Friday, February 11, 2011

The Book Thief

The Book Thief was a surprise from the beginning. I don't want to spoil it for you so I can't say too much other than, if you want to read a delightful book, read this. Let me s'plain. It's not delightful from a plot or story pov. It's about WWII- from the perspective of Germans. Germans, not Nazi's, so of course it is grim and dirty and full of harsh realities. Zusak captures the brutality of living in the land of the deranged, the poverty, the desperation. So, the subject matter is not really delightful- there is a lot of swearing, abuse and more swearing, in both German and English. There is death. Death is a prominent feature of this book.

 But it is delightful in terms of the writing style and perspective and humanity and the rich understanding of the power of words. It is a beautiful book that captures loyalty and love and friendship and hope. I've been hearing rave reviews of this book and they are well deserved. I'm joining the very long line of Book Thief fans!

1 comment:

Robin M said...

It is a good book. It's one of those that you want to say yes I enjoyed it, but is hard given the subject matter. Very well written and pulls you into the story.