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.
“The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak is narrated by death and begins when Liesel’s brother dies on a train with her and her mother. At her brother’s burial, she steals her first book, “The Grave Digger’s Handbook” and soon after is separated from her mother and sent to live with foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann, in Molching, where the majority of the book takes place. At school, Liesel is teased because she can’t read so Hans teaches her to read when she wakes up from her frequent nightmares about her brother’s death. Hans is a painter and an accordion player and also plays the accordion for her after her nightmares. Liesel grows very close with Hans and also becomes close friends with her neighbor Rudy Steiner who constantly asks her to
Heck organized his book chronologically, which strengthens the narrative It has moments of weakness due to the period between Heck’s childhood and when it was published. But it also has many more strengths than weaknesses; the first person perspective immerses you into the novel, the emotional appeal tugs at heart strings. The reader rides and feels Heck’s initial steps toward loyal Nazism and his devastation at the failure and deceptions committed by his party.
In the following lines from Markus Zusak’s novel The Book Thief, Liesel has been in attendance of a bonfire in which the Hitler Youth was required to attend. The bonfire was meant for burning books, posters and other propaganda that the Jews had owned. During the clean-up of the bonfire, Liesel seized her moment to steal her second book.
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
After hearing a brief description of the story you might think that there aren’t many good things about they story. However, this is false, there are many good things in this book that makes it a good read. First being that it is a very intriguing book. This is good for teenage readers because often times they don’t willingly want to read, and this story will force the teenage or any reader to continue the book and continue reading the series. Secondly, this is a “good” book because it has a good balance of violence. This is a good thing because it provides readers with an exciting read. We hear and even see violence in our everyday life and I believe that it is something teenagers should be exposed to. This book gives children an insig...
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
...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.
It is a common misunderstanding that the Harry Potter series is for juveniles, but I believe that there is something within the books that applies to all ages. Old and young alike can take a lesson from Harry Potter, in life everyone is faced with the fears that this story illustrates, and the strength and dedication it takes in order to do so, but it also demonstrates the rewards for the strength and dedication. Which is why the world, including myself, has read the four books in current circulation several times while it anxiously awaits the release of book five Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. For instance, the third book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, has many elements of a "who-done-it." This book offers plenty of mystery, excitement, and intrigue for the older readers and is mixed with just enough humor and fantasy for the younger readers to appreciate, a...
The Book Thief, now both a film and a book, is about a girl named Liesel and her struggle with the power of words. The film and book are very similar in content and were most likely made to be that way. It is evident that the producer tried their best to assure that the plot of the book is retained in the movie. The characters, Liesel, Hans , Rosa, Max and Rudy have their characteristics well reflected into the film. From Mama’s thunderous bellows to Rudy’s incessant pestering, the movie made that characters feel as if they had jumped out of the book and into the film.
“Here is a small fact: You are going to die”(Zusak 3). The Book Thief, a historical fiction book by Markus Zusak, is narrated by Death. The novel takes place during the 1930’s and 40’s in Nazi Germany and follows 9 year old Liesel Meminger, who death refers to as “The Book Thief.” After her father, mother, and then brother are killed, Liesel becomes an orphan and is taken in by Hans and Rosa Hubermann in Molching. Throughout the book, she meets many people including the Mayor’s wife, Isla Hermann, and Max Vandenburg, a Jew who is hiding from the Nazi’s in the Hubermann’s basement. Although Liesel’s life is filled with death and loss, she ends up surviving an air raid on her street and after the war, she is reunited with Max who survived the Nazi death camp.
Throughout time, children have read stories of brave knights, running into battle with their swords ready to defeat the invader. They have read tales of everyday girls turning into princesses by kissing a frog or wearing a glass slipper. Also, some of these stories contain accounts of historically poignant moments. For example, the novel The Book Thief written by Markus Zusak takes place during World War II. It gives a lasting impression on what this time was like for everyday people and the impacts the war had on them. The author does this through the many storytelling elements incorporated into the book. Also, Zusak displays how people respond to changes within their lives during these taxing times. For instance, the main character, Liesel
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.
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.
I wanted to read every book by him and so I picked up “The Book Thief”. Zusak is one of the most amazing authors that I have read. He makes words come alive and uses such interesting descriptions. His word choice is unique and unlike anything I’ve read. This book was no different. When I began reading this, I was taken in. It felt like I was experiencing the same things that Liesel was. Zusak also uses interesting characters. Zusak can make a reader cry and then in the next scene make them smile. He easily made me feel sadness, happiness, anger, etc. I love when writers can easily change a reader’s thoughts and emotions. I have always thought that that was a good indicator if they were a good writer or