The Book Thief is a tale of WWII, but from the point of view of a little German girl. Plenty of stories have been told by Jews that saw plenty of horrors, and I am not knocking those, but people seem to forget that there were plenty of Germans caught among the events as well. And this is a wonderful story capturing the confusion, fear, and hope of one little girl.
This book had been recommended to me from many sources and always I thought it was just another war story that would make me weep and so I therefore did not want to pick it up. But when a friend sent it to me and I was forced to see it on my shelf every day and hear her ask "So have you read it yet?" I had to confront it. And then I wondered why it had taken me so darn long to pick this book up!
Everything about this book is simply magnificent. Firstly, it is all told from the point of view of Death, a character everyone seems to forget, but Zusak embraces him and allows him to tell the events as he saw them. Then the main character is a little girl who confronts the most profound moments in her little life by stealing! The other characters that surround her are just as flawed, making them each more lovable in their own rights. The imagery is amazing, the voice is beautiful, and the story is poignant.
Am I praising it too much? No, I really don't think enough praise has been given to this book. But maybe something will come from it being made into a movie. I don't know. I believe that this should be on everyone's list of books to read, and most likely reread. I am very happy that I now have a copy on my shelf to turn back to from time to time and encourage others to pick up. It is truly amazing.
No comments:
Post a Comment