Review of The Book Thief

At long last, here is my first book review. I know, I know, late in coming. I've been quite busy lately. The first book our bailiff book club read was The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. The book is about the young adolescence of a German girl who is raised by foster parents after she loses her natural family because of her father's adherence to Communism in Nazi Germany. I'll leave the plot summary at that in case anybody cares to read it themselves.

I really enjoyed this book. It is written from the perspective of Death, who makes for an unusual narrator. Thematically, I appreciated the emphasis on how people can have a positive impact even in the face of insurmountable and really terrible opposition. The Hans character is perhaps even a bit "too" good in that regard. But I like to think that, even when horrible things are happening the good in people shines through.

I also liked how there was an emphasis on literature and/or the written word as a cathartic or coping element in life. The book turns largely on the books that the girl obtains and learns to read. Being a big reader myself, I find that we certainly identify and perhaps even evaluate our own lives in large measure through the written word. I think it is no coincidence that virtually every organized belief system is centered about a written text of some sort.

Ultimately, I thought that Zusak did a remarkable job of illustrating the horrors of WWII for many garden variety German citizens, while also exposing the evil that existed there at the time. I would recommend this book, particularly if you like historical fiction.