The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The story takes place in 1939, Germany is on the verge of war. A nine-year-old German girl, Liesel Meminger, is on a train with her mother and younger brother, heading towards a town in southern Germany. Her father has been detained by the government for being a communist, forcing him to leave his wife and kids behind. The mother could simply not afford to care for her children. She arranged for them to be adopted. Liesel’s brother passes away on the train ride. This is when Death (the narrator of the story) first meets Liesel. Together, they bury her brother and Liesel steals her first book, “The Gravedigger’s Handbook.”
She continues her journey and gets adopted by Mrs Rosa Huberman and Mr Hans Huberman who live in a small german town called Molching. Rosa, her adoptive mother, is a strict woman yet extremely caring and hardworking. To earn some extra money for the family, she does the entire street’s laundry, which Liesel helps with. Meanwhile, Hans, her adoptive father, is a house painter and plays the accordion; he is very fond of Liesel and teaches her to read and write. Despite her comfortable life with her adoptive family, Liesel is haunted by her brother’s death and is kept awake by nightmares. Hans decides to calm her down by reading her “The Gravedigger’s Handbook.” Later on, she meets a boy named Ruby and they become fast friends and partners in crime (stealing books). He is obsessed with an African-American athlete named Jesse Owens.
I think that Markus Zusak clearly intended this book for adult readers since the book was first published as adult fiction in Australia. However, America has deemed it as a young adult book, which in some aspects, I agree with more. As a young adult reader myself, I found this book very eye-opening and infatuating. For some, the book may seem slow-paced, something that I understand, however, do not agree with it.
This story is about the average German citizen, offering a portrayal of how everyday people suffered the evils of war. It shows how the Allies’ decision to bomb German cities brought slaughter and devastation to the german people. Throughout the book, we see how the people on Himmel Street are affected by the war. The rich neighbours dismiss Rosa as a laundry aid and Hans loses a lot of business.
I think this book is very unique in that its narrator is Death himself. He is not like the Grim Reaper. He is gentle and sympathetic towards humans and the souls he picks up. However, he is very disappointed and disgusted with human ignorance.
