Book Review: The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak

SUMMARY: Death is the narrator of this lengthy, powerful story of a town in Nazi Germany. He is a kindly, caring Death, overwhelmed by the souls he has to collect from people in the gas chambers, from soldiers on the battlefields, and from civilians killed in bombings. Death focuses on a young orphan, Liesel; her loving foster parents; the Jewish fugitive they are hiding; and a wild but gentle teen neighbor, Rudy, who defies the Hitler Youth and convinces Liesel to steal for fun. After Liesel learns to read, she steals books from everywhere. Then the book thief writes her own story. The astonishing characters, drawn without sentimentality, will grab readers. More than the overt message about the power of words, it's Liesel's confrontation with horrifying cruelty and her discovery of kindness in unexpected places that tell the heartbreaking truth. (adapted from the Booklist review)

OPINION: Recently, many books have been narrated by dead people. For example, The Sledding Hill by Chris Crutcher, Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin, and The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. But this book is narrated by death himself, and it stands out from the crowd. This is a story about war, horror, and survival, just as you would expect. It is also surprisingly moving and beautiful. Death doesn't want to be involved in the way that Hitler forces him to be, but he finds solace in the life of Liesel Meminger. She, in turn, finds solace in words, some stolen and some hand-written. This unique book, although long, is an amazing perspective on a dark time in history.