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The Book Thief

 


If I told you The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is about an orphan girl who watched her brother die and is then given over to foster parents who are dirt poor (the mother calls her names and swears like a sailor) and that all this takes place in NAZI Germany starting on the eve of World War II, you would think that sounds like a depressing book. You would be wrong.

The narrator of this story is Death. This seems fitting for a story that takes place in NAZI Germany, but this Death is at times sensitive and even, dare I say it, likeable. He/she/it does their job, no question about it, collecting souls in record numbers. Death has spent quite a bit of time watching Liesel (our main character). Liesel is thrown into an unfamiliar world. Even though her foster mother, Rosa, is hard and berates her, Death assures us that Rosa loves her in her own way.

The fact that Liesel’s family is poor does not mean that she leads an uninteresting life. She has adventures with her friend Rudy and she has her part-time avocation of book thievery. Although, as thieves go, she is pretty harmless.

We are given a slice of life, what it was like growing up in NAZI Germany. We watch some people who fanatically embrace the Fuhrer and everything he stands for. We see others who do not believe in the system but who seem to go along with it so as not to become targets. We cannot really blame them, because we see what happens to anyone who attempts even the smallest of rebellion.  So, Liesel and her friends join the Hitler Youth because they have to. It is a requirement.  But when Liesel tells her stepfather Hans that she hates the Fuhrer, Hans slaps her. It is the only time he ever raises a hand to her. It is not because he disagrees with her, but he impresses on her that she must never say anything like that when she is outside of their home. Such words could get Liesel and the whole family killed.

As you might expect, there are certainly hard, troubling things in this book. Yet it is told with enough humor and love that it is palatable. Death frequently tells us what is coming, both good and bad. This is not so much foreshadowing as it is a giving out of spoilers. And yet, the spoilers do not really spoil anything but somehow enhance it. I can't explain that. You will just have to read it. 

I loved this story. The characters will stay with me a long time. I laughed and I cried, and I kept turning pages. There is beauty in this book. The beauty comes not from anyone’s appearance, but from the shining light we see they have inside them. In a world where all the cards are stacked against them, Liesel, Rudy, and her foster parents are good people who have a secretive kind of courage inside them.

 Yes, even book thieves can be good people.

Star Liner

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