Book review # 15 The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Categories: books, germany

Date: 22 October 2008 17:09:58

The Book Thief is written by an Australian writer of German/Austrian parentage. He wrote it to record the stories his parents told him of life in Nazi Germany. And what an extraordinary novel it is. The narrator is Death who knows in advance of the action who is going to die and how and hints are given to the reader and yet these do not spoil the action as it is so compellingly tense.

The book thief is Liesel, a girl fostered by a couple, because her own parents are deemed unsuitable for the task as they are communists. Herr and Frau Hubermann are not exactly dyed in the wool Nazis, as Herr Hubermann struggles with his conscience about joining the Party, even though this means his business is badly affected. He cannot believe that the Jews are the reason for the country's misfortunes for his own life was saved by a Jew when they fought side by side in the First World War. And this is a debt he repays at a high risk to his family's security as they hide the son of his rescuer in their basement.

Liesel is determined to learn to read and, in an era of book burning, steals books to help her in this quest. She becomes very fond of Max, the Jew in the basement, who writes stories for her written on whitewashed pages of Mein Kampf. She is a feisty tomboy of a lass who does not allow the Party's propoganda influence what she sees to be right and wrong. In her own 11-year old way, she stands up to the bullies and lives with the consequences. Her life shows that life for ordinary Germans in the war was no picnic; food became scarce and there was always the threat of being reported for minor politically incorrect* misdemeanours.

Zusak has a wonderful way of combining words to build pictures "He was teenage tall and had a long neck. Pimples were gathered in peer groups on his face. He was friendly, in a smart-mouth adolescent way...". .....
"Between the hand-holding shadows, the painted words were scattered about, perched on their shoulders, resting on their heads and hanging from their arms."

The book is nearly 600 pages long, so not a quick read, but a worthwhile one.

*One day I may blog about why I hate this phrase!