The Book Thief

The Book Thief

(a book review)

The Book Thief has been a bestseller in the New York Times. Well! Everyone has their own views on different things, and they vary according to the situations and the ideas which hit different thoughts. Let’s talk about the writer first before going to the book; this book is written by Markus Zusak who is an Australian writer of German Origin. He is well-known due to The Book Thief and The Messenger. Markus Zusak also won Margaret A. Edwards Award.

The Book Thief is the historical story of a little girl, Liesel, who is taken to a new home because she could not be afforded to take care of. She adjusts her life with new foster parents, Rosa Huberman and Hans during the outbreak of world war two. The entire story is told by death; he is a character: you will come to know in the end; you will feel sorry for him and even respect him. Markus Zusak presents us with an unusual style of writing as a narrator of his novel who is dead.This new perspective of war gives us humanization of grim reaper shaped figure; we can associate it with death. It is a great book to read which gives the theme of love, respect, mortality. What I believe is: this novel has a great combination of drama and reality which makes us emotional to see how many hardships they have endured. Liesel started a journey toward her new home; during her journey, her younger brother dies, she steals his first book; gravedigger’s handbook. she suddenly got a new mother and father; just after, she arrived at her new home. Liesel and her father set the challenge for them to read that book which was her last link to his brother because they were haunted by the nightmares of her brother’s death.

It is completely horrible, emotional, terrific, and completely and perfectly combining real events. Well! After all, she meets with her neighborhood boy named: Rudy and they become friends; Rudy worships an American athlete, and he also forces Liesel constantly to kiss him.

Hans discovers that Liesel does not know how to read, he starts teaching her from the book she has stolen from the gravedigger. Although the situation is being worse all over Germany due to world war, there starts shortage of food and works. There is an event of a book-burning celebration on Hitler’s birthday; Liesel steals another book from that flame.

Liesel starts delivering laundry for Rosa; a mayor’s wife, Ilsa Hermann, is one of Rosa’s customers. One day, Ilsa Herman invites Rosa in his study where she finds a wall with amazing books. She seems shocked, and Herman allows her to read these books.