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4.46 AVERAGE
4.46 AVERAGE
made me cry so much…. I really loved death as the narrator. I simply really liked this book :,)
Very challenging to get through the 1st 100 pages but from there the book is amazing!
I kept this book on my shelf for 10 years before I got to read it.
Reading it, I cried enough to make up for those 10 wasted years.
Reading it, I cried enough to make up for those 10 wasted years.
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Immediately became one of my favourite books, I started reading it and could not put it down - finished within two days. Made me feel extremely emotional, I ended up crying in a Tesco cafe whilst waiting for a lift (the last book I remember crying at I read in primary school). I could not recommend this book enough, the writing style is easy to read and the characters are lovable - even if the setting is horrific.
The Book Thief is a historical fiction novel told from the perspective of death. Our narrator tells the story of Liesel Meminger. Set during World War II in Germany, Liesel’s mother could no longer afford to take care of Liesel and her brother and had to send them to a foster family. On the train ride to Munich, Liesel’s brother dies. Liesel steals her first book at her brother’s funeral. Without her brother, Liesel now has to find support and friendship in her new situation. Her foster father teaches her to read. Her friend, Rudy Steiner, becomes her accomplice in stealing books. She forges an unexpected friendship with Max Vandenburg, the Jewish man they hide in the basement. This is a remarkable story about the power of words, and throughout the novel, Liesel learns what happens when those words are used for good or for evil.
For the rest of the review visit http://stayingcurious.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/the-book-thief/
For the rest of the review visit http://stayingcurious.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/the-book-thief/
This book made me cry, which isn't to say that it's a sad book. But it is a book about war and survival and love and loss. There is a certain art to grieving and to loving, like there is a certain art of anything involving living. The Book Thief captures it all in the beautiful writing and the equally (surprising) voice of Death - the narrator.
Upon first thought, the book seems to be purely about war, about the injustice of the Nazi soldiers, about a little girl who has yet to understand the complexities of life. But through the little girl, Liesel, the reader views World War II in a way that has yet to be viewed. Liesel is not a soldier; she is not a Jew. She is simply a little girl who doesn't quite believe in the war that is being fought, and Death seems to love this about her.
What made this book heartbreaking was how delicately handled it was. Death wasn't gruesome or distorted. Death was relatable and poetic and kind of funny. Death seemed almost like a friend, someone you could count on even when there wasn't anything left to count.
The Book Thief is about a girl and her love of words and books. It's about survival, but it's also about life amongst the dying.
Upon first thought, the book seems to be purely about war, about the injustice of the Nazi soldiers, about a little girl who has yet to understand the complexities of life. But through the little girl, Liesel, the reader views World War II in a way that has yet to be viewed. Liesel is not a soldier; she is not a Jew. She is simply a little girl who doesn't quite believe in the war that is being fought, and Death seems to love this about her.
What made this book heartbreaking was how delicately handled it was. Death wasn't gruesome or distorted. Death was relatable and poetic and kind of funny. Death seemed almost like a friend, someone you could count on even when there wasn't anything left to count.
The Book Thief is about a girl and her love of words and books. It's about survival, but it's also about life amongst the dying.
I was prepared for this book to change my life, per such high reviews and acclaim of the book and author. It didn't. However, it did seem to haunt me for a while.
I finished the book, set it down and thought "hmmmm...ok." Then I walked away, carried on, and thought about it throughout the following days. Liesel stuck with me. I couldn't shake her. I even cried about things her character went through, which means I was very attached to her. She felt very real to me, as did everyone else in the book.
Overall, I liked the book. What really seemed to bother me throughout was the authors attempt at poetic prose, sometimes it worked and most of the time it didn't. It REALLY distracted me away from the story line and the characters. It felt that the author was really reaching, trying too hard to used words and twist them into prose. It didn't work for me. Just because something is abstract, doesn't mean it's art. My friend told me that he is still trying to figure out what a dark chocolate colored sky looks like. Some of the prose I did like, I quoted at the end of the review.
I did not like Death as a narrator. The story would have been much better with out him. The character development was great, the emotion was there, I just didn't need death to point out to me that I should be sad.
If you reflect on the whole story, it's actually not very remarkable. War is bad and tough things happen to all those that are involved. THAT is what I think makes this story good. It's an average story of an average person during the war making it actualized and attainable for the reader. It's relatable.
As a book lover, I was especially fond of the passion for books that this novel conveys. Books can be an escape, a thrill, or a reason to keep on going. Books are just more than paper and glue (or a backlit screen).
It is a good book. I would recommend it. I continue to be haunted by the very last line, as apparently, so does death.
Passages and universal questions I liked:
'I guess humans like to watch a little destruction. Sandcastles, houses of cards, that’s where they begin. Their great skill is their capacity to escalate.’
'Did they deserve any better,(ordinary german citizens) these people? How many actively persecuted others, high on the scent of Hitler's gaze, repeating his sentences, his paragraphs, his opus?'
'Is there cowardice in the acknowledgement of fear? Is there cowardice in being glad that you lived?'
'Oh how the clouds stumbled in and assembled stupidly in the sky. Great obese clouds. Dark and plump.Bumping into each other. Apologizing. Moving on and finding room'
I finished the book, set it down and thought "hmmmm...ok." Then I walked away, carried on, and thought about it throughout the following days. Liesel stuck with me. I couldn't shake her. I even cried about things her character went through, which means I was very attached to her. She felt very real to me, as did everyone else in the book.
Overall, I liked the book. What really seemed to bother me throughout was the authors attempt at poetic prose, sometimes it worked and most of the time it didn't. It REALLY distracted me away from the story line and the characters. It felt that the author was really reaching, trying too hard to used words and twist them into prose. It didn't work for me. Just because something is abstract, doesn't mean it's art. My friend told me that he is still trying to figure out what a dark chocolate colored sky looks like. Some of the prose I did like, I quoted at the end of the review.
I did not like Death as a narrator. The story would have been much better with out him. The character development was great, the emotion was there, I just didn't need death to point out to me that I should be sad.
If you reflect on the whole story, it's actually not very remarkable. War is bad and tough things happen to all those that are involved. THAT is what I think makes this story good. It's an average story of an average person during the war making it actualized and attainable for the reader. It's relatable.
As a book lover, I was especially fond of the passion for books that this novel conveys. Books can be an escape, a thrill, or a reason to keep on going. Books are just more than paper and glue (or a backlit screen).
It is a good book. I would recommend it. I continue to be haunted by the very last line, as apparently, so does death.
Passages and universal questions I liked:
'I guess humans like to watch a little destruction. Sandcastles, houses of cards, that’s where they begin. Their great skill is their capacity to escalate.’
'Did they deserve any better,(ordinary german citizens) these people? How many actively persecuted others, high on the scent of Hitler's gaze, repeating his sentences, his paragraphs, his opus?'
'Is there cowardice in the acknowledgement of fear? Is there cowardice in being glad that you lived?'
'Oh how the clouds stumbled in and assembled stupidly in the sky. Great obese clouds. Dark and plump.Bumping into each other. Apologizing. Moving on and finding room'