No amount of hours spent studying WWII history could ever move me in the way The Book Thief did.
Then think of doing it twenty-four hours a day.” –Markus Zusak, The Book Thief A still shot from the movie adaptation of The Book Thief. “Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. By reading about Liesel’s experiences, I have gained a newfound appreciation for being where I am and who I am at this very moment.
Owning a book, for one, is something I have never considered an entitlement.
I realize that as an American living in the twenty-first century, I have countless privileges that I often take for granted. I cannot imagine living a life where your next day could be your last. Reading the story forced me to contemplate a dismal truth: The people who actually lived this story, the people whose lives are now history, couldn’t escape their realities either. Aside from the characters, I’m obsessed with the figurative language used in this book, as well as recurring references made throughout the story.īecause The Book Thief is a historical fiction novel, I couldn’t escape the realness of the book (no matter how much I wanted to and, trust me, I did). Words cannot describe my appreciation for beautifully created characters like Hans and Rosa Hubermann, Rudy Steiner, Max Vandenberg, and–most importantly–Liesel Meminger. With Death cast as the narrator, The Book Thief captivates readers with his grim and alluring perspective on Liesel’s life and her war-corrupt society.Īlthough I prefer “plot-based” books, I must acknowledge that “character-based” books tell the stories that truly and irrevocably make and break me. As she and her family navigate various predicaments involving people such as the Jewish fist-fighter hidden in her basement or the mayor and his queer wife, Liesel’s world continues down a path of abnormality. When Liesel’s foster parents, the stern Rosa Hubermann who affectionately calls Liesel “ saumensch,” and the tender-hearted Hans Hubermann who teaches Liesel how to read her stolen books, risk their German privilege and hide a Jewish man in their basement, the young thief is exposed to the atrocities of WWII. Set in Nazi Germany, from 1939 to 1945, The Book Thief tells the story of Liesel Meminger, a girl who was separated from her mother, tortured by the death of her brother, and obsessed with thieving books. The Book Thief was raw, real, and left me broken on the floor.
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