The Book Thief
Ratings1,265
Average rating4.3
4/5 • Devastatingly Beautiful
It's been a couple of years since I've read a book around WW2 and without fail the topic always makes me emotional. ‘The Book Thief' is no exception, the story was heartbreaking and is definitely a bucket list book.
I've been trying to think of what to say about this book for an entire day. it's been difficult to even find the words honestly. the two words that come easy are “tragic” and “beautiful”. this story is about love and hate, family and isolation, creativity and destruction, stealing and giving, living and dying. the way it was written is unlike anything I've ever read in the best way possible. you can just feel how much care went into writing it and making it the work of art that it is. all of the characters felt so real and that made it really hard to read at some points. I think the narration device used was so powerful but also heartbreaking. I think it's best to go in as blind as possible when reading this, so all I will say is I think this has got to be one of my all-time favorite books. the story itself and all of the perspective you get from it are so, so important and I think every one should read it.
here's some of my favorite quotes;
“I've seen so many young men over the years who think they're running at other young men. They are not. They're running at me.”
“I carried them in my fingers, like suitcases. Or I'd throw them over my shoulder. It was only the children I carried in my arms...But it's hard to keep them warm when the souls still shiver.”
“I have hated the words and I have loved them, and hope I have made them right.”
“You taught me to read. No one can play like you. I'll never drink champagne. No one can play like you.”
I did cry, but I was really underwhelmed by the ending. Very emotionally charged, but past the actual events being sad the writing didn't make me feel much
First review in a while, but enjoyed the warmth of the characters and the unique narrative style so much that I thought I would finally do one. Liesel, her friends and family and the tragedy of her story is written in a beautiful manner and nicely woven into the historical setting of the Holocaust and Nazi Germany in a truly unique manner. 6/5 :)
My God. My heart felt heavy reading chapter 80. Liesel, I love her. I feel so sorry for her. Beautiful soul. Lastly I'd say, narrator did a great job telling the story. And yes.. he's haunted by humans.
This is a story narrated by death featuring a girl, a jew, an accordion player, and a boy with yellow hair. It's a well written story, a very well written story. What I wish was that the ending didn't feel so rushed. What I wish was that the story told me where it would take me, with a purpose and a goal. If you like Neil Gaiman, then the author's writing is similar, but better.
2nd time reading it and yes it hurts just as much as the first time. Actually going through a grief process right now
Just gonna give it three stars because I dislike giving books anything lower. I was bored reading it.
I loved this book. It's definitely one of those books that stick with you like Harry Potter. You will cry in the end, that's a promise. It's so good. It's one of those books that I'll keep re-reading every once in a while. I think no matter how many times I re-read it, I think I'll still feel so sad, yet so happy at the end. This is definitely a book I'll recommend to all of my friends to read.
The best book I've ever read. I recommend it to everyone who loves to read. A lovely book.
Was just ok. Thought I'd enjoy it more than I did. Read it as an e-book so I'm sure some of the effects of the formatting style and images were lost on me.
This book had no semblance of a plot in the conventional sense. Not many captivating events happen in its 550 pages. Additionally, many people hate it and many people love it. These features alone should mean that I personally would want nothing to do with this book. Instead, for the last five days I read it whenever I had the chance, learning about the humble, unlikely family on Himmel Street. I became immensely attached to the characters and despite the endless spoilers from Death, the narrator himself, the ending hurt me. I respect everyone else's opinions, but this is the way I connected with this book.
I listened to the audiobook and I have to say the narrator was truly amazing! I loved it! The story was heartbreaking and moving. It offered a peak into what life could have been like for germans during WW2. I greatly enjoyed this book and will more than likely give it a listen again.
I was blown away upon finishing this work, no doubt - but not in the way I expected. I didn't expect this to be amazing, don't get me wrong, but this novel just managed to cross the ‘decent' bar, and that was solely due to a few memorable scenes encountered in the middle of the book.
There was absolutely no characterization to speak of. The main characters were poorly developed, and this was compounded by the fact the language of the book is absolutely steeped in metaphor - there's a figure of speech every two lines or so. Half of the book contents could easily be trimmed.
If this was not already enough, the narrator has the excessively annoying tendency to spoil the plot many, many pages in advance. Hence, there is no buildup of tension, and the language or the characters don't come across as particularly deep (as already said above), so there's no justification of the plot being sidelined in favor of developing the characters.
The ending was also a big letdown. Not to spoil it, but suffice to say it completely broke any sense of immersion one might be preserving till then.
Keeping in mind this is a children's book, this was still a mediocre read. Would not recommend, if you've not read it already.
I cannot figure out why it's taken me so long to read this one. I must've started it half a dozen time over the past decade. Now was the time for this story. And I did not want it to end.
Words matter. With brokenness there is beauty. Or is it vice versa?
The main question is: is there really a need for a book like this? In my opinion the answer is no. When similar themes have been brought up much better by powerful real life accounts from Primo Levi, Ann Frank, Elie Weisel, this fictional novel seems pretty thin. Yes, it does have a change in perspective from other books, but that's not enough to really add to the conversation. The writing is ok. I'm undecided between 2 and 3 stars. In going with two just because of the time I spent reading it, without much in return. Maybe a different, younger audience appreciates this book more than I can.
I just finished listening to the audiobook read by Allan Corduner. He does an amazing job at portraying the different voice that I still can't believe it is the same person. Though I do have a physical copy of the book, so I know for the audiobook you miss out on some of the drawings within, but I think the narration makes up for that.
I love Death as the narrator. It really does give the book a unique style with being gimmicky. This is a character-driven story even though there is a plot there is not much action. It is really getting to know these characters.
The one thing that I find that complain about is that Death will often say what will happen before it does and people have complained that this “spoiled” the book for them. For me, I didn't have a problem with it. Death explains the reason why he does this is that everyone will die, that it is not a secret so he doesn't bother to keep it hidden. What Death does reveal usually is not too specific, so for me the question is not “What will happen?” but “How will it happen?” which is fascinating to have it slowly unfold.