The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
5 stars to Markus Zusak‘s The Book Thief.
Liesel is the heroine — of so many things. Such a young girl, so intelligent in ways many of us aren’t even as adults. It’s one of the few books that actually provoked a tear or two from me.
At first, I was not interested in this book. My book club selected it. I only knew what the book jacket said (before I used Goodreads) and as soon as it said it took place in Germany in World War II, I had that nasty pit in my stomach that I would be suffering through reading about the tragedy of the Holocaust. While it had no direct connection to my family (we’re not Jewish and all of my Germans had long been in the US since the mid 19th century), I just can’t read or watch anything about this particular nastiness. I think it’s heartbreaking to think about what people suffered at the hands of…. nevermind. You get the point.
So here I am having to read this book, putting it off until the day before Book Club meets… I finally relinquish my attitude and dive in… then I never stopped. I read it that entire evening skipping dinner, ignoring my ringing phone and letting the poor dogs suffer with no attention. It was that amazing.
I want a copy of that book within a book. I want to hold on to it forever for Liesel. I want to know more about her and the future and her family and everything.
Read it. Enjoy it. Pretend it’s you. Pretend you’re there watching. Just live and breathe with it while you read it.
I’ve never read the book, but I did see the movie and I thought it was good.