"The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak (A2)

Savior

The Book Thief

By Markus Zusak

# Pgs: 576

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Overview:

The extraordinary #1 New York Times bestseller that will be in movie theaters on November 15, 2013, Markus Zusak's unforgettable story is about the ability of books to feed the soul.

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak, author of I Am the Messenger, has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

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Review:

It was while I was volunteering in my school's library today that I found out that the library was going to toss a whole bunch of books. Being the charitable soul that I am, I grabbed five books that would've otherwise have been trash on my way out the door. To be honest, I have no idea what they're about. But that's why my curiosity exists, and I'm not just going to let my new books just sit there for eternity. Who cares that it's only now that I'm considering the fact that I have no shelf space left in my room?

In any case, the idea that my school, an institution, was going to be tossing out some perfectly good books reminded me both of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and of The Book Theif by Markus Zusak. Since The Book Thief made me bawl my eyes out, I decided to base today's review about that.

Zusak's book is told through the point of view of the Grim Reaper, or Death, during Nazi Germany 1933-1945. It tells the story of a young girl growing up in this period. At first I thought that Zusak's book was a little tough to get in to, just because Zusak's way of writing is a lot different than what I'm used to. It was after the first few chapters that I really started to get in to it, and then I was completely lost. Regardless of any restrictions that I might've had regarding school, I completed the book within a three or four day period. By the end, I was bawling my eyes out, and I had finally found a book I might consider as one of my favorite books of all time.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a tear-jerker, or even if you just like reading historical fiction works. I think, and I've also heard, that Zusak's book could someday become one of the classics.

Also I think that anyone even the slightest bit interested in reading this book should read it soon because I just found out that it's going to become a movie. For any literature lover, you should always read the book before watching the movie, and the book is always so much better.

Thanks for reading, leave a comment and let me know what you think!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816442/  (Soon to be Movie Information!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92EBSmxinus  (Movie Trailer)

What do you think about The Book Thief becoming a movie? Expectations? Personally, I'm just a little worried since the book itself was so good. I wonder how the characters, like Death, are going to be portrayed and what about the book they're going to change. Seriously though, read the book first!