June Book Review - The Book Thief

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

Overall Rating: 4/5

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I haven't read anything in this genre before and it was an interesting new experience.

In The Book Thief, a young German girl called Leisel is relocated to a town far from home during the lead up to world war two. A horrific indecent on the train journey there leaves her haunted for some time and provides her first experience with death, an important theme through the book.

When Hans, Leseil's foster father, discovers that she can't read, he begins to read to her and teach her about the written language, providing comfort in a time of distress. Through the book we watch Liesel discover a love of reading which drives many of her actions and choices over the course of her childhood years through the Second World War. We also learn about Leisel's difficult past as well as experiencing meetings with many new people and the relationships that develop between them. Despite being complex, I became quickly invested in the story which helped to make it relatively easy to keep track of.

One of my favourite aspects of the book was it's narration by death, although this sounds dark it added a truly unique and interesting insight, particularly important to the world during this turbulent and troubling time. Additionally, the story was never truly morbid with characters of spirited humour and sentiment that lifted the story providing hope.

As well as depth there was balance in this story giving thought to how life may be for ordinary Germans, even those who were blue-eyed and blonde, who had to habitually decide between risking their lives or ignoring their morals. Indeed these individuals' lives were often as uncertain as those of the Jewish community. This book was filled with choices between what may feel right and what may keep a German family safe.

I usually struggle with longer books but found this one manageable as it is broken into lots of sections with welcome, regular beaks within both pages and chapters. Having said this, I read this book in June this year, during which I had to self-isolate as I tested positive with COVID and I must say I think that without time off work I would have struggled to get through this book easily. As much as I enjoyed the story, it was not the easiest read at times and ... but don't let that put you off; I do feel it is worth it.

Recommendations

Would I recommend?

Yes I would, but be prepared it may take a little while to get you through it.

To Who?

I would recommend this book to young adults from 15 years and above, perhaps 13-14years if reading with an adult as there are some dark themes and challenging storylines in the book. However, these are all associated with important historical and emotional concepts that we should all be keen to educate ourselves on.

If you enjoyed this book... I haven't red many books int he is genre but I think you'd also enjoy A Thousand Splendid Suns (on my to read list!), The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' and The Tattooist of Auschwitz.