The Book Thief

*****THIS CONTAINS SOME SPOILER ALERTS *****


"The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak, is the best book I have read this year. The story is about a German Chrisitian girl named Leisel Meminger, who moves to Munich (Himmel Street) during the Holocaust, after her mother abandons her. Leisel moves in with her new foster parents and begins to read many books, even ones that have been banned by Adolf Hitler. As the story continues, the writing truly shows the struggle of the community between choosing to support the "Fuhrer" or trying to save the Jews. Eventually, you see that Leisel's adoptive father despises the Nazis and will do anything in his power to save the Jew he hides in the basement, Max.

The part of this book that really hooked me in was the narrator, who is actually the spirit of death. The author chose to write from the perspective of an omnicient character who even reveals that some people may die in the book, what may happen to some of the characters or what a character is actually thinking on the inside that none of the other characters in the story know. By using this character as the narrator you are able to see a perspective I don't think anyone has discussed about the Holocaust. Many people say that it is unfair to tear loved ones away from us, for any reason. The fact that the author included Death in this plot is even worse though because these loved ones that were taken away, were tortured and everyone was convinced that death was truly evil.

The author actually tries to portray the character of Death to be somber as he manages to retrieve every soul. The author at one point included that, "God gives us these tasks. We cannot control what we are meant to be. Sometimes I curse at God and ask him why he gave me this job out of all. He never responds, yeah you're not the only one he doesn't talk to". The narrator also feels bad, not just for the Jews that are killed, but for the Germans that were killed during the many bombs that struck Germany during World War II. I felt very simpathetic towards the narrator because he has to see the pain that we all have to face when we lose someone. When one of the characters died in the book, I began to sob uncontrollably because it reminded me that we can never see that person once again, you only have your memories. Towards the very end of the book, after one of the main character dies, he states, "she was able to tear herself from the ground. It amazes me what humans can do, even when streams are flowing down their faces and they stagger on, coughing and searching, and finding".

I found the narrator to be a major part of why I loved this book so much. The author was so creative and inspiring to me because that is a character that us, humans do not understand or know because we do not know what is on the other side or if god truly exists. The fact that she could give a symbol a personality and fears astounds me. To anyone who read this response and has not read the book, please read it. It's one of those books you cannot put down and will be one you will never forget. I still get chills just thinking about how much I loved this book.