The Book Thief

Author: Markus Zusak

Set in Germany during World War II, this could be another book amongst millions that explore the war period with a dramatic story on top. Huge mistake. The Book Thief is simply a masterpiece and should be in the bookshelves of every person in the world. So what makes it so special?

To start with, the narrator of the book is Death, but believe it or not, he is not keen of war as everyone seems to think. It’s very interesting to see Death defining himself and his job, but most of all, him opining about human actions, morals and thoughts – he is sarcastic, smart and funny.

His first encounter with the main character, Liesel Meminger, a 9 year old german girl, happens when she and her younger brother are being taken by their mother to a foster family and her little brother dies. Stopping for the burial, Liesel finds a book called “The Gravedigger’s Handbook” lost in the snow – this is the first book she “steals”.

After that, Death will continue telling us Liesel’s life with her foster parents, big-hearted Hans Hubermann (Papa) and strict Rosa Hubermann, as well as the neighborhood and Max Vandenburg, a Jew they hide in the basement and with whom Liesel develops a great fondness and shares the passion for words. I will not write more than that because I don’t want to spoil the whole story – you’d better read and discover it for yourself, and I’m sure you won’t regret it.

One other thing that is interesting is having the point of view of common germans during the war: those who didn’t approve Hitler’s actions and didn’t want to take part on it, and kids, who tried to make the best of their days during those tough and strange times.

Beautifully and amazingly well-written, Markus Zusak deserves all the glory for this book.

A must read, definitely.

Buy The Book Thief from: The Book Depository or Amazon.