Sister Read Review: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Date read:  February 19 to 22, 2017

Sister Read Review by Norma and Brenda

Many excellent reviews have already been written about this novel so Brenda and I are just going to touch on things that made this book memorable to us.

THE BOOK THIEF by MARKUS ZUSAK is an achingly sad, moving, breathtaking, and unforgettable book that was well-written and hard to put down.

MARKUS ZUSAK delivers a unique story here about love, courage, friendship, survival, and guilt with an unusual narrator, Death who is telling us the tale of THE BOOK THIEF, Liesel and her life on Himmel Street.  Death speaks to us not as someone who causes death but someone who has a heart, feels sympathy, and carries the burden of his job in taking souls.  Through his compassion we started to see Death as a character who tries to understand the horrible and the good act of humans.

Quote from book:  “I am always finding humans at their worst. I see their ugly and their beauty and I wonder now how the same thing can be both.”

Norma:  I watched this movie when it first came out and I really enjoyed it.  I was able to visualize and relate to the characters in this book from remembering a lot of details from the movie which made it an enjoyable read for me.

The two wars, an accordion, a Jewish fist fighter, a basement, and Liesel’s love for her beloved books all really brought out something special for us in regards to the telling of this story. The power of words and the love of books also makes them worth stealing in the eyes of our book thief. That alone was unique!!!

To sum it all up it was a well written, unique, heart-wrenching, interesting, and steady-paced read with a sad and touching ending. Would recommend!