Book Review: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still. 

Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who 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.

The second of book I am reading from Molly Horan’s collection of the 15 Young-Adult Books Every Adult Should Read is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. 

There are very few times in my life where a historical event really affects me. History is taught so clinically that the events seem so factual, not human, and almost not relatable. The two times I have become emotionally involved in the past have been because I read a fictional book that used that setting or event as the background for the story. The first time this happened was when I read Lamb by Christopher Moore. The next was today, as I read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. 

There is so much to say about this book that I am having trouble putting it into words. Markus Zusak did such an incredible job describing what the life of an everyday German was like during the time of Hitler and WWII. I really had never even thought about the ordinary people. When you think of Germany in WWII you think about the Jews, Anne Frank, or the Nazis. History books just don’t talk about how life was, or that there were a lot of people in Germany that didn’t agree with the propaganda, but had no choice but to comply with the laws. 

The character development was also phenomenal. It blows my mind. And when bad things started to happen to the characters as a result of the poverty or air raids it just grips your heart and tears you to pieces. I think it affects me so much because on a logical level I know that events in the book happened in real life, maybe not exactly like that but there were real innocent people in bomb shelters, and losing family to the war or malnutrition. In my lifetime I will never experience that kind of reality, but through this book I lived it in my mind and in my heart. 

This is the type of book that as you are reading it, you want so badly for the ending to be happy. But I am glad it isn’t. This way it’s more relatable and true to history. I in fact had to double check that this was a Fictional book and was not based on someone (Liesel’s) life story. I did learn that the author took stories his parents told of Germany and integrated them into the story, which explains how realistic the book is. 

The other significant part of this book is the Narration. You would expect that the main character (Liesel) to be the Narrator as it is her story. But I think making Death the narrator and really humanizing him made the book better. He leaves little insights and tidbits that resonate with the reader. For he is reluctant and tired, at the same time he is respectful and gentile and invested in one little girl. For him to be so busy but take time to check in on one human means there is something special about her. 

I think this book is one of those that you read as a young adult and then again as an adult when you can read it without having to write a report on analyze it. This is a must read for both young adults and older adults. It is heart wrenching and thought provoking. 

5 Bards.

This review was submitted to A Midsummer Night’s Read by Missy