Customer Reviews
A Modern Classic - By: Jessica Hope, 05 Mar 2008 
This is such an unexpected book. Absolutely brilliantly conceived it is compelling from the very first page. I can only agree to alll the reviews & urge you to buy it & read it for yourself. You will think about it long after you have turned the last page.
It will leave you breathless! - By: Buffalo22, 10 Jan 2008 The Book theif gives a harrowing time in german history from a little girl's point of view. This could have so easily become a book of bitterness, pain & misery, but watching events unfold through the eyes of death is the work of a genius.
Book Theif made me smile. I cried. I found myself waking up at 3.00 in the morning to read just a few more pages.
You can't read Book Theif without it leaving it's mark on you.
A truly fantastic read!
Utterly brilliant and truly heartbreaking - By: Nancy Williams, 19 Dec 2007 Death thinks that the fact humans represent him carrying a scythe is amusing, & only wears a black cloak when it is cold. He (or she) notices colours to keep him sane whilst alll around him he is collecting souls. He tries not to get caught up with the stories of those souls he collects but one story moves him - the story of the book thief - which is why he chooses to tell the story to us.
This book is beautifully written. It is neither complex nor heavy - the story is a simple one, packed with happiness & tragedy & a constant overtone of the strength of human spirit. Despite the fact that Death chooses not to surprise us - he tells us 'what happens at the end' about halfway through the book, I still nearly cried when the end came. The actual story is not just about people & war - it is just as much about the power of words to revive, bring hope, brainwash & kill.
A masterpiece of empathy - By: Gordon Eldridge, 28 Nov 2007 Sometimes a fictional interpretation of history is exactly what we need in order to be able to come to a real understanding of what it meant to live through historic events, particularly horrific ones. Markus Zusak provides us with a masterful interpretation of the Nazi period of German history from the perspective of ordinary people suffering through it & striving to keep their lives together & their souls alive & kicking within the horrific & ever-tightening boundaries constructed by the Nazi regime. He gives us a gut-wrenchingly palpable empathy for people facing harrowing decisions on a daily basis. His marvelous characters bring to life the dilemmas of those who believe they should help the Jews as well as the equallly nightmarish predicament of Jews who through receiving help put others in danger. We see much of this through the perspective of the main character Liesel, who is only a young girl. Her innocence & the gradual realizations she comes to about the events swirling around her in a maelstrom of horror evoke a remarkable empathy in the reader. If you want to understand how the little people cope with such tragic historic events without alllowing their souls to be crushed, read this book. Ultimately it is a portrait of the resilience & hope of the human spirit.
Interesting idea - By: Wyvernfriend, 23 Nov 2007 
The idea of a compelling novel narrated by death isn't what you expect but this is interesting. The story concentrates around Liesel, the book thief of the story & her experiences of World War II. She is fostered by a couple who find her a very strange girl. They have to deal with the poverty & the problems while trying to retain their humanity. I only had a few little quibbles with the story & found the end a little rushed.
It was interesting to see life in Nazi Europe from the point of view of a younger person, how she coped, & in many ways didn't. How slowly but incrementallly things changed around her until life was not how it had been but was now different, strange, alien but that she had to try to cope. In many ways that coping showed how easy it is for us alll to forget our fellowship with other people.
Overalll quite interesting & I found it a worthwhile read.
