Jonathan Arnold reviewed The Book Thief Publisher by Markus Zusak
A coming-of-age Holocaust book I actually love
5 stars
Zusak got me to enjoy reading about two things that normally leave me cold - coming-of-age stories and the Holocaust. For the former, I'm just not usually interested in reading about 12-year-old girls figuring out life. For the latter, I think the horrific, undeniably evil acts performed during the Holocaust can make it too easy to manipulate the reader's emotions.
But Zusak pulls it off, mostly through some amazing writing. I am not sure why this is categorized as a "Young Adult" novel, as it is full of big themes and awful, wonderful, acts. And every page had its share of lyrical passages that were just too numerous for me to keep writing down.
The Book Thief is about Liesel Meminger, a foster child living in a suburb of Munich during World War 2. Death is very busy but finds time to tell the story (yes, it is written from …
Zusak got me to enjoy reading about two things that normally leave me cold - coming-of-age stories and the Holocaust. For the former, I'm just not usually interested in reading about 12-year-old girls figuring out life. For the latter, I think the horrific, undeniably evil acts performed during the Holocaust can make it too easy to manipulate the reader's emotions.
But Zusak pulls it off, mostly through some amazing writing. I am not sure why this is categorized as a "Young Adult" novel, as it is full of big themes and awful, wonderful, acts. And every page had its share of lyrical passages that were just too numerous for me to keep writing down.
The Book Thief is about Liesel Meminger, a foster child living in a suburb of Munich during World War 2. Death is very busy but finds time to tell the story (yes, it is written from Death's point of view!) of Liesel, who manages to acquire reading material in this time of book burnings and mass hysteria. When a Jewish man comes to hide in their cellar, she shares her reading with him, as well as fellow bomb shelter people, while she tries to get through her tween years, stealing apples, avoiding Rudy Steiner's advances, and trying to stay out of trouble.
I know it doesn't sound very exciting, but I find it impossible to do the book, and the writing, justice. It took a bit to get into it, trying to figure out the writing style and the third-person perspective from Death. And there are some wild typographical exercises too. But it all rolls along in breathtaking fashion. An amazing read and one I highly recommend.
