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A review by penguinna
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is a book about the power of words. Words used by the Man With The Short Funny Mustache to kill millions. Words that calm dozens huddled in a basement under bomb shelling. Words that create lifelong friendships. And words that save someone from death.
The Book Thief has a very particular narrator whom we all know personally. His name is Death. He encounters Liesel Meminger three times during different episodes of her life, starting from the train where she loses her brother and steals her first book.
Liesel is 9 years old. Her parents are now in a concentration camp, and she has just moved to a foster family on Himmel Street in Molching, Germany.
I cannot think of a book with more lovable characters than this one.
▪️ There's Papa, Hans Hubermann, who teaches Liesel how to read and plays the accordion, an instrument he inherited from the person who saved his life.
▪️ There's Mama, Rosa Hubermann, who swears in every sentence and gives a Watschen for bad behavior, yet hides a big, big heart deep inside.
▪️ And there's Max Vandenburg, a Jew hidden in the Hubermanns' basement during the Holocaust, who paints stories on pages torn from Mein Kampf.
I first read this book 7 years ago. It was a sunny day, I was outside, and I cried my eyes out when I turned the last page. I was certain it wouldn’t happen again this time. I was wrong.
This is a beautiful, yet tragic story of how different lives and destinies intertwine because of words, books, and their all-encompassing power. Words can save lives, but they can also kill. We are helpless without them, but we must also learn to tame them.
The words in The Book Thief made me laugh, hurt me, and healed me. The unbroken promise, the bread given to a dead man, the stolen apples, the rolled cigarettes, the hugged accordion, the pig-girl, the first and last kiss on ashed lips, the coal-covered boy with lemon hair, The Grave Digger's Handbook, The Whistler, twigs and feathers, and the best book that saved a life.
<i>I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.</i>
More reviews by me on instagram: @penguinna_books
The Book Thief has a very particular narrator whom we all know personally. His name is Death. He encounters Liesel Meminger three times during different episodes of her life, starting from the train where she loses her brother and steals her first book.
Liesel is 9 years old. Her parents are now in a concentration camp, and she has just moved to a foster family on Himmel Street in Molching, Germany.
I cannot think of a book with more lovable characters than this one.
▪️ There's Papa, Hans Hubermann, who teaches Liesel how to read and plays the accordion, an instrument he inherited from the person who saved his life.
▪️ There's Mama, Rosa Hubermann, who swears in every sentence and gives a Watschen for bad behavior, yet hides a big, big heart deep inside.
▪️ And there's Max Vandenburg, a Jew hidden in the Hubermanns' basement during the Holocaust, who paints stories on pages torn from Mein Kampf.
I first read this book 7 years ago. It was a sunny day, I was outside, and I cried my eyes out when I turned the last page. I was certain it wouldn’t happen again this time. I was wrong.
This is a beautiful, yet tragic story of how different lives and destinies intertwine because of words, books, and their all-encompassing power. Words can save lives, but they can also kill. We are helpless without them, but we must also learn to tame them.
The words in The Book Thief made me laugh, hurt me, and healed me. The unbroken promise, the bread given to a dead man, the stolen apples, the rolled cigarettes, the hugged accordion, the pig-girl, the first and last kiss on ashed lips, the coal-covered boy with lemon hair, The Grave Digger's Handbook, The Whistler, twigs and feathers, and the best book that saved a life.
<i>I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.</i>
More reviews by me on instagram: @penguinna_books