The Book Thief: Gem of a book by Markus Zusak

Posted on November 29, 2014

I had this book at home for some years, bought by my daughter and I remember making an attempt to read it. I was not really taken up by Death, talking about what was the color of the day and how the cold day was treating a small girl and her dying little brother. I kept the book down after the first few pages. Later I read many reviewers raving about the book and when the book was selected by the book club, I picked it up again and what a gem it turned out to be!
Yes, if you get past the oddity of Death as a narrator who at times runs ahead of himself telling you what happens in the  future and then brings you back to the present, then the story that unfolds is rather touching.
The story of a little thin girl Liesel, living with her foster parents in the small German village of Molching during the Second World War, is captivating. The relationships that Liesel forms during this period, with elders and kids around her; how she learns to read, write and develops a lifelong love of books forms the core of the story.  The backdrop of a raging WWII, scarcity of money, food and general hardships makes the story of human relationships appealing.
Little frail girls make really hardy and unforgettable heroines: be it Francie Nolan in A Tree grows in Brooklyn, Loung Ung in First they killed my father or Niamh in Orphan Train – They all could not have been different  yet the same!
I’m recommending Book Thief to all readers. The story of a small girl whose initiation in the world of letters through a very unusual book called The grave digger’s handbook will stay with the reader for a long time.