24.4.09

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak


Wow! I cannot believe that it took me so long to finally get round to reading this book, it is one of the best that I have ever read and certainly the best book that I have ever read about the Holocaust. The book is set in 1939, Liesel's parents have been sent away to a concentration camp and she goes to live with her new foster family, the Hubermanns. Liesel is a thief, she steals books; the power of words and their consequences are central to Zusak's tale. The narrator of the book is Death and he holds nothing back. Death is there to show humanity in all it's glory, there are tales of courage and good but the tales of sheer evil and shame are given just as much space.
I am not going to write a long review of this book as I really don't feel that I can do it justice. There are just so many elements to this book; Zusak manages to show the awfully oppressive conditions that people lived in but the message that shines through is one of hope. People had to believe in themselves to survive and more importantly they had to believe in others. There were a few times when I had to put this book down as it literally made me cry; I really do feel like it is one of those books that everyone should read. Markus Zusak has taken probably the most tragic event in history and managed to write a book that is both beautiful and brutal.

8 comments:

JessicaLeigh said...

I've heard such wonderful things about this book lately. I will have to read it soon!

I'm so glad you enjoyed it as much as you did!

Kim said...

Oh, Dot! Do you realise my TBR pile just got higher? Thanks for the review, though, I am definitely going to keep my eye out for it.

Violet said...

I loved this book too. I love this cover, my book has a different one.

Savidge Reads said...

Oh I am so so pleased you liked this. I wasnt blogging when I read this... well not book blogging and so never had the chance to tell the world how much I loved it but it is just amazing!

Dot said...

Jessica- I kept on hearing wonderful things about this book and it certainly lived up to them. I would very much recommend it1

Kim- Thanks Kim, it really was good. Always good to have a nice, big TBR pile too!

Violet- I'm glad you loved it too! This cover is good isn't it, I haven't seen other ones.

Simon- It really is amazing, I have been telling people about it all weekend!

Melody said...

I still haven't read this book yet, but I've read lots of good reviews on it! Looks like I've to move this book up on my TBR pile!!

Dot said...

Melody- I kept on hearing good things about this book and I'm so glad that I read it, it's definitely worth moving up the pile!

Fay said...

My Uncle gave me this book to read weeks ago, I will be reading it asap now - thank you for the recommendation! x

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