From the Bookshelf of Read Between the Wines…

The Book Thief

Markus Zusak

Start date: July 1, 2012

Finish date: July 31, 2012

Discussion: Book Club Discussions

Why we're reading this: This book was nominated by Keryn.
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Discussion: The Diary of a Young Girl
By Jason , Cabernet Sauvignon · 7 posts · 7 views

last updated May 25, 2017 06:30AM

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What Members Thought

Apr 17, 2011 Jason rated it liked it

Shelves: reviewed, wine-club, for-kindle

I write this review under severe duress.

Three-star books are always difficult to review, aren’t they? They are difficult for me, mostly because I am so dispassionate about them. It’s much easier to review something you love, or something you hate, rather than something you’ve half-forgotten before you even get to your local library’s return box.

So this book is fine. Fine. It’s the story of a young German girl caught in the path of the advancing Nazi regime during World War II. For many German vi I write this review under severe duress.

Three-star books are always difficult to review, aren’t they? They are difficult for me, mostly because I am so dispassionate about them. It’s much easier to review something you love, or something you hate, rather than something you’ve half-forgotten before you even get to your local library’s return box.

So this book is fine. Fine. It’s the story of a young German girl caught in the path of the advancing Nazi regime during World War II. For many German villagers in the late 30s and early 40s, the Third Reich was like a quiet glacier, slowly encroaching on their lives—it moved languidly enough that disaster seemed never truly imminent (there is always plenty of time to get out of the way), yet it had enough momentum to churn to pulp anything that was unfortunate enough to meet its frothing jaws.

What annoyed me about this book, however, was its distracting style of storytelling. It is told from the point-of-view of the Grim Reaper, the personification of death. I would have actually been okay with this except Death is a grating little sonofabitch. He pretends to keep a distance from the German girl whose story he’s telling, representing himself as a disinterested party whose job is simply to harvest souls from their lifeless hosts, but over time he becomes clearly vested in her story, and for this he is a failure. I mean, if death and taxes are the only two things I can count on, and the IRS is a bullshit government arm that can’t find its asshole with a flashlight, then I need to be able to depend on Death not being a loser.

Additionally, I specifically detested the

* * * Things That Irritate Me * * *
1. These interjections.
2. Interjections like these.

interjections, which occur frequently in this novel.

That said, I think this book is important for its one shining success, which is to remind us that civilian populations of even aggressor countries are innocent victims. Try to keep this in mind the next time your idiot friend says something like, “Dude, we should totally just bomb the fuck out of [insert Middle Eastern country here].”

My cousin told me I had to review this book or she would sic the Andover Ladies of Literature on me and I do not wish to scuffle with those broads. ...more

350 likes · Like · see review

Apr 28, 2010 mussolet rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-notmine-c, theme-history

There is no question about it that in a time where the Holocaust is denied in some places, and where ideas supported by the Nazis are surfacing again, and not just in Germany, young people need to learn about that time in history.
And there is no question that they will want to learn it from a book written for them, instead of reading highbrow-literature (Robert Merle comes to mind as one who has written excellent, non-YA-friendly books on the subject). The question is whether this book serves i There is no question about it that in a time where the Holocaust is denied in some places, and where ideas supported by the Nazis are surfacing again, and not just in Germany, young people need to learn about that time in history.
And there is no question that they will want to learn it from a book written for them, instead of reading highbrow-literature (Robert Merle comes to mind as one who has written excellent, non-YA-friendly books on the subject). The question is whether this book serves its cause well.

For the most part, the characters are interesting. The reader can relate to Liesel, whether it is about school, or about her friends, or her parents. The portrayal of a small town in Bavaria also paints a clear image about how much people just don't care about politics if they have enough problems of their own. There is a certain kind of comfort needed for people to be able to afford caring about rights, and a disinterest in politics is not always the sign of people in agreement with what is happening.

Also on the plus side is the fact that, although it was written by an Australian author, this story feels like it takes place in Germany. Which is important to me, I want a story to be as real as possible, and few German settings by non-German authors feel real.

This leaves my negative point. I say point, actually it is a constant disappointment throughout the book, and it destroyed my enjoyment enough to warrant the low rating.
*** What annoyed me: ***
- Death
Yes, you may have heard that this book is narrated by Death. And while that might have been a great idea, the execution is not enjoyable at all.
There are a few interesting, if dark and sarcastic, observations, but for the most part it was just annoying.
*** What I found particularly annoying: ***
- foreshadowing
- making totally uninteresting points in bold script
- the bold script in general
- AND THE FORESHADOWING!!!
Why did I think that I need to deduct a point for that? Because I do not want to read a story where I am told what will happen in the end (page 600) on page 250. This happened with the statement that "what happens is not as interesting to me as how it happens", and while that might be true, the "how" then has to be interesting enough to carry the entire book on its own. Which it wasn't.

Overall, this makes three stars. I wouldn't recommend it, but if you already own it or come across this book in a library, do check it out. But I will keep looking for a really good YA book on that subject. This was not it.

PS: On a pedantic sidenote, I would have loved to read excerpts of the first book that Liesel steals. But not a chance. ...more

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Jul 18, 2012 Rhianna rated it it was amazing

So here is where my usually snotty "this book's writing is basic so I hate it" side conflicts with the fact that I actually enjoyed the story when it was taken at face value.

There was nothing deep nor compelling about this book. The writing was basic, and at times juvenile. Side note: I also didn't realize I was reading a young adult book until after I was finished-- had I known in advance I don't know if I would have picked it up, quite honestly. The characters weren't complex, nor were they ex So here is where my usually snotty "this book's writing is basic so I hate it" side conflicts with the fact that I actually enjoyed the story when it was taken at face value.

There was nothing deep nor compelling about this book. The writing was basic, and at times juvenile. Side note: I also didn't realize I was reading a young adult book until after I was finished-- had I known in advance I don't know if I would have picked it up, quite honestly. The characters weren't complex, nor were they extraordinarily interesting. The plot was easy to predict, so basic and superficial... yet I really enjoyed it.

And truth be told, I can't pinpoint why because everything that I usually love about books was totally absent here. This is a two-star book that I enjoyed enough to give a five-star review. I wasn't really involved with the characters, so I didn't care that Death was a whiny bitch, if Rudy got his kiss, or if Max made it out OK. I didn't really flinch when Hans turned out to be a Jew hider (why else would he have taken Liesel in to begin with?) or when the bombs finally blew up their street and killed everyone. You knew it would happen. All of it. And yet, I really enjoyed the story.

Someone slap me in the face here. What is going on?

I think what it comes down to is that I gobble up most stories (factual or not) about WWII, and have had some really interesting conversations with Jewish friends and coworkers about whether Hitler is in 'heaven' or the power of oration to move the masses. So by default, this book had a leg up because it ran alongside some of my interests. This is where the simplicity of the story won some points. It wasn't necessarily a story about how bad Hitler was. It wasn't necessarily a story about how unfortunate the Jews were.

It was the story of a girl who falls in love with words and books, and for whom the simple acts of reading and writing saved her life. But the book was about how important and strong words are. Hitler used words to rise to power. Words saved Liesel's life. Specific words showed how much Mama cared for people. Words kept people going at a time when they just didn't feel like they could continue any longer. And more importantly, words stand the test of time.

I realize it wasn't that deep, and at times that message was staring you right in the face. But I liked it anyhow. If anything, what made me love this book was the gentle reminder of what awesome things are brought into your life by reading.
...more

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