The Book Thief is written by Australian author Markus Zusak. Narrated by Death and is set in Nazi Germany, during a time where the narrator states he was very busy. It tells the story of a young girl, Liesel and her relationship with her foster parents, the residents of her neighborhood and also a young Jewish man who hides in her basement during the escalation of World War II.
Well with my five star rating you can already imagine what I'm going to say about this book! What made this book so extraordinary was the way in which it was written, Zusak making Death the narrator- strange you might think? Yes I agree but it is simply genius! Classically Death is visioned as a hooded figure floating around the Earth taking souls from bodies, a lonely figure haunted by the amount it possesses during this dark and distinct part of human history. Zusak gives Death another side to its personality, at times it is seen as a warm light- perhaps a sign of peace. Death is given a snippet of dry humour perhaps only Death could have brought to the story, at times Death gave me comfort when reading this book in a sense that it brought an end to the suffering. For me one of the worst heart warming elements in this book, was the development of Liesel's character. Even though she is a young girl with not much understanding of why a Jewish Man is hiding in her basement, she shows great heroism in her beliefs of right and wrong. The relationship between her and Max the Jewish man is something rather wonderful. My overall thoughts of this book, is that it takes a very dark part of history and gives it new light. Even though throughout the book Death gives the reader insight into how Liesel's future plans out, it doesn't give the reader clear details of how these events arrive. This book gave me hope that at such a time of history, there were moments of trust and hope for those who suffered. There were people who stood their ground and fought for what they believed to be right, no matter what the outcome of their own lives would be- and this is what gives me hope for today's society! The ending was what I expected it to be, despite swallowing a few tears this is in my opinion a must read book- truly powerful and addictive read.
