The Book Thief Review by Nick
Hello people, today I will be reviewing The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. The Book Thief was written in 2005 and takes place during the events before and throughout WWII. The story takes the perspective of Death himself, a cynical narrator who guides the reader through the story with occasional remarks placed throughout the chapters. Sometimes these remarks give the reader a preview of what is to come in the next chapter, other times Death will explain a confusing scene that the reader may not have understood, but my personal favorite of these remarks is when Death gives a short monologue and shows his emotions wanting to fight his terrible job right before he has to kill someone. No major spoilers ahead!
My favorite thing about this book is how the story is told by someone who knows exactly when and how someone is going to die. As I explained in the previous paragraph, Death gives his own explanations and dialogue in between chapters or major events. The further the reader progresses throughout the book the more Death begins to express how he does not enjoy his job. He hates to be the one to end lives and his personality seems almost cheery despite his job that was forced upon him. The story that Death tells follows Liesel who is first seen on a train with her mother and her brother, Werner. Werner suddenly dies on the train and Liesel and her mother get off to bury him. While Werner is being buried Liesel steals one of the gravedigger's book.
Liesel finally arrives in a German town called Molching where she meets her new foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. At first Liesel doesn't like Rosa and Hans at all, but she begins to grow closer to Hans when he teaches her how to roll Cigarettes. While being constantly disrupted by nightmares of her dead brother, Liesel meets a young boy named Rudy who loves American athlete Jesse Owens. Later, Hans discovers that Liesel does not know how to read. He begins to teach her in the house's basement and slowly they make their way through the book Liesel stole from the gravedigger. The plot begins to really pick up after Liesel steals another book from a town book burning in celebration of Hitler's Birthday.
This book was really fun to read, not only because of the intense action and stress that takes place in the war-ridden German town, but also because of the extremely well developed character development. Liesel goes from wishing she had never arrived and the Hubermanns' house to forming a close bond with Hans and even Rosa after a while of living in their house. The plot is riveting and never stops moving and the personalities of each characters have been carefully thought out and work well with the plot. Overall, I would give this book a 5/5. Thanks for reading!
Nick
My favorite thing about this book is how the story is told by someone who knows exactly when and how someone is going to die. As I explained in the previous paragraph, Death gives his own explanations and dialogue in between chapters or major events. The further the reader progresses throughout the book the more Death begins to express how he does not enjoy his job. He hates to be the one to end lives and his personality seems almost cheery despite his job that was forced upon him. The story that Death tells follows Liesel who is first seen on a train with her mother and her brother, Werner. Werner suddenly dies on the train and Liesel and her mother get off to bury him. While Werner is being buried Liesel steals one of the gravedigger's book.
Liesel finally arrives in a German town called Molching where she meets her new foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. At first Liesel doesn't like Rosa and Hans at all, but she begins to grow closer to Hans when he teaches her how to roll Cigarettes. While being constantly disrupted by nightmares of her dead brother, Liesel meets a young boy named Rudy who loves American athlete Jesse Owens. Later, Hans discovers that Liesel does not know how to read. He begins to teach her in the house's basement and slowly they make their way through the book Liesel stole from the gravedigger. The plot begins to really pick up after Liesel steals another book from a town book burning in celebration of Hitler's Birthday.
This book was really fun to read, not only because of the intense action and stress that takes place in the war-ridden German town, but also because of the extremely well developed character development. Liesel goes from wishing she had never arrived and the Hubermanns' house to forming a close bond with Hans and even Rosa after a while of living in their house. The plot is riveting and never stops moving and the personalities of each characters have been carefully thought out and work well with the plot. Overall, I would give this book a 5/5. Thanks for reading!
Nick
I've recently started reading The Book Thief, and I appreciate how you included such an in-depth and descriptive summary of the novel without any spoilers. I also really like that you highlighted exactly what you enjoyed about the book and why, and I wonder if there was any aspect of the novel you maybe didn't like as much? Overall, great post!
ReplyDeleteNice review! I've also read The Book Thief and enjoyed it. I liked the way you clearly analysed and summarised the story without major spoilers, as well as giving the pros and cons. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteGreat review! I have not read The Book Thief, but it sounds like a very interesting book that I might want to look into sometime. I like how you mentioned your favorite parts of the book since it really adds to the post. Again, great review!
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