Book Thief-Markus Zusak

The Australian author Markus Zusak is hugely well-known for his intriguing, and eye-opening young-adult book,  “The Book thief”.  

This story is about a little girl named Liesel Meminger. She is abandoned by her mother and sent to a new place because her mother can not offer her anything due to poverty and political crises. Death unveiled the story of the book thief. Death- personified as the narrator, adds a philosophical perspective to the story.   

This story opens in nazi Germany, at the onset of the second World War. On the journey, Liesel’s little brother dies out of poverty. On that exact day, she steals her first book, the grave digger’s handbook. She discovers her new home at Himmel street. Liesel realizes that now she has new parents; Hans, and Rosa Huberman. Liesel finds herself in an unadaptable environment, unable to cope up with the new family, but her new papa wins Lisel’s heart. Hans Huberman helps Liesel to read and learn the  Grave digger’s handbook which is the only thing that connects her to the dead brother. Grief and catastrophe bind Liesel with nightmares, every night she encounters her brother’s death again and again. As the story unfolds, she meets Rudy Steiner who becomes friends with Liesel in a very short period and might become the potential love interest. Liesel enlists the Hitler youth academy, she confronts multiple obstacles on her way. Slowly, she learns to cope up with most of the things, but the danger arises when an anonymous Jew visits the Huberman family, Max Vandenburg. Huberman’s family takes the responsibility to save him from the nazis. Hans Huberman is the reason Max is still alive, but how long can Hubermans save him from the realm of violence against Jews. The second world war is at the doorstep. The government decides to check every house that resides on Himmel Street. The family is in grave danger. The sin of keeping a Jew might lead to the execution of the family. What are the choices,  what they can do? The question arises when the world is on the brink of falling apart. 

I will rate this book 7 out of 10. The first thing that caught my eye in this book is that this story is told by death. What can be more interesting than that? The character development of this story is remarkable. These characters will grow on you. You will love them, and it will be very hard to let them go. This story will leave you breathless, and you might slip one or two tears. 

Now let’s talk about drawbacks, the only problem I faced in this story is, we came to know nazis and brutality, but at some point or another, there is a very brief description of them. We read about Hitler but where is he? There are no implications, and not to mention this book is very slow-paced, some readers who love to read fast-paced books might not appreciate this book much. Nonetheless, this book is the imperial creation of  Markus Zusak, and I will recommend this book to everyone who loves to read. 

Sreema Shaw