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A review by soapsoapsoap
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
4.0
So I cried, and if I show any emotion a book is automatically a 4* or higher, no matter the content or substantiality of said book. Not only is this an emotional book, it’s a book about normal civilian lives of WWII and the daily horrors inflicted. Despite my tears, this book did have some flaws, notably: the writing style was jilted at points (something noted heavily throughout my annotations), Death spoiled everything for us, and sometimes I just didn’t feel connected to anything, I mean I even forgot there was a war going on for AT LEAST 50% of this book.
I truly don’t think I can dedicate a whole paragraph to summarize this book, so I’ll just settle for a sentence or two. Orphaned Liesel goes to stay with a poor German family (the Hubermanns) when they take in a Jew as well. Thus begins a saga of survival, theft, and living in Nazi Germany as an ostracized family with an ostracized person living in your basement.
I have SO MANY conflicting thoughts about this. On one hand, it’s like… can we get to the point please? Some of the characters I felt super connected to (Rudy, Mama, Ilsa) and some of them just… fell flat. And yes, Death spoiled everything. On the other hand… this book is hauntingly beautiful, masterfully crafted (at points), and a stark reminder of the atrocities committed by everyday citizens and the government, that the Nazi party needed a foothold to reach where it went, and that the citizens provided that foothold.
Bottom line: I honestly don’t know what I think about this book, but the good outweighs the bad so… yay?
I truly don’t think I can dedicate a whole paragraph to summarize this book, so I’ll just settle for a sentence or two. Orphaned Liesel goes to stay with a poor German family (the Hubermanns) when they take in a Jew as well. Thus begins a saga of survival, theft, and living in Nazi Germany as an ostracized family with an ostracized person living in your basement.
I have SO MANY conflicting thoughts about this. On one hand, it’s like… can we get to the point please? Some of the characters I felt super connected to (Rudy, Mama, Ilsa) and some of them just… fell flat. And yes, Death spoiled everything. On the other hand… this book is hauntingly beautiful, masterfully crafted (at points), and a stark reminder of the atrocities committed by everyday citizens and the government, that the Nazi party needed a foothold to reach where it went, and that the citizens provided that foothold.
Bottom line: I honestly don’t know what I think about this book, but the good outweighs the bad so… yay?