The Book Thief

 

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The Book Thief by Markus Zusak was published in 2005. It is an international bestseller and was turned into a movie. For those who haven't read or watched or heard of either, here's a quick summery.

Death narrates the story of Lesiel, a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany during World War II. Her family is poor but chooses to hide Max, a young man being hunted for being a Jew. Lesiel must navigate the Nazi party, her family's secret, her relationship with the boy next door, and their growing resentment for the inhumanity around them. 

To be honest, I watched the ending of the movie first while traveling internationally. It was nice hearing English after so long in a new place and it was tear-jerking because of the movie's content.  After this experience, I told myself I needed to read the book but I didn't pick it up until recently, mostly because of BookTubers (bookish YouTubers) constantly talk about this book, claiming it's one of their favorites or life-changing or compelling. So I got the book from a thrift store and I read  it in two days and . . . I don't think it's that good.

Now before anyone gets the torches and pitchforks, hear me out.*Spoilers below*

I really liked Death as the narrator. He's not evil and he doesn't take pleasure in what he does, he focuses on the colors of the sky whenever someone dies as a way to distract himself. He lifts the souls and cradles them as he takes them away. Yet he doesn't waiver in his work. He's not squeemish about what it is he does (and yes, i realize Death doesn't give himself a gender but I pictured him as male so that's the pronoun I'm going with. To each their own).

The characters are amazing, easy to tell apart and they grow as the story progresses. Relationships develope and change. Political issues are explored and given thought. For something aimed at Middle School to High School kids, this book does a lot with a very dark time in history. 

I did cry when Hans is sent to war because of his aid to the Jews being marched through the town. The scenes of war are very real, especially to anyone who's dealt with a loved one going to war (hense the waterworks). I also cried at Rudy's death but here is one of my problems with the book. I knew how Rudy was going to die, the circumstances surounding his death, and the fact it's not until after his death that Leseil kisses him, about halfway through the book. The ending is spoiled by Death halfway through so what little conflict that was building is deflated by the end.

That's another thing, I never felt any tension building throughout the book. Even when there's the threat of Nazi's searching the basement and finding Max, there isn't enough build up and it settles too quickly. The entire book feels slow. Everytime I thought it was moving along, it just kept going. The ending felt dragged out, but this might be because Death spoiled it so there really felt like no point in it continuing. Also, why does Death spoil the ending? Is it because time and circumstances aren't supposed to apply to him? Because he tells the readers right in the beginning that they're going to die? Or did Zusak or his publishers think the subject would be too serious for the audience? I'm not sure but it feels like cheating.

After reading the book, I rewatched the movie and found it similarly underwhelming. Maybe I was just in the wrong mood, but I was disappointed with how much they cut out of Rudy and Leseil's relationship. He's supposed to be her first love and they barely share significant time together. On the other hand, I did like seeing her relationship with Max expand from awkward interactions to a sibling level of companionship. I'm not sure if they intended for the two to be romantic but the movie's ending kind of came off that way. 

Overall, I was disappointed. Everyone I'd heard talk about it, said the book was amazing but I didn't get that. Maybe it was hyped too much for me or maybe I was just in the wrong kind of mood for this type of story. The Book Thief is well written and deals with important and difficult topics that are important for young adults to read and understand. It's told in an interesting way and it shows a side of history that isn't always discussed. Unfortunately, it just wasn't the story for me. Maybe I'll try again sometime. 

If you like historical coming of age stories or WWII stories, this is a good fit. If you're expecting battles or thriller suspense stories, then you may want to pass for now.