The Book Thief

by Markus Zusak

Wow!!!!!

This will go down as one of my all time "favourite" books.  The story takes place in Germany, during the second world war, so the times are of course very disturbing, and many of the things that occur in the book.
However, I was totally captivated by this imaginative story.  It was so sensitive, so affectionate, and so powerful that while I wanted to know what would happen, I didn't want it to end.

The narrator of the story is the "Grim Reaper", the main character is a little girl who has lost her father and brother and whose mother surrenders her to a foster family and then disappears.  The mother in the foster family is a loud, abusive women who is also loving.  Her humble husband, a painter is kind and loving to the young girl.  He helps her escape some of the foster mother's wrath, takes the time to work with her to help her learn how to read.  He is so kind he paints blackout paint on people's windows even those who cannot afford to pay for the cost of a shared cigarette.  He honour's a promise to a world war I colleague, he hides the Jewish man's son in his house when the young man arrives on his doorstep asking for assistance. The war colleague had taught the Foster Father how to play the accordion and the family gave him one of the man's accordions after his death. Hiding the Jew of course puts the family in great danger but none of them regret the decision to help him.  Even the grumpy foster mother looks after him as best they can in their poverty.

The girl likes to spend time with the man, she gives him gifts, tells him about her life, about what the weather is like outside.

The girl is a book thief, her first acquisition is a grave digger's guide she finds in a cemetery when they are burying her brother, her next book is a book she pulls from a pyre the Nazis have built to burn books and other Jewish property.  The Mayor's wife, a depressed woman unable to recover from the death of her child, witnessed the girl steal the burning book and invites the girl into her house and her library.  The girl spends time reading books there and eventually steals a few books (with the unspoken cooperation of the Mayor's wife).  Near the end of the book the Mayor's wife give the girl a blank book so that she can write stories.  She documents her life, the high and low points, also to document the reality and atrocities.

When there are air raids the girl reads to the people gathered in a local basement that has been designated as an air raid shelter.  The jew writes two book for the girl as presents for her reflecting the present situation.

The girl is obviously captivated by words and books, but in contrast to the beauty of words and the ability to transport people there is the contrast of the Hitler and the Nazi propaganda.  How can we love and worship words when they can also do so much harm. At the end of her book the girl says "I have hated the words, and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right".

The girl has a young male friend who is her partner in crime and who loves her and keeps asking her for a kiss.  Sadly she never gives him one when he is alive.

The narration by the Grim Reaper, in relating the tale, in giving us hints of things to come, etc. was an ingenious aspect of the book The book gives a very detailed description of life in Nazi Germany and the risks to those who did not tow the party line.  To me the best part was the beautiful way that the author portrays the relationships between the main characters, particularly the girl, her family, the Jew , the young boy and the strange affection of the Mayor's wife..  The story was told with such poignancy and there was so much affection, it was touching and lovely.  When the father is sent into the army for giving a crust of bread to a Jew being marched through the town the mother sits up at night hugging his accordion and falls asleep in that position.  Despite the terrible times there were aspects of gentle humour too, the young boy paints himself black and runs around a race track saying he is Jessie Owens, the black athlete, whcih of course doesn't go over well at all.  The mother poors a bucket of cold water on her husband after he gets drunk.

"A last note from Your Narrator.... I am haunted by human's". This is a book that will linger in my thoughts.