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The Book Thief

Markus Zusak

Start date: September 1, 2011

Finish date: October 1, 2011

Discussion: Former Group Reads

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Former Group Reads

* Reckless by Amanda Quick (September 2013 Group Read)
By Rea , Ghost · 9 posts · 20 views

last updated Oct 26, 2013 12:24PM

* Beauty and the Bounty Hunter by Lori Austin (September 2013 Group Read)
By Rea , Ghost · 2 posts · 8 views

last updated Sep 01, 2013 07:24AM

What Members Thought

May 04, 2010 Gaijinmama rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

You are going to die.
That's the first thing Marcus Zusak, with Death as his narrator, tells us in this beautiful, devastating story. Inevitably, any story of Nazi Germany is going to be dark. This story is no exception, but Zusak reminds us that there were also kids joking, swearing, and playing soccer; and good, average, everyday people who decided to do the right thing even as evil consumed their world.
I suppose what I liked best was the fact that ultimately, this is the story of a little girl ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

May 12, 2010 Lindsay rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: 3stars, 1star, ya, read-in-2010, library-read, reread, read-in-2016

First read May12/10 to May14/10
3 stars

8 likes · Like · see review

Sep 16, 2012 Renuka rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, young-adult, historical-fiction, classics, war, e-book, reviewed, fav-couples, livebrary, mind-blown

*Weird noises that go like this: blurghhagrggggghhhbeeeggg* Literally how I ended the book. I mean, it's obvious enough that a book set during WWII in Germany is going to be sad, but I was not expecting this. I WAS NOT READY FOR THIS. WHY DID NO ONE PREPARE ME?

I took a long time to read this book, more than a week. I read pieces at a time. This is a book that needs to be savored. Because if you go to fast, you will get to the end. You do not want to get to the end. No. Stay around the middle of *Weird noises that go like this: blurghhagrggggghhhbeeeggg* Literally how I ended the book. I mean, it's obvious enough that a book set during WWII in Germany is going to be sad, but I was not expecting this. I WAS NOT READY FOR THIS. WHY DID NO ONE PREPARE ME?

I took a long time to read this book, more than a week. I read pieces at a time. This is a book that needs to be savored. Because if you go to fast, you will get to the end. You do not want to get to the end. No. Stay around the middle of the book and simply revel in soccer, stealing books, and snowmen in the basement. The end....is just too heartbreaking.

Honestly, I wasn't sure what the big deal about the book was until the end. The writing was beautiful, the narrator was interesting, the tale of the Jews was horrifying, but I'd been confronted with it many times in school. What was it about this book that made it so special? And I realized, it's the way you become entangled in the lives of the characters. You literally walk around with Liesel and her Papa, drinking champagne in the summer, listening to an accordion. You jump into the river with Rudy Steiner and you beg, BEG for Liesel to just give him a kiss already. You live with them, hope with them, read with them, snore with them, give bread with them, play soccer with them, steal with them, and most of all...(view spoiler)

It's just too much at times. I was fine for most of the book. Mostly. Death....was an interesting narrator. He didn't hide things, or gloss over them, I mean he's Death. The Death. He spoiled things all the time though. There was no spoiler alert either. He'd just come out with something that would break and cripple your poor heart and soul. Yeah, Death did not have compassion for the reader. He was a brutally, honest narrator.

I don't know what else to say. I could go on all day I guess, but I don't want to. I just want to curl up somewhere and sleep for a while. This book takes a lot out of you. I love Hans Hubermann. I love Rosa Hubermann. I love Rudy Steiner. I love Ilsa Hermann. I love Max Vandenburg. I love Jesse Owens. I love Liesel Meminger. I love this book.

Occasionally I will probably think about this book and cry a little. But I'm so glad I read it. ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Jul 06, 2009 Sam rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, proper-books

This is an amazingly beautifully written book that will make you smile, laugh, cry, hold your breath with anticipation and everything in between. Zusak has managed to take what is one of the most important episodes in recent history and turn it into something real that you can connect to without being overwhelmed by the shear scale of it all. His characters bring to life the trials and tribulations faced by the 'normal' people of Nazi Germany as they suffer through the War and ever more restrict ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Dec 14, 2012 Suzie rated it liked it · review of another edition

This book was distinctly okay. It kind of felt like it wanted to be all things to all people? I've seen it classified as young-adult, and that works, in a sense, but I also get the impression that Zusak's ambitions were somewhat more "literary" than that? And in the same breath, I feel like the writing is often even more juvenile than young-adult literature tends to be. The narrator should be interesting, but isn't. Terry Pratchett portrays Death (and death) interestingly. Zusak doesn't. Death's ...more

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Aug 03, 2011 Al rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Good book! easy read, not a ton of detail and was fast paced. i kind of needed a change from more serious reads I've recently read. Liesel story was good told by a true author of death gave an interesting twist to the tale. felt like ann frank's story told through a germans side. sad at parts, funny at others, somewhat serious but a god youth book without to much gore or other adult themed subjects. ...more

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