Review: The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Markus Zosak

This book deserves to be reviewed alone. It is a story narrated by Death about a girl, Liesel who is taken to live with a foster family in a town near Munich during WWII, the struggles that she and those around her live through, including her family hiding a Jew in the basement. 

The narrative knits your heart to each of the characters and helps you understand the good qualities of people and the power of words. The book itself is testament to the power of words. As a poet myself, I pay close attention to images, symbol, similes, and metaphors and the more surprisingly accurate they are, the more I feel it. This book reaches me, my eyes, my ears, my heart, my soul, in ways that few books manage. This book manages to be unique in its style. This is a book that gives no surprises as to what will happen because Death tells you straight out what happens long before it occurs, and yet you are drawn on and when you reach the moments you’ve been told of, you are surprised at how much you feel it.

To quote myself immediately after finishing this book about 3 weeks ago:

“‘The Book Thief’ is far and away one of the best books I have read. Full of narrative, plot, poetry, life lessons, and heart-wrenching moments, it vacuumed the tears out of me even as it filled me with understanding. I cannot give a greater recommend than I give to this book.”

Another review on the back of the book says that it is “life-changing.” I second that opinion; I'm sure that I will continue to compare my work and that of others to this book for some time to come. It will be hard to forget the book, and, frankly, I don’t want to.