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The Book Thief - Markus Zusak


 The Book Thief - Markus Zusak Printed Book
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The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

 
Description: ISBN 0375831002 / Author: Markus Zusak / Genre: Fiction / Grade 9 Up–Zusak has created a work that deserves the attention of ... more
The Book Thief - Markus Zusak ... sophisticated teen and adult readers. Death himself narrates the World War II-era story of Liesel Meminger from the time she is taken, at age nine, to live in Molching, Germany, with a foster family in a working-class neighborhood of tough kids, acid-tongued mothers, and loving fathers who earn their living by the work of their hands. The child arrives having just stolen her first book–although she has not yet learned how to read–and her foster father uses it, The Gravediggers Handbook, to lull her to sleep when shes roused by regular nightmares about her younger brothers death. Across the ensuing years of the late 1930s and into the 1940s, Liesel collects more stolen books as well as a peculiar set of friends: the boy Rudy, the Jewish refugee Max, the mayors reclusive wife (who has a whole library from which she allows Liesel to steal), and especially her foster parents. Zusak not only creates a mesmerizing and original story but also writes with poetic syntax, causing readers to deliberate over phrases and lines, even as the action impels them forward. Death is not a sentimental storyteller, but he does attend to an array of satisfying details, giving Liesels story all the nuances of chance, folly, and fulfilled expectation that it deserves. An extraordinary narrative.

Newest Review: ... does hint at what will happen and he often mentions that a character will die many chapters before they actually do. In a ... more

 ... way, this allowed me to acclimatise myself to the upcoming loss and to anticipate how it would occur. I think that some readers might find this slightly irritating, but the focus in this novel is on story telling, rather than on developing a mystery. It is story telling that seems to help the characters survive, including the narrator. In keeping with this intention, the language is often highly evocative. One example early on is: "The last time I saw her was red. The sky was like soup, boiling and ...more

Puggers
Crowned Review The Book Thief - Markus Zusak: Welcome to Himmel Street, Saumensch (922 words)
by - written on 24/01/09 (Very useful, 233 readings)
Rating:

It must be challenging for authors to write novels based around Nazi Germany and the Second World War. Although one needn't look far for endless potential for emotional, powerful stories, the wealth of existing literature is such that it's hard to find a new angle on history; to be able to say something that hasn't been laid down on paper at length before. Yet, Markus Zusak has managed to create something quite exceptional here. The story of Liesel Meminger, set through the years of her life that fall between 1939-1945 is indeed a powerful one, conveying all the happiness and tragedy that any child could have experienced at the time. Above anything for me, this story ...  Read the complete review

burtybookworm
Crowned Review ♥♥♥ It stole my heart ♥♥♥ ... (856 words)
by - written on 21/10/08 (Very useful, 213 readings)
Rating:

Time to review another of my favourite all time books - this one is a powerful book, a summary of which would either put you off or make you curious enough to read it - death narrates a story of a German girl in Nazi Germany who harbours a Jew in her basement... About the Author & The Plot =================== Markus Zusak is an Australian author who as a child heard many stories of his mother's life in a small German town during the war. Zusak says he particularly remembers his mother telling him of the Jews marching through their town and how there was an elderly gentleman at the end of the march who was so badly beaten and worn out that he ...  Read the complete review

Krystles
Crowned Review The Book Thief - Markus Zusak: The Book Thief - Heartfelt and Achingly Beautiful (1082 words)
by - written on 17/04/09 (Very useful, 435 readings)
Rating:

This novel was recommended to me by a work colleague. Having studied history at University, particularly World War II from a German, Russian, British, American and Australian perspective, I often decide I have had my fill of WWII stories. I am prone to steer clear of what can be a touching but heart-wrenching subject, though when done badly the war can be reduced to a mind-numbing experience of numbers and dates that causes you to disassociate yourself from the events that affected people on a real human level. The often dry approach that many writers take inhibits a connection with a topic that at its core should be about how war affects people and how people live their ...  Read the complete review

brokenangel
Premium Review Death tells a tale of woe (1400 words)
by - written on 28/11/09 (Very useful, 38 readings)
Rating:

The image of death dancing on the spine of the book intrigued me immediately, but it took me many months to finally buy and read this book. The style of the first few pages was novel, partly because they were narrated by death, and partly because the words were presented in some odd ways, but I wasn't sure that I really wanted to read 550 pages in such an odd style. After all, 'different' doesn't necessarily imply 'good to read'. Finally, I spotted it on a shelf in a charity shop and read the first few chapters without stopping. I couldn't resist it anymore, but would I regret the impulsive purchase? Style Unusually, I want to discuss the style of ...  Read the complete review

UK1981_female
Premium Review The Book Thief - Markus Zusak: Recommended reading (1099 words)
by - written on 06/10/09 (Very useful, 120 readings)
Rating:

I have just finished reading 'The Book Thief' by Markus Zusak. It was another one of the books that I picked up from my local library and what attracted me to it was a mixture of things. I was actually on the lookout for a big chunky book that I could really get into so the fact that 'The Book Thief' was close to 600 pages long meant it definitely caught my eye! In addition I was intrigued by the fact that this book was narrated by Death. This was very different and I just felt I was in for a unique reading experience. Markus Zusak, the author of 'The Book Thief' grew up in Australia, always hearing stories of what it was like in Munich during the Nazi period ...  Read the complete review

 

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The Book Thief - Markus Zusak