while reading The Book Thief, wondering and waiting when the shoe was going to drop, that knowing what was going to happen and to whom was a major burden lifted from my shoulders. It helped me stay more in the moment and concentrate on what was really happening, rather than obsessing about when something terrible was going to happen (because it’s World War II — no way was this going to have a happy ending!). When I know to anticipate something sad/scary in a book, it really bothers me as a reader — I find it hard to relax into the story again. But I was placated with the information Death gave us… he softened the blow for me.
Great review.
I read this book a few years’ back and loved it. It’s still among my all-time favourite reads because of its originality and beautiful writing.
I’ve read all Zusak’s books and have heard him speak a couple of times (great guy). He happily admits he’ll often foreshadow a plot point, because for him, it’s not the outcome that’s important, it’s how it comes about – and how he can surprise the reader along the way.
And interestingly – unlike his other books – this was not intended as young adult fiction, even thought that’s what it’s often categorised as.
Glad you enjoyed it, even if it didn’t change your life.
I think perhaps you’re right in your suggestion that the non-subtleties of Death’s narration appeal more to younger readers. It worked for me. Still, there’s something, I find, refreshing to a book that doesn’t try to make everything a mystery. Rather, Death’s plain voice comes out and tells you what’s going to happen. And in the end, it doesn’t matter, because the way the reader gets there (Paula Weston, I’d never heard Zusak say that: very interesting) is what ends up as more important.
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I read about 10 pages and put it down, writing style just didn’t work for me, I knew if I kept reading I would just be annoyed the whole time and it would take me forever to read.
Hmmm…I still haven’t read this one. I know I really want to, just from the great reviews, but I am really afraid that it just won’t live up to the hype. I liked the way you did your “liked” and “didn’t like” breakdown. I’ll get around to it eventually!
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Terrific review! Thank you. I just finished it and now I’m scouring the internet for reviews. I really enjoyed the book and didn’t mind the heavy foreshadowing. Death tells a great story.
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I just loved this book, and I didn’t mind the foreshadowing but I can see your point. I hope it’s okay that I linked to your review on War Through the Generations.
–Anna
Of course it is! Thanks for the shout-out.
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I thought this book was boring and I didnt like it at all.