The Book Thief

The Book Thief

Reviewed By: Avery W.
By:Markus Zusak
Rating: It was amazing!

Before I do anything else, though, I have to say this: The Book Thief is now one of my favorite books ever. Yes, it's up there with The Lord of the Rings, the Harry Potter series, and Ender's Game. I like those about as much as it is possible to like a book, at least without being creepily obsessed. I loved this book so much that my standards for other books have gone way up. It will be really hard from now on for another book to affect me the way this one did. An overview: The narrator is Death, and the story follows a young German girl named Liesel as she and her foster family work through the trials of life during World War II. Liesel's stand-in father is far from being a model German citizen, which causes a fair amount of suspicion. That's when a Jewish man shows up at their home seeking refuge. Liesel's family hides him in their basement, and soon every day becomes a little war of their own. Liesel does, as the title would suggest, steal books. That is something that will come in very handy later on. (Ooh, dramatic foreshadowing...) Now, why I liked the book: It was really beautiful, even when things happened that couldn't have been beautiful if The Book Thief had been written in a different way. The voice of the narrator is a purely unique one, and I have never read something that was written so beautifully without it turning into meaningless prose. I remember things I read in The Book Thief every day, like all the different colors of the sky, and a lot of other small things. Oh, yes, I have to add a note about the narrator. Yes, the book is written like Death is telling it. No, a book narrated by Death is not going to read how you are probably imagining it will. At least, not when that book is The Book Thief. Death's being the narrator is a big part of why the story technically worked so well. Also, the wording is incredibly creative. Death is constantly placing words where you wouldn't have previously thought they would fit in that innocent-yet-not-innocent way, if that makes any sense. The result is truly lovely. After all this praise, I must also include this disclaimer: The Book Thief is about World War II, and certain parts of the story are kind of weighty, so I definitely wouldn't advise handing it to your nine-year-old little sister or something. This book is obviously aimed at more mature audiences. This is not what you're looking for if you currently want a lighthearted book. But then again, only reading lighthearted books would be just like only eating ice cream at every meal and nothing else. If you're only ever going to read one serious book, The Book Thief should definitely be the one. (I really hope this disclaimer didn't discourage anyone from reading The Book Thief. It is a truly beautiful book.)

I would recommend this to: Everybody should read this at some time or another.