The Book Thief -- Markus Zusak

     This book was nothing like I expected. I was under the impression that it was a book about a girl who stole books to keep them from being destroyed by the Nazis. I suppose that’s what I deserve for trusting movie trailers for book summaries. What this book was actually about is the childhood/teenager hood of a girl living with her foster parents in Nazi Germany. It is also narrated by Death. That right there should have told me this book wasn’t going to end well. As a matter of fact, within the first few paragraphs the reader is warned that it doesn’t end well.

     The story starts with Liesel witnessing the death of her younger brother on the train to her new home. The first book she steals (despite being unable to read) is a handbook on grave digging from the cemetery to remember her brother by. Then begins the introduction into her new life; her foster mother, who swears to express love; her foster father, who loves painting, playing the accordion, and always pays his debts; her best friend, Rudy, who is a local legend for his pranks and his bad luck. Her family eventually takes in and hides a Jewish man to repay her father’s debt to the Jewish man’s family. After a few years, things start to go all wrong because Germany isn’t doing too well in the war. The Jewish man leaves and is captured, Liesel’s father upsets the some local higher ups and is conscripted, food is hard to come by, and air raids happen quite often. Eventually the war comes to an end and inevitably no one comes through unscathed. Except for an afterward that takes place at the end of Liesel’s life, there is almost no information about what happens after the war.

     I still haven’t decided if I like this book or not. Aside from my initial misunderstanding about the subject, the narration of Death was obnoxious. Much of what he provided was unnecessary translations or weird tidbits of info that had nothing to do with the story. My biggest objection to the narration was that Death kept skipping ahead and hinting at the ending. It was almost as if the author could not think of any other way to provide information or wanted some kind of gimmick to grab the readers attention and didn’t know what to do with it once he found it. The story was well written and moving but the inclusion of Death and using German to hide swear words was so disruptive to the rhythm of the tale that it was hard to be fully immersed at times. I also feel there should have been more between the end of the last chapter and the afterward. The afterward takes place after Liesel had a long full life of marriage, adventure, kids, and grandkids but never explains how she meets any of these people or has any of the adventures. If the author was going to skip 60 or more years of her life, he shouldn’t have put so much emphasis on the years between the last chapter and the end of her life. If you are able to ignore some of these issues, it really is a beautiful story. Keep a box of tissues nearby if you are a crying type of reader because the end will rip your heart and stomp on it.