"The Book Thief"

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a New York Times #1 Children's Bestseller that takes place in Nazi Germany during the Holocaust.  Wait, what?  A children's book set during the Holocaust?  Could there be such a thing?  Should there be such a thing?  I guess many children read Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl at some point during grade school, but still, the words "Holocaust" and "children's book" do not seem congruous.   I actually read somewhere that this book was originally released in Australia as an adult book and was not marketed as a children's book until it came to the U.S.  Regardless of whom the intended audience for this book is, Zusak has somehow succeeded in translating the grim reality of the Holocaust into a remarkable story suitable for both children and adults alike.

My initial reaction upon this book's recommendation: "Do I really want to read another story about the Holocaust?"  At first glance, this is not the type of book that I normally would pick up in a bookstore.  As one who goes out of her way to avoid anything vaguely sad, scary, or depressing (that's right, I like happy things), the Holocaust is a subject that usually sends me running in the other direction.  Call it pathetic.  Call it cowardice.  I like to call it emotional preservation.  But at the insistence of my sister, who normally shares the same enthusiasm for all things happy, I made an exception to read this book.  Actually I really had no choice.  She bought it and sent it to me.  That girl can be really pushy sometimes...

After reading The Book Thief, I discovered that it is different from any story I have ever read about the Holocaust.  First of all, the main characters are not Jewish.  That doesn't necessarily mean they are Nazi's either.  This book is about those caught in the middle.  Those conflicted between their sympathy for the Jews and their own survival, forced to choose between resisting the Nazi Party or ensuring the safety of their families.  According to Zusak, he wanted to write about "another side of Nazi Germany... that lives beneath the propaganda reels."

The Book Thief doesn't linger on the war.  Rather, it is about a girl, Liesel, and her obsession with books (seems innocuous enough, right?).  And ultimately it is about how she uses books to cope with the chaos surrounding her.  When we first meet Liesel, she is nine years old.  Her brother has just died and she is sent to Molching to live with a foster family, Hans and Rosa Hubermann.  After a period of adjustment, Liesel grows particularly fond of Hans who plays the accordion for her and teaches her how to read.  She also meets her best friend, Rudy, and together they attempt to lead as normal a childhood as possible but, of course, they are inevitably affected by the fears and misfortunes of war.  Times are tough here like so many other German towns, and people barely manage to keep fed.  As a means of coping, the two friends turn to stealing, but for Liesel, the only thing worth stealing is books.  Books are her sole source of distraction and inspiration.  It is not until she meets Max Vandenburg, a Jew whom the Hubermann's agree to hide in their basement, however, that Liesel learns the true power of words.

Zusak takes many unique approaches to his writing that sets it apart from other stories.  For one, he provides the spoilers himself.  So basically you already know what does and doesn't happen to each character before it actually does or does not occur... make sense?  According to him, this is his way of dealing with what eventually unfolds.  He wants to prepare the reader for the inevitable.  For me, it didn't really matter.  I was still in tears by the end.

In addition to spoilers, Zusak uses figurative language to describe harrowing events, lending each page a sense of poeticism and depth.  He also attributes colors to people and moods.  Through these images, we get enough sense of what's going on without having to face any grisly graphic images.  For example, here is a description of an air raid:

The last time I saw her was red.  The sky was like soup, boiling and stirring.  In some places, it was burned.  There were black crumbs, and pepper, streaked across the redness...

Surprisingly, the narrator of the story is Death (which I will refer to as "he" though "he" could easily be "she" or "it).  In this book, Death is not the enemy, nor is he some creepy black entity looming around with a scythe.  He is merely a worker, carrying out the duties laid out for him, oftentimes forced to work harder by human actions.  If anything, Death is a victim in this book.  He is a witness to the horrors of war.  Here, he describes taking people's souls as a strenuous job:

They say that war is death's best friend, but I must offer you a different point of view on that one.  To me, war is like the new boss who expects the impossible.  He stands over your shoulder repeating one thing, incessantly:  "Get it done, get it done."  So you work harder.  You get the job done.  The boss, however, does not thank you.  He asks for more...

...I complain internally as I go about my work, and some years, the souls and bodies don't add up; they multiply.

Death, who encounters Liesel at several points throughout her life, is sympathetic of her and humanity in general.  He doesn't want to take her soul nor the souls of her loved ones anymore than we want him to.  It's simply a job.

There is so much more to say about The Book Thief, but it should be read and not told.  Admittedly this book is not a page turner and takes some time to get into.  It is not so much about plot as it is about language and characters.  It takes work, getting to know the characters and reading about their daily struggles but the investment is truly worth it.  Even though the narrator reveals what happens to some of the characters, there are still unanswered questions that carry you to the last page.  

The Book Thief really is a beautifully written story... one of the best I've read in awhile.

oo,