The Book Thief - By Markus Zusak (4)

Winner of the 2007 BookBrowse Ruby Award.

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.

I have heard so much about this book over the past little while and also because it is a writer from my native land of Australia I thought I would pick it up ...

It is told from the perspective of Death ... Yes Death is the Narrator of the book and he is both charming and Funny in parts ...

Mostly it is a story of a young girl called Liesel who has lost both her parents and brother and finds herself with a new foster Family in a small town in Germany in the middle of the war ... And how she survives through the hardship with the help of books ...

I have to say I really enjoyed this read although at the start it was abit confusing as who was actually talking but once you get used to how the author writes it flows beautifully ... Although this book was geared around young adults I would recommend adults to read it to ... He talks about the war and the hatred that goes along with it ...

There was a very touching moment where death is telling the readers about his many trips to many concentration camps and he lifted the people away ... He say "I took them all away, and if ever there was a time I needed distraction, this was it. In complete desolation, I look at the world above. I watched the sky as it turned from silver to grey to the colour of rain. Even the clouds tried to look the other way"

I feel it is important for our youth of today to understand war and history so that we may learn from it but most importantly that we never forget that we are never faced with the same atrocities again ....



I enjoyed this book although it not one of my favourite reads but would recommend it ....

I Rate this book 4****