Review of: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
It seems sometimes like the market for young adult literature is written down to the readers, almost in a condescending manner. That is why a book like The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is so refreshing in this sea of cookie cutter romances and fantasies. While classified as a young adult novel, it deals with very serious themes. The book’s cover comes printed with this label: “It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.” It is a dark allusion to what is to come. But Zusak makes this story more accessible to the audience he is writing to and does this by creating identifiable characters, by bringing humor into this gloomy subject and by using a unique narrative to keep the reader enthralled.
Zusak, in this book, creates a very identifiable and unique protagonist and then surrounds her with equally unique and engaging characters. The protagonist is Liesel Meminger who is only nine years old when she is taken to live with the Hubermanns, a foster family, in Molching, Germany in the late 1930s. She arrives with few possessions, but among them is The Grave Diggers’ Handbook, a book she stole from her brother’s burial place. During the years that Liesel lives with the Hubermanns, Hitler becomes more powerful, and life on their little street becomes more fearful, and Liesel becomes a full-fledged book thief. She rescues books from Nazi book-burnings and steals from the library of the mayor. She steals, not because she is a kleptomaniac, but she steals books that mark important moments in her life. “The point is, it didn’t really matter what the book was about. It was what it meant that was more impor...
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...es and intonations, with each passing moment. A single hour can consist of thousands of different colors. Waxy yellows, cloud-spat blues. Murky darknesses. In my line of work, I make it a point to notice them.” Along with his stream-of-consciousness style, Zusak has his narrator divide the book into quick, choppy chapters, rarely any longer than five pages. Death also throws in his own personal thoughts as interjections in the action of the story. Sometimes it’s with small facts about himself, other times its deeper insights to the action and sometimes it’s with clarifications. Death is really the perfect narrator for this story.
The Book Thief stands out in its genre as a smart, entertaining, albeit sometimes dark novel for young adults. It is a book that, through its characters, dark humor, and innovative narration, can captivate practically any audience.
...er, and Liesel becomes a complete book thief. She rescues Jewish books from Nazi book- burnings and steals from the mayor’s library. Liesel is illiterate when she steals her first book, but Hans Hubermann uses her prized books to teach her to read. In the end, Liesel marries Max and moves to Australia. She has several children and grandchildren. Liesel eventually dies in Sydney.
Through ‘The Book Thief’, Markus Zusak has demonstrated his writing to be poignant, poetic, and profound. He is a writer of brilliance, a poet, the Picasso of words, a literary marvel.
It is the start of World War Two and a young girl has just witnessed Death for the first time, and Death has glimpsed her. Set against the bleakness of Nazi Germany, The Book Thief details the beautiful, gut wrenching story of ten year old Liesel Meminger as she tries to survive and make sense of the confusing and often cruel world that surrounds her. Through her story, and the relationships she builds, this terrible time in history takes on new depth and a true understanding of the struggles that came with living in war-torn Germany.
“The final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.” This quote is from the famous diary of Anneliese Marie Frank; a holocaust victim and a modern time hero. In Markus Zusak’s novel, The Book Thief, Liesel Meminger is surviving through World War II just like Anne Frank. Although their circumstances are vastly different, both girls learn that the person they wish to become must be created through their own experiences and trauma. Narrated by Death, The Book Thief is the story of Liesel Meminger, a nine-year-old German girl who has been given up by her mother to live with Hans and Rosa Hubermann in the small town of Molching in 1939. In the novel, Liesel’s greatest mountain is her internal conflict with herself and the propaganda
The author of The Book Thief, Markus Zusak, grew up in Australia with a German mother and an Australian father. Both of his parents experienced the effects during and after World War II and told him stories of the events during that time. Zusak’s mother grew up in Munich, Germany and told him of her experiences in Nazi Germany. Because his mother is a primary source of events that went on, he has insight on the social aspects of the war such as people’s reactions to the Nazis and the people’s thoughts of everything going on around them during World War II.
One of the most unforgettable genocides to occur was the Holocaust where 6 million Jews along with gypsies, homosexuals, and communists were killed by Hitler’s Nazi regime. It was very common for authors to have their literature’s central idea be about the Holocaust. The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak, is about a German girl, Liesel, who lives in Nazi Germany and faces the inescapable pains of growing up in a time of war. Her emotional journey is one that begins with a journey. Zusak incorporates the events that occurred during the Holocaust in the book in order to show the reality that Liesel and everyone she loved had to face.
Liesel steals the books she is ,at the same time, liberating them from destruction. The whole idea of stealing as a horrible thing to do comes into question. Liesel risks death or torture in doing this as well. Her theft is also a self-education and an act of rebellion against the Nazis. Lie...
...by American bombers and everyone but Liesel dies on the street. Liesel only survives because she was writing a book of her own, and was in the basement when the bombs struck. When she is rescued by the police, she rushes to find her parents and Rudy, but only finds them both dead. The story ends with her being adopted by Ilsa Hermann. Of course, this does not mean the story is over; there is an epilogue. Max survives the war and later finds his way back to Liesel, who rejoices when they finally meet. When Liesel finally dies, death takes her away from the others and shows her the book that she was writing when the bombs fell. She asks him if he understood the meaning of it, to which he responds with his own sage advice. When death takes her soul away for good this time, and takes one last look at the title of the book. The Book Thief by Liesel Meminger.
Death is a very well-known figure that is feared by many in all countries. He is suspected of being cruel, disturbing and all synonyms of horrifying. Death is inevitable and that is the most fearing aspect of his persona. In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, Death is made to seem or resemble humans. Effectively using the narration role, Death introduces a unique description and definition of colors in which he uses as a tool to effectively engage the readers to the events occurring throughout the book. He also demonstrates him personal and different experiences as well, mostly about soul gathering and the implications of WWII that have affected him. On the contrary to Death’s dead, appalling and scary nature that many interpret him to be during the book, Death shows many emotions and features to his personality that reasoning would declare otherwise. One of those feature would be the colors.
The heavily proclaimed novel “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak is a great story that can help you understand what living in Nazi Germany was like. Throughout the story, the main character, Liesel goes through many hardships to cope with a new life in a new town and to come to the recognition of what the Nazi party is. Liesel was given up for adoption after her mother gave her away to a new family, who seemed harsh at first, but ended up being the people who taught her all the things she needed to know. Life with the new family didn’t start off good, but the came to love them and her new friend, Rudy. As the book carried along, it was revealed that the Hubermanns were not Nazi supporters, and even took in a Jew and hid him in their basement later on in the book. Liesel became great friends with the Jew living in her basement, Max, who shared many similarities which helped form their relationship. Both of
As time evolves, so do the words that are essential for our everyday survival. The most obvious difference between humans and animals is our ability to master the art of speech. Often, people will say the “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”, a simple nursery rhyme that helps ease a bullied child from abusive words and taunts. But does that really help cure the emotional pain? Words can illuminate and motivate the minds of people but can also shadow their self-esteem through psychological trauma. In The Book Thief, we see how fundamental words were to shape the reality of millions of people caught in the fire of World War II.
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak’s 2005 novel, uses various stylistic devices and conventions to portray key ideas of the value of lifе, the beauty and brutality of human nature and the power of words - highlighting not only their ability to be used for good, but also reminding the reader that words can also be responsible for great evil, during the second World War. Through the meticulous use of narrative voice and having Death as the narrator, then incorporating analepsis, prolepsis, motif, symbolism and figurative language, Zusak is able to highlight these key ideas by successfully taking an innovative approach to creating a captivating and complex text.
Death states that, “I’m always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both” (Zusak 491). This book shows us human doing things that weren’t even imaginable before this point. Many people give into ideas that were lies. But, we also watch a few people go out of their way and sacrifice everything for a man they barely even know. They do everything they can to keep him safe and alive. They work harder, the get another job, and they even steal. In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, death examines the ugliness and the beauty of humans.
Imagine if your work was to be published, but the publishers required you to change even the most minute detail to fit their need. This work would be unrecognizable, not at all what you wanted to convey with your story. This is essentially what happens with every movie adaptation of a popular novel, and readers are always enraged. One such case is The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, which was unnecessarily changed. The lack of many important details in the movie adaptation of The Book Thief shows how obvious it is that movies must stay true to the book for full effect.
The main character Liesel, known as “the book thief” is who Death is looking over. Liesel, her mother, and brother are on a train to Munich. On the train ride her brother dies. She and her mother get off the train to bury him. The first book Liesel steals is from the gravediggers. They continue the journey to a town called Molching, where Liesel will be raised by foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Liesel adjusts to her new home life. Hans teaches Liesel how to read. The war is escalating in Germany. The town holds a book-burning to celebrate Hitler’s birthday. That’s when Liesel steals another book from the flames. Liesel’s job is to deliver laundry to the Hermann family. The Hermanns’ have a library full of books. Liesel is allowed to read them in the study. Meanwhile, a German-Jew named Max needs help, so he seeks out the Hubermanns. Max hides in the basement, so he is safe from the Nazis. Liesel begins stealing books from the Hermanns. The Nazis parade the Jews through the town of Molching on their way to the concentration camp for everyone to see. Liesel is given a blank notebook to write her own story. One night the neighborhood is bombed. Hans, Rosa, and the rest of the neighborhood is killed. Rescue workers find Liesel under the rubble. She leaves behind her finished book, called The Book Thief. Death, who has been watching, rescues the book. Liesel ends up living with the mayor