Thursday 27 November 2014

My Review on 'The Book Thief' by Markus Zusak


The Book ThiefThe Book Thief by Markus Zusak
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Book Thief is a truly captivating book. I've become dumbfounded and amazed after reading this book. I've never read a book of the historical fiction genre before and I must say, the first experience has really served good.

The narrator of this book is death. Yes, that's right. Death. The eternal truth we all fear. In this book, death narrates the story and when death tells a story, you really have to listen.
The book revolves around Liesel Meminger (the book thief), Hans Hubermann (an accordian), Rudy Steiner ( the one who likes being called as Jesse Owens) and Max Vanderburg (a fist fighter). As the book title is concerned, the story mainly revolves around Liesel.

The backdrop of this book is set around Nazi Germany in 1939. Liesel has lost her younger brother and her mother decides to move her to a foster family. Hans and Rosa Hubermann adopt Liesel as their daughter. With the help of her accordian foster father, she learns to read. Liesel picks up a book accidentally by her brother's graveside. Since then, she's been in love with words and books. Whenever she gets a chance, she picks up a book. Whether it is from the burning ashes of Nazi Germany or mayor's library.

Everything goes smooth until a Jewish fist fighter, Max Vanderburg turns up at their gate. Hans is inclined to let Max stay in their house. They hid him in the basement. That's where Liesel develops a beautiful relationship with Max but at the same time, her world turns upside down.

You get to learn a lot from this book. Particularly a couple of German words. Saumensch and Saukerl were my two most favorites. I love when Rosa utters these words. Despite of exposing hatred, she's the most loving and caring wife/mother from the inside.
The part where Liesel kisses Rudy really touched my soul. I was moved. Spell-bounded.

Markus Zusak has really written a compelling yet unique story. With every turning page, the book unfolds a new story. As a reader, I was glued to this book and couldn't help reading the entire of it within a week.

I haven't seen the movie adaption of this book yet but I've heard it's the same as the book. Nevertheless, in my opinion, the film cannot be as good as the book because the latter showcases emotions in a very descriptive way.

For me, this is a wonderful book, therefore I'm not reluctant to give it straight 5 stars.

Happy Reading!
Sara Naveed. :)



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3 comments:

  1. I watched the movie a little and I got bored, may be the book would be better than the movie. :)

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  2. The film was excellent in every dimension, acting, directing, and production. A small precise look at WW II in Germany, through the eyes of a young girl. Most of the descriptive material is incorrect, probably based on the title which was also a mistake. This was a subtle, moving film that examines war in specific human terms and leaves one wishing we could figure out an alternative. The book though, might be different. MOHIB.

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