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| Author: Markus Zusak
Publisher: Black Swan
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy New: £3.86
You Save: £4.13 (52%)
New (35) Used (10) from £3.70
Avg. Customer Rating:  333 reviews
Sales Rank: 31
Media: Paperback
Pages: 560
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 1.4
ISBN: 0552773891
EAN: 9780552773898
ASIN: 0552773891
Publication Date: January 1, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 WOW ! September 22, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I want to make this short and simple. Honestly... READ IT !!!!! Simply one of the best books I have read in a long while. I finished "The Book Thief" after having just taken off from Amsterdam beginning my summer Holiday to Mexico. My partner immediately swooped up the book and began reading. He is one of those power readers and by the time we reached our destination he was in awe and was not to be disturbed by the immigration officials.
Really grabs humanity and gives it a good shaking.
 Stunningly Different September 21, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book will not be to everyone's taste but let me say that I found it stunningly different from the type of book I'd usually read. Initially the narrative seems strange but equally it's immediately compelling and I loved the way Death told us the story of the book thief. It's a profoundly moving story and is even more so because of the writing style.
Childhood innocence, adult brutality, love, loss, thievery, humanity, faith and death are all here and I define anyone not to fall in love with this special little girl.
Perhaps once or twice in a lifetime does a book move you in this way - it will stay with you for days afterwards.
Not Criminal in anyway September 19, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I come rather late to discovering this book, but rather glad I did. It is lovely to see a wide range of opinions across these reviews.
Here is mine; The Book Thief is a novel with a difference, a novel narrated by `Death'. It allowed me to feel that 'Death' is watching us all as we go about our lives and is ready to take our soul safely to another place, when it is our time, whenever that time may come. During the setting of this novel, World War Two; 'Death' is very busy.
It was refreshing to read a novel from a German perspective and see how they were affected by the reign of Hitler, the treatment of Jews and subsequently how the war affected ordinary Germany. Sometimes we forget that it was not just the British who lost those they loved.
'Death' narrates the story of Liesel the central character, who arrives at 33 Himmel Street her new foster family without her brother, her strength who lost his and his soul to 'Death' on the journey there. Characters all enter into Liesel's world throughout the book. Rudy the boy next door who has dreams of becoming Jesse Owens and kissing Liesel on the lips. Papa, Hans Hubermann, the accordion playing and word loving father. Mama, Rosa Hubermann, the swearing but fiercely protective mother figure. Max, the hidden Jew who fuels a young imagination of words and pictures. Ilsa Hermann the inhabitant of a big house with a big library that keeps the book thief on her toes.
The other main character to mention is 'the book'. Liesel uses her first book she steals, a guide to grave digging to start her interest in words, books and reading. Her new Papa, helps her through her nightmares and reads and teaches Liesel to appreciate the book and the words. Liesel then continues this education with other books she acquires or others acquire for her. Max even creates a book for her, from his hiding place using painted over copies of Mein Kampf. A very bold move making a very bold statement which stayed with me throughout this book. The solace sought in books and words I can connect with, as it was Liesel's escapism of her world around her but also her salvation as the war ravages further into her life.
Zusak's different slant on this novel had me hooked from the beginning. Do not expect a nice simple book separated into chapters. Expect nothing and you will get so much from this book. It does take some getting used to and as 'Death' narrates he/she jumps backwards and forwards a lot and you have to keep an element of concentration on the storyline. In the end though, it is a book that leaves you thinking about so much; what books can do for you, how death affects us all, how war touches so many people in so many ways and so much more.
Hauntingly Beautiful September 18, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The Book Thief is story told from a very interesting perspective. It is narrated by Death - a character not too disimilar to Terry Pratchett's Death, though be warned: this is not a humorous book. Although it is interspersed with some humorous moments, The Book Thief is a haunting and tragic story. One which grips the imagination and stays with you long after you have finished reading it.
Essentially, this is a simple story about a little girl and her life in the somewhat sleepy town of Molching which is changed by the arrival of "the Jew". The town is vivdly described and features an ensemble cast of colourful characters (Rudy being my favourite). The book's central theme tackles some pretty stark issues: Nazi Germany,the plight of the Jews and the death and destruction caused by the war are explored from the perspective of a German child but narrated by Death.
Liesel's relationship with Max (the Jewish fistfighter) is endearing and her relationship with Rudy is sweet and ultimately tragic. All of the characters have real depth, which makes the finale of this book even more heartbreaking.
The characters, the story, the tragedy. All reasons why I would recommend this book to anyone who has any real appreciation for good literature...
 Cliche-ridden trash September 17, 2008
5 out of 10 found this review helpful
I'm afraid I have to disagree with most of the other reviewers here. The book was, from my point of view, a great disappointment. The story itself is a very promising one and in a more experienced author's hand could well have been great. Unfortunately Zusak turns this story into a one-dimensional, unrealistic and over-inflated novel. What is most annoying is his attempt to bring in every kind of literary device known to man - from pictures, to poems, to the quirky narrator - into the story.
He simply fails to capture the very real danger of Nazi Germany and left me feeling completely unmoved by what should, as I said, be a wonderful tale. Try Boy in the Striped Pyjamas for a better treatment of Nazi Germany.
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