The Book Thief

The Book Thief – Markus Zusak

Death spends a lot of time in Germany during WWII, helping souls leave their bodies when the time comes. However, Death does not just watch and wait for souls, he also observes life. One of the lives that happens to catch his attention is that of Liesel Meminger, the book thief. Death had taken her brother when they were on the train to their new foster family, and he watches Liesel as she settles in to her new life. Slowly, she learns to participate in life on Himmel Street by loving her parents, making new friends, and stealing when necessary. Suddenly, Max, a Jew who has been in hiding for years, shows up at the door to her house requesting help. Without a question, Max is given a home, albeit a small and cold one hidden in the basement, and as Liesel learns to live her life, she also learns to share it with Max. Her heart grows to encompass new people, a sense of right and wrong, and a determination to follow her own path. Death is watching all the while, for this is Germany during WWII, and when he comes, Liesel must learn again and again how to adapt and grow.

“The Book Thief” is a unique and original novel, and not only because it tells the story from the perspective of Death. The story focuses on a young girl as the main character, giving weight and value to her experiences, opinions, and impressions. By recreating such a devastating time in history from both the perspective of Death as well as the eyes of a child, Zusak creates a poignant, humanizing, and heart-wrenching narrative of coping and struggling to overcome obstacles in life while also facing daily tasks and challenges of adolescence. The story also takes on life of its own because Zusak paints with his words. Not only does Liesel use words to recreate outdoor realms for Max in the basement, but Max reconstructs her tales into stories and dreams while the whole existence of Germany suffers constant upheaval so that it becomes practically impossible to separate fiction from reality. This is a musical novel, an artistic novel, or the novel reimagined. It is anything, as long as it is not just a book because words have so much more value and life than just being letters on a page.

There are a couple reasons I really enjoyed reading “The Book Thief.” I loved the unique perspective, because I have not encountered previous stories that were simultaneously so relatable and humbling by having Death as the narrator. I loved it because Liesel was the main character and youth so rarely holds authority. I also loved it because of the wordplay, but this is not the same wordplay as Douglas Adams or Vladimir Nabokov. Zusak makes music from words, but this is a sentimental story and a painful topic, and beautiful wordplay is very different from the ridiculous wordplay more frequently encountered in novels. But that is a pretty small complaint for such a hugely compelling story. Definitely read this one.