'The Book Thief' Book Review

Don't yell at me! 

I know, I know. I haven't been the best blogger for awhile *tries to bypass the fact that I haven't done a Short Story Sunday in a month* but I am really going to try to get my act together and just write.

I have a whole bunch of blog post ideas in mind that I'm so excited about, so hopefully, you'll be hearing a lot from me these next few weeks.

One of the ideas is that I want to try my hand at book reviews.

WAIT! I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING!

And yes, I agree. It isn't logical to begin something new when I haven't even kept up with what I had already started, but I'm just so stoked about this! After all, I love books. I love recommending books. I love reading book reviews. I just wanted to give it a go! 

So, let's call this one a test. If it turns out well, I may do some more reviews. If it doesn't, that's another thing off my blogging plate! 

THE BOOK:

The Title: The Book Thief

The Author: Markus Zusak

The Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction 

The Publish Date: 14 March 2006

The Page Count: 552

The Summary: "It's just a small story, really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, a Jewish fist fighter, and quite a lot of thievery ..."

This is a coming-of-age tale and Death's account about the citizens of Himmel Street, Molching, Germany during the power and influence of Hitler and the Nazis. Specifically of a young girl named Liesel Meminger.

She first arrives at 33 Himmel Street at the age of nine, for one reason and one alone: That would be her new home. After being separated from her 'Kommunist' parents, she arrives at the boxlike home of her new foster parents with very few possessions, among them: a gravedigger's instruction manual that she took from the snowy burial site of her brother-- which she can't read. It was the first of many books stollen by the Book Thief, her debut, I should say.

In the care of Hans Huberman-- an accordionist who enjoys to roll cigarettes-- and his wife, Rosa Huberman, -- a squat woman with a rough exterior, but large heart-- Liesel befriends yellow-haired Rudy Steiner-- her Jesse Owens-obsessed neighbour-- and the wife of the mayor, who hides away in her library from despair. Liesel's book thievery continues, stealing books from Nazi book burning piles, the mayor's library, and the richer people of Molching. She later on befriends a hideaway Jewish boxer who reads with Liesel in the basement, paints and writes over the pages of Hitler's biography, and dreams of fist-fighting the Fuhrer, himself. 

However, taking place in Nazi Germany, there were bound to be bombs and sirens. 

THE OPINION:

The Plot: This is a really typical plot of a girl who is taken from her parents and sent to the home of her foster parents during Nazi Germany. However, Zusak added a few elements to the basic plot that made it, well, not so basic. After all, what is so basic about a little girl who steals books? She finds a love for words that inspires everyone on Himmel Street and brings calm during air raids. There are a lot of questions you may ask yourself throughout the book, for the author would often mention something that happens in the future and you wouldn't have a single clue what he is talking about. However, in time, they would all be answered, making the reader unable to put the book down due to pure curiosity.

The Characters: Zusak added a multitude of characters, all different in their own little way, that makes the plot more interesting, adding tiny details that one would and wouldn't suspect. Even minor characters seem to be their own, specific person, which I've noticed often gets ignored by other writers. The characters' developments all seem natural, as if this story was nonfiction rather than fiction, which is rather interesting considering that the narrator of the novel wasn't there during most of the story, but is simply retelling a story he, himself, had read. Many of the characters' fates are stated way before the ending, which only makes each little detail about the characters more interesting. 

The Setting: The book starts in 1939, Nazi Germany. However, unlike most World War II stories, this one isn't centred around the German Jews. It mostly centres around the Germans who are left behind after the Jew and known "Jew lovers" are taken away.

The Writing Style: This novel is written in a first-person point of view, though, as I mentioned, the narrator wasn't there during the situation, but is retelling it, anyway. The writing was easy to read, using a lot of simple sentences. I wouldn't usually like it, but I found that the author did a wonderful job at adding emphasis to certain words or phrases.

The Heads-Up: The narrator of the novel is Death, himself. He often takes over a few chapters and would say what his job is like-- taking the souls of dying people-- and it can seem a bit dark at times. There is a lot of German swearing-- for that seems to be one of the main tongues of one of the main characters-- and, at times, some swearing in English. There is violence at some portions of the book-- addressed to the Jews and people who are trying to help the Jews. Basically, a lot of Jew-shaming, but what would one expect from a novel set in Nazi Germany? There is also mentions of bullying, thievery, and it gets very angsty at times.

The Recommendation: Though this is considered young adult, I recommend this novel to adults and young adults, alike. Due to the heads-up above, I would be cautious about children and young teenagers reading it.

The Rating: 

About a fourth of the way through the novel, I began to feel a bit iffy about it. After all, as I mentioned, all the Jews and "Jew-lovers" were already taken, leaving nothing else but the Germans who supported Hitler. Liesel had an issue with that, because both her parents were, as the  book said, 'Kommunists' and were taken away from her. However, Hans Huberman made me keep reading. 


I won't emphasise anymore because, after all, who likes a spoiler?


All I have to say is read the book. And get a box of tissues when doing so.