The Book Thief

Markus Zusak is my new favorite author. The Book Thief has easily been placed in my five favorite reads of all time. Everything about this novel was interesting. It was narrated by death, which is more than appropriate considering the story takes place during World War II. The novel is incredibly sad, but every moment that occurs is so palpable that you can't pull yourself away from the book. The narrator, who is also a spoiler of endings, will have you laughing out loud in one paragraph, and running for tissues in the next.

The Book Thief speaks to the reader in so many ways. On one hand, it is the story of a girl, her 'family' and friends trying to live as normal a life as possible in Nazi Germany. On another hand, it is the sad story of World War II itself. On a different hand, it is the story of Leisel and her books, and discovering the power that words can have (something the narrator seems to have mastered). Every page of The Book Thief will have you on the edge of your seat.

The Book Thief is marketed towards adolescent readers, and I think it is done appropriately so. This novel speaks to the power of reading and words, and the power of close friendships, and does so in a way that most adolescents and all adults should be able to understand. It provides a totally different look into the Holocaust and Nazi Germany, and may be more engaging for some readers than The Diary of Anne Frank or Schindler's Ark (which are also both very good). This novel is also great for adolescents because it will allow them to formulate a plethora of questions about topics such as the different uses of point of view and voice, metaphors and similes and running themes (such as the color of the sky during death).

My only complaint about this novel being marketed towards adolescents is that too many adult readers will overlook it, simply based on where it is placed in the bookstore. This simultaneously heart-wrenching, heart-warming novel is too good to be overlooked. It answers so many unasked questions: What were young German girls and boys doing during WWII? What were the experiences of German families living near the concentration camps? Furthermore, it leaves you asking questions: Why the emphasis on the color of the sky? Is Death also a book thief? What more of communism?

On a personal note, I enjoyed that Max was from Stuttgart, because that is where I was born. So while I may not have been able to personally relate to every experience in the novel (despite the fact that I read every moment as though I was the one living it), I did have that - and somehow, perhaps in the spirit of Max's character, that small connection was very powerful.