The Book Thief
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
What a book. How could I give this any less than 5 stars. I want to give it 100. The perspective is so amazingly unique, which makes this book unlike ANY other ever written (at least as far as I have read). The copy of the book I read was beautiful too, soft pages, tons of white space, and I really liked the little different snippets that are in amongst the book, it feels more real than just a story.
But even the story is amazing, and the people; they are real. The description is amazing and vivid too. The words, they are beautiful, each sentence is lovingly crafted, the power of words is definitely a theme of this book as well as being this book.
One really unique factor is that Death spoils the story all the time, (he tells us who eventually dies, then constantly reminds us until they do). I kept thinking hey you can't do that in the book, you need to heave the readers wondering to create suspense. Still it worked, and it was in character with the story, with the narrator. In this case breaking rules of writing worked well, very well, and added to the story. The story which was interesting enough not to need that suspense, of possible deaths and other things, even the end of the book.
I often read books fast, but I couldn't do that with this one. A lot of thinking must be involved and though I had to know what happened, it wasn't an edge of the seat roller-coaster ride, It was more like a drawn out farewell at a grave side, that must be done for someone you love, because you want to but it is painful. I loved this book all the way through. Certainly everyone won't like it, but give it a try because you could be missing out.
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So those are my thoughts on the book right after I finished reading it, not always the most unbiased time to review, but I remember the most. There are probably problems with it. Like the fact that I didn't really understand "The Word Shaker" I assume it did have some meaning, but I didn't really get it. I also like any story.... well not any, but I am drawn to war stories (stories set in war times). I also liked the descriptions of the sky all through the book.
Another thing that makes the book stand out is the beautiful, unusual descriptions. The descriptions in the book are almost like analogies. Hair the colour of a lemon, hair like feathers, dry sticks, the descriptions were like poetry.
You could say the book was a slow read, but I don't think that is a bad thing. It certainly was not the most cheerful book. And then ending was sad, but at least it was not devastating, I was ok with the end.
“She tore a page from the book and ripped it in half.
Then a chapter.
Soon, there was nothing but scraps of words littered between her legs and all around her. The words. Why did they have to exist? Without them, there wouldn't be any of this. Without words, the Führer was nothing. There would be no limping prisoners, no need for consolation or wordly tricks to make us feel better.
What good were the words?
She said it audibly now, to the orange-lit room. "What good are the words?”
The power of words, the love of books.
About the Author
3 comments
It sounds like a great book! What age range would you recommend it for? I've been hearing about it and it sounds interesting but I'm wondering if it would be appropriate for a girl my age to read. :)
ReplyDelete~Lydia~ <3
I'd say at least 13+ But it would depend on comprehension ability too. The book deals with death, and can be a bit morbid. But you also have to be old enough to understand the book, it is not your normal narrative story. The main character is 11 at the beginning (I think) and the book mostly ends when she is 14. I'd ask your parents if they thought you would understand it, get them to read a few reviews on it.
ReplyDeleteOkay, thank you. :) I'll find it at the library and ask my mom to look at it to see if she'll approve of it.
Delete~Lydia~ <3