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kellertson3's review against another edition
3.0
It was a good book, but the writing style just wasn't my reading style I guess. I did learn a lot about what things were like though.
saraireads's review against another edition
4.0
God, this book.
This book is one of those that you remember long after you've read it because it just haunts you. I was forcing myself not to cry as I finished it and... it was hard. When I was done, I felt so many things--defeat, amazement, inspiration, and a little bit of emptiness. This book was an emotional read, to say the least. There are no happy endings here, no victories, just difficulty. Definitely one of my favorite books of all time. And yeah, I need to own this book immediately.
This book is one of those that you remember long after you've read it because it just haunts you. I was forcing myself not to cry as I finished it and... it was hard. When I was done, I felt so many things--defeat, amazement, inspiration, and a little bit of emptiness. This book was an emotional read, to say the least. There are no happy endings here, no victories, just difficulty. Definitely one of my favorite books of all time. And yeah, I need to own this book immediately.
nancy_pocono50's review against another edition
5.0
This is what happens when a group makes a scapegoat of another group. Eliminating that group will be the solution to your problem. sigh. No. Why do we need to constantly single out those people to blame for our problem? Why do we constantly need to fight and kill one and other?
tms792's review against another edition
5.0
The Book Thief is the story of many things. It's a story of the Holocaust, friendship, love, acceptance, and hardship all told by Death itself. Leisel has come to stay with the Hubermanns, an older couple looking for an addition to their family. Origianlly Leisel and her brother were to become the Hubermann's foster children, but on their journey to their new home Leisel's brother dies on the train. Distraught over the loss of her brother she is woken every night by horrific nightmares, but Hans Hubermann (aka Papa) is always there to comfort her. Papa even teaches Leisel how to read and write. They soon forge a bond together that becomes so strong that Leisel can't imagine her life without him. Once Leisel learns to read she is addicted to words and soon gets addicted to stealing books. They come from an assorted number of places, including the Mayor's house. Over the years at the Hubermann's house Leisel befriends a Jew, her next door neighbor, and grows into a wonderful person. Will the war tear her beloved family apart?
This is a brilliant book. I can't believe it took me two years to finally get around to reading it. I know my summary was a little short, but if I wrote much more I would be giving away too much of this wonderful story. Markus Zusak is a truly talented author. The words just flowed from one page to the next and the story was amazing. When I think what it would have been like to be in Leisel's position I shudder. I can't believe one not being able to read and two to have to live through such secrecy and fear as she did everyday. The book truly came alive for me which I found amazing. The events that were talked about were so real and made me cry. While I know that Leisel was not a real girl, I know that there most likely was a girl just like Leisel in real life. She probably lived with all the same hardships during the Holocaust that Leisel did. I also loved how the whole story was narrated by Death. It made me look at the situation via a whole new angle. All in all this was an outstanding book and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good book. While it may look thick it won't take long to read as the story sucks you in!
This is a brilliant book. I can't believe it took me two years to finally get around to reading it. I know my summary was a little short, but if I wrote much more I would be giving away too much of this wonderful story. Markus Zusak is a truly talented author. The words just flowed from one page to the next and the story was amazing. When I think what it would have been like to be in Leisel's position I shudder. I can't believe one not being able to read and two to have to live through such secrecy and fear as she did everyday. The book truly came alive for me which I found amazing. The events that were talked about were so real and made me cry. While I know that Leisel was not a real girl, I know that there most likely was a girl just like Leisel in real life. She probably lived with all the same hardships during the Holocaust that Leisel did. I also loved how the whole story was narrated by Death. It made me look at the situation via a whole new angle. All in all this was an outstanding book and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good book. While it may look thick it won't take long to read as the story sucks you in!
knallen's review against another edition
5.0
This is a book that I started once and stopped because for whatever reason, I just couldn't get into it. A friend encouraged me to try it again because it was her favorite book so I picked it up again and I'm so very glad I did. It was really amazing. I cried and I laughed. It was just a beautiful book. I thoroughly recommend it.
katpavlikova's review against another edition
4.0
Miluji ta slova, vlastně miluji ten příběh a nenávidím ho stejnou měrou.
Ale kdybych neviděla FILM (u kterého, ach ano - slzy jsem se snažila skrývat), nikdy se mě KNIHA tolik nedotkne. Vadil mi autorův styl psaní a vím určitě, že JEHO slova samotná by se mi do duše nedostala. Jsem tak moc ráda, že jsem Lieselin příběh první spatřila na stříbrném plátně, než jsem do něj zabořila svůj nos a oči.
Ale kdybych neviděla FILM (u kterého, ach ano - slzy jsem se snažila skrývat), nikdy se mě KNIHA tolik nedotkne. Vadil mi autorův styl psaní a vím určitě, že JEHO slova samotná by se mi do duše nedostala. Jsem tak moc ráda, že jsem Lieselin příběh první spatřila na stříbrném plátně, než jsem do něj zabořila svůj nos a oči.
inthelunaseas's review against another edition
5.0
Firstly: I had no idea Zusak was Australian. There you go.
I can tell this book would easily be a splitter. The style, the language, the uncharacteristically, but quite obviously, unhappy ending.
I enjoyed it. In a way I expected to. It's a very easy read, Zusak has a way with words, and it was, as someone else has said, experimental. Zusak was clearly playing with an idea, a theme, and for me, it worked. Given the number of awards it's won, it has also clearly worked for a number of other people as well.
I will admit Zusak's intended obvious theme running, not-so-subtle meanings and what else did start to grate on me at points. It was like my high school English teacher yelling down my back, saying 'SEE! LOOK AT ALL THE DEPTH!'. I think it doesn't help the English department where I myself teach are currently working with this book.
But I loved it. I did. And I just know my dad would hate it. But I really did enjoy it, and I enjoyed the imagery and... and it was good. Very good.
And it's so bleeding obvious an author is Australian when a foreign character moves to Australia. Way to go, Zusak. I think that's what bothered me the most.
I can tell this book would easily be a splitter. The style, the language, the uncharacteristically, but quite obviously, unhappy ending.
I enjoyed it. In a way I expected to. It's a very easy read, Zusak has a way with words, and it was, as someone else has said, experimental. Zusak was clearly playing with an idea, a theme, and for me, it worked. Given the number of awards it's won, it has also clearly worked for a number of other people as well.
I will admit Zusak's intended obvious theme running, not-so-subtle meanings and what else did start to grate on me at points. It was like my high school English teacher yelling down my back, saying 'SEE! LOOK AT ALL THE DEPTH!'. I think it doesn't help the English department where I myself teach are currently working with this book.
But I loved it. I did. And I just know my dad would hate it. But I really did enjoy it, and I enjoyed the imagery and... and it was good. Very good.
And it's so bleeding obvious an author is Australian when a foreign character moves to Australia. Way to go, Zusak. I think that's what bothered me the most.
jasminebonnie's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyed the book, the last part of the book I think made the most impact and most emotional damage in total *clearly balled my eyes out
pumpkinmama's review against another edition
5.0
I pretty much adored everything about this book. It took me forever to read because I was doling out pages to myself like some special treat that I wanted to savor. The writing was exquisite, the story and characters compelling. Love.
jonscott9's review against another edition
5.0
What's not to love about this tale of an illiterate 9-year-old girl Liesel stealing books in Nazi Germany, eventually learning with the aid of her foster father to read and write, and then to do both increasingly well?
Need I mention the narrator here is Death himself? Yes. He makes for a quip-tastic observer who alternately looks on fondly at these mere mortals, Jews and/or Germans, and on the same page is prone to whisk away their souls (light or heavy, depending on the person's goodness). Admittedly, a couple times in the middle here, the narrator's side notes and quips, Death's voice, yanked me up and out of the story and into the realization that this was but a bleak fiction, Liesel's life. I did not dig that. Distracting.
Heady, clever prose here from the boyish Aussie Zusak, himself the son of German immigrants. The story sings, and the book breezes by at 550 pages paperback. A notoriously slow reader, I pounded this one in a week and a half.
Some images will endure in my mind. Thank you, author. Thank you, words. Rudy Steiner is an anti-hero for the ages; the image is burned behind my eyes of him holding a retrieved book aloft, triumphantly, as he stands in the middle of a freezing river. Hans Hubermann ("Papa") is the German wartime version of Atticus Finch, seemingly perfect in every way. His wife Rosa ("Mama") and the street-soccer kids gave me quite a few Deutsch names and taunts ("Arschgrobbler" = ass scratcher) for future use. The still image of tough-as-nails Rosa snoring upright in a chair in the dark, her husband's beloved accordion strapped to her chest, made me want to weep.
Weird to see the Allied forces of WWII as makeshift bad guys as they relate to this tale. Strange also to find myself inserting my own maternal grandparents into the roles and faces of Hans and Rosa H. Makes sense, though: Their shack at 33 Himmel Street outside Munich reminded me of my grands' double-wide trailer in southern Indiana. Their personalities matched those of Paul (Hans) and Eileen (Rosa) to a T. My grandparents are Wagoners. Wagners. Germans. This made it all the harder -- dare I say, more emotional -- when I realized I may have to let go of the Hubermanns in this story.
Finishing a book feels like a breakup, like the end of a relationship. I sometimes hate it, thus I don't read quickly and read the last 10 pages and especially the last 10 lines at snail's pace. The epilogue ending seemed fitting. It was as it should be. Perhaps it was as it could only be.
As represented here, the Fuhrer himself (Hitler) reminded me of the Anton Chigurh character from the 2007 film No Country for Old Men for how, despite not appearing in every (any) scene, his awful presence is felt in every word and deed performed. What a small man. What an outsized story, a sprawling imagination in an author so young.
Need I mention the narrator here is Death himself? Yes. He makes for a quip-tastic observer who alternately looks on fondly at these mere mortals, Jews and/or Germans, and on the same page is prone to whisk away their souls (light or heavy, depending on the person's goodness). Admittedly, a couple times in the middle here, the narrator's side notes and quips, Death's voice, yanked me up and out of the story and into the realization that this was but a bleak fiction, Liesel's life. I did not dig that. Distracting.
Heady, clever prose here from the boyish Aussie Zusak, himself the son of German immigrants. The story sings, and the book breezes by at 550 pages paperback. A notoriously slow reader, I pounded this one in a week and a half.
Some images will endure in my mind. Thank you, author. Thank you, words. Rudy Steiner is an anti-hero for the ages; the image is burned behind my eyes of him holding a retrieved book aloft, triumphantly, as he stands in the middle of a freezing river. Hans Hubermann ("Papa") is the German wartime version of Atticus Finch, seemingly perfect in every way. His wife Rosa ("Mama") and the street-soccer kids gave me quite a few Deutsch names and taunts ("Arschgrobbler" = ass scratcher) for future use. The still image of tough-as-nails Rosa snoring upright in a chair in the dark, her husband's beloved accordion strapped to her chest, made me want to weep.
Weird to see the Allied forces of WWII as makeshift bad guys as they relate to this tale. Strange also to find myself inserting my own maternal grandparents into the roles and faces of Hans and Rosa H. Makes sense, though: Their shack at 33 Himmel Street outside Munich reminded me of my grands' double-wide trailer in southern Indiana. Their personalities matched those of Paul (Hans) and Eileen (Rosa) to a T. My grandparents are Wagoners. Wagners. Germans. This made it all the harder -- dare I say, more emotional -- when I realized I may have to let go of the Hubermanns in this story.
Finishing a book feels like a breakup, like the end of a relationship. I sometimes hate it, thus I don't read quickly and read the last 10 pages and especially the last 10 lines at snail's pace. The epilogue ending seemed fitting. It was as it should be. Perhaps it was as it could only be.
As represented here, the Fuhrer himself (Hitler) reminded me of the Anton Chigurh character from the 2007 film No Country for Old Men for how, despite not appearing in every (any) scene, his awful presence is felt in every word and deed performed. What a small man. What an outsized story, a sprawling imagination in an author so young.