The Book : The Book Thief

I said I wanted to start writing about books, so here it is my first book review as well as a personal story behind this book. 

I thought long and hard about which book I wanted to start with, and it was a tough choice, partly because this is my very first review and I know as I keep on doing this and improving I will probably look back at this review and feel a little bit embarrassed ! But I have to start some where so I thought why not start with one of my all time favourite books, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

The Book Thief was a book that I bought just after my twenty first Birthday a few year ago, I was given some money by my Great Grandparents and wanted to spend it on something I could keep for a long time rather then going out or a meal or clothing, so of course I picked books. I wanted books the reflected them. I bought three books. 

One: The Catcher in the Rye because it is a well loved classic book about discovering ones self and my Grandparents always help me to discover more about myself and the person I could be.

Two: Good Evening Mrs Craven The Wartime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes because both my Grandparents served in the Second World War. My Granddad was in the Army my Nana was a nurse, this book reflected the world in which they spent their twenties and as I had just turned twenty one I wanted to see how much the world had changed.

Three: The Book Thief, I love books and the cover of this book caught my eye, I had heard a lot about it thought the idea of Death being the narrator really interesting, and again it was set in World War Two and therefore I felt the link to my Grandparents.

After buying the book it sat on my shelf unread for month, I was in university and had my reading list to get through and I just didn't have time to read it, even when I did have time I still managed to put off reading this book. Until May the following year when for one reason or another I picked it up off the shelf and began. 

From this first page this book had such a mind bending beauty about, it is so vivid and bold the imagery surrounds you engulfs you completely I have never read a book so beautiful before of since. On that basis alone I would encourage you alone to pick up this book regardless of the plot line. 

Lucky the plot is as beautiful and touching as the language. It is set in Nazi Germany on Himmel Street, there is nothing extraordinary or special about this road, it just so happens to be where a girl named Liesel ends up living with a family who is caring for her, since her parents can longer due to circumstances beyond their control. There is a war on and everyone is just trying to stay safe. 

What makes this story so different from other is that Death is narrating Liesel story. He follows her through the years since she caught his eye as she stood in the graveyard aged nine and he follows her throughout her time on Himmel street. 

Their are some wonderful character that Liesel meets, the one who touched me the most was Papa Liesel new father, a kind hearted man who teaches Liesel to read in the dead of night from a book she stole about grave digging. Papa shows us that there were kind hearted loving Germans in a time and place where so much hatred and evil was going on, that not all Germans were Nazi's and Papa only tries to join the party in order to protect his family. He is the opposite of what we expect of German during this time, he is full of love ad acceptance and he hurts knowing what has happened to his country and the people in it. 

Then their is Max a young Jewish man on the run and in hiding trying avoid capture, he knows his family is probably dead and is running out of places to turn he feels like a burden but he can not help himself, he relies on other to help his survive. He is battling against Hitler in his own personal way when he destroys a copy of Mein Kampf to make Liesel a book about re writing the world around her, Max takes Hitler word and make them his own. 

In terms of a story line which involves action and adventure and a great romance, this book doesn't offer that, it is a book about life. About a young girl trying to grow up in a world of hate, and trying to make sense of it, it is about having the chance to make your own choices and choose your own path and the struggle to fight for that when it gets taken away, it teaches about loss but also about what can be gained from those losses. It is a about a girl who steals three books.

This book mixes the world of Nazi Germany with the life of a young girl and her family together. She can go from playing a football game with her friends to seeing Jews on a death march. The narrative is beautiful but ultimately is spoken by Death who takes away life. This book is just beautiful, I can not express that enough.

I can not recommend this book enough. Read it, drink it in you will not regret it. I just wish I had read it on that first day I got it. 

I am so glad that I spent my money on this book especially since my twenty first birthday was the last birthday I spent with my Great Grandparents as not long after I bought my three books, Death came and paid my family a visit, a few weeks later my Nana died suddenly at the age of 90, she was a wonderful women and I is her greatly every day, she was and is one of the most inspirational people I have ever met and so glad I got to spend twenty one years getting to know her. 

The following year my Granddad died after a hard year in which he never recovered from the grief of the loss of my Nana and suffered a serve stoke the left him unable to walk, but he was still an absolute pleasure to go and visit and talk to, he loved my Nana so utterly and deeply it was beautiful to see, and I feel if someone was to write a book about their love for each other I would want it to be Zusak because this book is just phenomenal.

Me as a Child with my Nana Granddad and Brother

Rella Xx