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| The Book Thief | 
 enlarge | List Price: £7.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 112 reviews)
Sales Rank: 2
Category: Book
Author: Markus Zusak
Publisher: Black Swan
Studio: Black Swan
Manufacturer: Black Swan
Label: Black Swan
Media: Paperback
Pages: 560
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 1.6
ISBN: 0552773891
EAN: 9780552773898
ASIN: 0552773891
Publication Date: January 1, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Different and impressive May 12, 2008
I didn't think that I was going to enjoy this at all. A friend brought it for me in hardback and it took a year before I actually read it. I found the style it was written in very refreshing- Death as narator makes an interesting choice. There were parts that were unclear that I felt could have been tidier, ie the background to Liesel before she was fostered. I read it in a day and in places it is very sad- but what I did enjoy was the portrayal of death being an observer and a being- death certainly didn't come over as evil.
Give it a go.
 daylight robbery May 12, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
This novel seems to have been designed to sell well. Central character who is a child; check. Storyline with books having prominence; check. The Holocaust; check. Something quirky (this book is narrated by Death); check. And kerrching! Let the money flow in. I know this is very cynical and more importantly you could design a book with all these elements and it still be a load of rubbish if you can't write well, but these are the reasons I hadn't even thought of picking this book up. But then it was put into my hand. So I read it.
It's long. Almost 600 pages. Admittedly it's not really as long as that sounds as there are a few pictures and the typography means that hardly any pages are simple blocks of text. This is mainly because Death frequently interrupts his narrative with 'quirky' observations or headings telling us what is going to happen next or what's really going on in a character's head. A few times this is entertaining but after a while it begins to grate and after a few hundred pages it's just irritating. It's a really lazy way of putting the story across, for much of the book it felt like I was reading a book for children (In some countries it has been marketed as just that); having everything explained is supposed to come across as illustrative of the omnipotence of Death I guess but it felt a little patronising to be honest. Here for example is how Death sums up his work during the battle of Stalingrad ferrying between the Germans and Russians collecting the souls of 'disassembled men':
'It was no ski trip, I can tell you.'
To be greeted by a line like this after persisting for 500 pages made me want to throw the book at the wall. It's not funny, it's not clever, and no one is the slightest bit amused. Death could have provided an amazing insight into humanity (or the lack of it given the wartime setting) but instead delivers adolescent bon mots to show how tiresome it is being him. Tiresome indeed. At one point we are even treated to dictionary quotations to explain the meaning of emblematic words.
It's a shame because there are moments were Zusak writes incredibly well. The plot revolves around Liesel, a young girl fostered by Hans and Rosa Hubermann, and the relationships she makes with them, a Jew named Max (whom they hide in their cellar) and her best friend Rudy. Haunted by the death of her younger brother on the train ride to the Hubermanns Liesel is comforted each night by Hans who reads her the book she stole at her brothers burial, the first of many which will give her the eponymous title. When they finally finish The Gravedigger's Handbook early one morning,
'It was one of those moments of perfect tiredness, of having conquered not only the work at hand, but the night who had blocked the way.'
A feeling familiar to anyone who loves reading and has been compelled to continue into the night. Her relationship with Max is well written and there is great economy to the way Zusak describes the practicalities of harbouring a Jew in Germany at this time.
'Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then think of doing it 24 hours a day.
That was the business of hiding a Jew.'
Death is quite up front about the toll he will exact during the course of this story but there's plenty of misdirection along the way. The book is overwritten, not nearly as clever as it thinks it is and provides little original insight into the plight of German citizens during the war. Near the end we read quotes from the book Liesel herself writes, a tantalising glimpse of what this novel could have been without Death as our guide. Let me offer him a dictionary definition of my own: Disappoint, verb - to fail to meet the expectation or hope of, frustrate.
Irmgard Keun's Child Of All Nations, written before the outbreak of war, provides a far more insightful, entertaining and succint version of events.
Fantastic! May 11, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is truly unique. Incredibly moving, the author has managed to 'humanise' death with great success. Absolutely brilliant and totally deserving of the critical acclaim it has won.
a small review from me! May 11, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is brilliant, amazing and the biggest book i have ever read! it is about a 10 year old girl Liesel who is fostered in world war 2. she becomes a book thief. hans taught liesel to read in the basement. they painted words on the wall. they hid max in the basement because he was jewish. death as the narrator is a brilliant way to tell the story because there were lots of deaths in world war 2.i was sad when it finished. when the big bomb dropped on himmel street and hans and rosa and rudy died i was sad too.
some notes about me
1. i am only 7
2. my teacher thinks i only half understand it but i do
3. i love reading books
4. i know a quote from the book
Death warmed up May 11, 2008
Although it took me a while to get into it, once in I never got out. I did not put this book down for a whole Sunday; while this may reflect my slow reading pace, it is more likely down to the gripping nature of 'The Book Thief'. Markus Zusak will warm your heart then break it via his sparkling plot, innovative structure and endearing characters. I do not regret spending a second of my Sunday on this brilliant book and would recommend it to anyone with a good supply of time, taste and tissues.
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