The Book Thief: Review
Markus Zusak (2013) Photo by Page Thirteen via Wikimedia Commons There are many books that stick out from the endless pages of black on white. Books which delight, books which scare, books which bewilder, and which make a person reflect on their own humanity. But very few have had such an impact on myself as with Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief . “ I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right." Narrated by Death himself, Zusak tells the story of Liesel, a German girl sent to live with foster parents just before the outbreak of World War II. After her brother’s death on the journey to her new home, Liesel’s life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow – The Gravedigger’s Handbook . Though she cannot yet read, this first act of thievery sparks a love affair with books and words that is nurtured further by her accordion-playing foster father, Hans. As war closes in and rationing and air raids ...