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Protect the flock! From JP and Hachette!

Because I can't upload it and I don't want to ruin the book for anyone who hasn't read it, I'm forced to post it here.

It's on The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

Yeah.

Please Note: It's not properly formatted so it doesn't look very nice right now.

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I rarely read historical fiction books, mainly because I find these books boring. I've tried many different books, The Dear Canada series, The Princess Diaries series, and those bored me to bits. However when I read the Book Thief by Markus Zusak I was completely intrigued. It had enchanted me with it's beautiful story; the heart wrenching tale of Liesel Meminger; a German girl living in Nazi Germany, who hides a Jewish man in her basement and while she commits the crime of theft, she steals books. Needless to say I think this is a astounding book with its interesting plot, the loving characters and of course, the emotional depth and symbolism it possesses.


Something that really sparked my interests was the narrator themselves. It is from a third person view. And unlike many stories I've read it was from an incredibly unique view, it was from Death. The narrator, Death speaks as if they are having a conversation with you, so you feel like you're right beside Death, watching as Molching -- a small German town close enough to Munich to see the execution and humilation fo Jews which is the setting of this adventure -- is blown to bits. Or when Liesel first learns about Max, the Jew she hides in her basement. Death himself/herself (Death is never given a gender nor is death ever actually described, although he/she finds the scythe and dark cloak idea amusing) asks you question in which momentarily you can stop reading and think. You can reflect on what is happening. Afterwards it's as if they are replying to you, so you can reflect on Death’s reply and think about it. This is not something (I find) many authors add into their books. It also adds these interesting ways to announce things. Along with foreshadowing that makes you hang on the to edge of your seat. The way it's written it's as if it's urging you to read to the very last page to find how the story ends. In a way, Death is a character himself/herself, they posses a certain personality, they are also affected by things that happen within the book. Death also feels sympathetic to humans, allowing you to also get attached to him/her. Death's commentary is one of my favourtie aspects of the book.

One of the many aspects that will captivate you while reading this book is the main character herself. Liesel, a poor German girl who had watched her brother die, and her mother who had left her, who never to speaks to her again. Watching her grow from a traumatized child to a strong independent teenager. She steals books to take back things that were hers, to settle the score, she does not do it out of greed. Liesel isn't perfect, she under goes trauma in the beginning and it affects her. She has nightmares and problems sleeping properly. Despite her nickname, (given to her by the narrator -- Death) "The Book Thief" at the beginning of the book, Liesel is an illiterate. It's due to her loving foster father she learns to read, in fact for half of the book Liesel struggles with reading and writing. She stands up for what she believes in and sometimes she does in it the wrong ways, she makes mistakes like everyone else. She has her flaws, she seems like a real person. What many writers often fall prey to is making their characters have no flaws at all. They seem too fake and perfect, this is not the case with Liesel.

This book packs quite an emotional punch. Certain parts of it make you want to cry. It’s because of the emotional depth it possesses. An example is when Max Vandenburg -- the Jewish man who was hiding in Liesel’s basement -- left to fend for himself in an attempt to prevent the Hubermanns (the family that had adopted Liesel) from getting in trouble for housing a Jew. Or when Rudy had given the poor pilot who was dying a teddy bear in his last moments -- it had shown the beauty of humanity -- it showed that not everyone was a greedy selfish person, and that the world is not a hopeless cause. And in contrast to the kind gesture Rudy showed to the American pilot, the story also shows the brutality of humanity -- how the Nazis treated the Jews or the communists. The horrors they endure, the pain both phyically and emotional they go through and the terror, the fear of dying, everyday having to go through that. And then of course there is the sad, horrible plot twist at the end. It is after all, the climax of the story. The bombing of Himmel street, the home of the heroine. And the death of her friends, family, and aquantences. Normally because something like that is so sudden and . disastrous I would have thrown the book at the wall in anger and frustration, but because it was so heavily foreshadowed and I found it created vast amount of emotional buildup. The story of The Book Thief is sad but beatiful masterpiece with an amazing amount of depth.

I found this book spectacular, the narrator made me feel like I was there, the characters I became so attached to that there was an emotional impact one me when something bad happened to them. The symbolism is profound, showing you that there are two sides to one coin, that humanity can be beautiful and ugly. It shows the power of words, both with the books Liesel is given and the words used by Hitler to persuade the Nazi party.To quote The New York Times, "it's the kind of book that can be life-changing" I couldn't agree more.

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Comment by Lamp Post on November 23, 2009 at 12:01pm
I'm not sure if I'd be someone who should really be editing this, considering my horribly bias with this book. It seemed very amazing, though. The only thing, I'd change if I was doing it would be to also mention the narrator of the book, and how the story works itself in a circle by telling you the main character is to die. . . but not which and when.

*nearly cried when reading this book*
Man, did I adore Rudy. . . . .
Comment by Xuut on November 23, 2009 at 12:03pm
Ah, thanks. :D

And, yes I did mean that. :P
Comment by Xuut on November 23, 2009 at 12:15pm
@Lamp: M'kay, I'm going to add that. Thanks!

And I loved Rudy. It was so sweet when she kissed him.
Comment by Lamp Post on November 29, 2009 at 11:58am
*latelatelate*

*agrees*
That was the first book I'd ever suppored a canon pairing. That was just. . . .lovely. And, too, when she told his dad. xD

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