#really ​steiner is the one i’m least attached to in that sense but i like having him there because i love him as a character. either way;

[lem-argentum]

looking at the familial section of my f/o list makes me laugh. me and my weirdest group of aunts n uncles

[elliepassmore]

The Book Thief Review

5/5 stars Recommended for people who like: historical fiction, unusual narrators, WWII, themes of words, coming-of-age stories, mischievous MCs This has been one of my favorite books, and especially one of my favorite WWII fiction books, for years. It follows the story of Liesel Meminger, and also, to a lesser extent, Max Vandenburg, but instead of having it narrated in 1st POV by either of them, Zusak was clever and had the story narrated in 1st POV by Death. And Death is "haunted by humans" (550). I think that's one of the things that makes this book quite timeless, in my opinion. I read the book for the first time when I was 11 (I believe, for some reason GR doesn't have the read dates for it), and I'm still enjoying it 9 years later (8 still, when I reread it and wrote this review). I know teenagers and adults who have read it and loved it. It's just one of those books, and Death as a narrator is partially responsible. To be clear, this isn't a scary version of Death, this is a tired Death, a world-weary Death who, ironically, seems to be a bit tired by and of death. He describes things in terms of color and small facts and how a soul feels when he picks it up. Death has emotions and gets attached, and it comes through in his narration. It also gives us a good way to see what's going on with Liesel, Max, and the war while still getting the more personal 1st POV and no chapter-switches. In the story, we get to follow Liesel from when she's 9 up to when she's 14, and then we also get some bits at the end where she's older, but these are relatively short and more of a wrap-up than part of the main story. I really like the idea of telling a story of a girl 'without words' who's growing up in Nazi Germany, which has the practice of taking words, and making words this girl's obsession, the object of her stealing and her identity and her power. Liesel is also just constantly this firebrand of a girl who stands up and fights or who goes after what she wants, even starving, even under the blood-red flag and nation of Hitler. I just really have trouble explaining how much I love Liesel's character and her growth throughout the book. I also really love how she reclaims words in various contexts and for different situations. Rudy Steiner, Liesel's best friend, was a good source of camaraderie, comedic relief, and a good way to show a different perspective of how kids change as they grow up. On Himmel Street, Rudy's kind of an infamous trickster/mischief-maker and also generally enjoys playing soccer and running. Naturally, he befriends Liesel almost instantly. I think the interesting thing about his growth as a character is that it happens gradually. We see him as this trickster who's fiercely loyal from the get-go, but as he grows the two morph more into one another and it leads to a series of incidents with an especially tyrannical Hitler Youth leader that is, at least in part, driven by his desire to help another kid from Himmel Street who gets relentlessly bothered by the Hitler Youth leader. And then that later translates into him concocting a plan that has him and Liesel leaving bread ahead of one of the forced marches to Dachau. There's also a brief scene where he finds a shot-down British pilot after an air raid and Rudy gives the dying boy a stuffed teddy. Make no mistake, he's still a smart-ass with a deep desire to cause mischief, but he also gets a chance to develop and show off his loyalty and deep sense of empathy. Max is a difficult one to talk about because I have difficulty pinpointing his arc and mainly just come up with reasons I like his character. He's definitely integral to Liesel's development, both growing up and as a character with an arc. He's one of the people who helps her develop her love of words more, and even gives her a couple hand-created books that she deeply cherishes. Max is also a character with demons chasing at his heels. In order to go into hiding and survive up to when he arrives at the Hubermanns, he had to leave his family behind, and the mix of pure relief and guilt (and guilt at feeling relief) eats him alive. He sees their faces in dreams and he boxes with Hitler in those as well. I really love Max's character and the complexity of his situation (there's that relief again along with guilt at letting Liesel and the Hubermann's risk everything), as well as his gentleness. Hans Hubermann is another person who's vital to Liesel's reading and love of words. He's actually the one who got Liesel reading in the first place. Hans is a pretty gentle soul and seems to intuitively know what Liesel needs. He's definitely more patient and outwardly kind than Rosa (not that she's not also kind, she's just kind in a less outward manner). Hans' empathy really jumps out throughout this book, first with being patient when Liesel arrives at Himmel Street, then in hiding Max, then painting black paint over windows and shutters for next to nothing, giving bread to a dying Jewish man on a Dachau forced march, and on and on the list goes. He's one of those characters who tries to be the best of humanity even if it doesn't always work out in his favor. That's one of the things I really like about this book, actually, is that we get to see someone like Hans who wants to help people face the consequences of his actions in a regime that most certainly does not want to help or feel empathetic for people. Rosa's a rougher character, but also has a deep well of kindness and empathy in her as well. I think it's easy to forget that until Max comes into the picture, but this is a woman who, reportedly, has taken in multiple foster kids before and turned them out better than they came in and who agreed to foster/adopt a pair of siblings, and we all know how difficult it is for siblings to stay together in foster care. I think with Rosa we get to see a different kind of empathy. She feels for others and wants to help, but she has trouble expressing it, so she does it in a gruffer manner and in a way that's easy to go unrecognized. As soon as the situation arises, though, she's off and ready to help. She's gentle with Max and asks no questions (and frankly it's a little unclear if she even knew he was coming, even in the vague way that Hans knew Max would be coming eventually). With Frau Holtzapfel, a woman she hadn't gotten along with in years but who Liesel read to and who had one of her sons die in the battle for Stalingrad, Rosa takes time during an air raid to attempt to coax the woman out of her house and into the shelter, and even lets Liesel stay and attempt to do so as well. As Death says, Rosa is a good woman to have in a crisis, and she's a warm person when she wants to be. Ilsa Hermann, the mayor's wife and the owner of an exquisite library Liesel takes quite the liking to. Ilsa has been a woman in mourning for over two decades by the time Liesel enters the picture. When she witnesses Liesel stealing a book from a book burning, Ilsa takes a shine to her and becomes another person who aids Liesel in her reading and writing journey. Ilsa isn't a main character by any stretch, but she plays a pretty major role in Liesel's story. She lets Liesel read in her library, which later becomes a library Liesel steals books from, and she also gives Liesel a blank journal so that she may write her own stories. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone, and it's just one of those books I think would be well-suited if it were in a school curriculum, as it shows the war in a new way and also deals with things like political beliefs (Alex Steiner, Rudy's father has some interesting conundrums re: politics in the book, as does Hans) and when helping someone else will doom you. It's also a nice introduction to some German, and as I reread this book, it occurred to me that I can finally pinpoint where my obsession with the language originated (and it was not Code Name Verity, like I'd expected).