Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Published by: Transworld Publishers
Published on: 2005
Pages: 538 pages
I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.
The Ribcage Planes, Part Ten
When I first picked up The Book Thief, I had the gist of what to expect. It's a story about the Holocaust, narrated by Death (think Grim Reaper), hence it's only going to end in tears. Even then, I still found myself surprised with the narrative.
Because it goes a little bit like this.
This is not how I usually write things.
I'm just doing it to give you example
without actually jotting down each line.
DEATH, THE NARRATOR, LOVES GIVING OUT FACTS.
In fact, he's doing it so often, it's like collecting morsels of trivia on each page.
I don't know about you, but the narration caught me off guard and somehow made me stop to ponder each line, each paragraph. There's something rather poetic in Zusak's writing, and maybe that's the reason why he chose Death as the narrator. Because no one would possibly believe a nine-year-old girl speaks this way.
The story follows a little German girl named Liesel. No, she's not a German-Jew. She's German, actually included in the "superior" race, according to Hitler. When it begins, she was on a train going to her foster parents who lived on Himmel Street. Hans and Rosa Hubermann were not wealthy. Hans used to be a soldier during the first world war and Rosa did laundry for a few families on the wealthier part of their street. Liesel initially grew close only to Hans due to his quiet strength and warmth. Though he couldn't read, he helped Liesel with it and together they learned the power of words. Liesel took some time to warm to Rosa, mostly due to her foul mouth. But behind it was a loving mother's strength.
And so Liesel finally settled down with her new family on Himmel Street. She made new friends, and her closest was Rudy, her neighbour, who was described as having hair the colour of lemon. Rudy idolised Jesse Owen, a black American track athlete who won the Olympics gold medal, so much that he covered himself in charcoal and ran at the local sports field because he wanted to be like him. While helping Rosa with the laundry, Liesel also became friends with the mayor's wife who gave her permission to read in her home library. This, and her growing love for books, compelled her to start stealing books that the Nazi party was burning.
One night, a mysterious man appeared at their doorstep, whom Hans took in and hid in their basement. His name was Max and he was the son of Hans' best friend during his time serving as a soldier in WWI. Soon, Max bonded over with Liesel as he wrote her books, especially one titled The Word Shaker that made me cry.
But with the war looming in and the secret that this family keep, was there ever hope?
EGGLYSIS
I did not expect to cry reading this book, but I did.
As I mentioned above, the narration in this book is so beautiful and poetic. The way it glides slowly, each word demands to be savoured and pondered upon. My initial hesitancy didn't last long. This format works so well with the story. Death is a refreshing narrator, imbuing the story with a sense of pending gloom yet in a hopefully cynical kind of way. I don't know if that makes sense. As in, The Book Thief drips with sorrow, but it is not without hope.
Liesel is an adorably quiet little girl with a mind that matches a storm once ignited. She was grieving at the beginning, yet she was surrounded by the love of her Papa and Mama that it strengthened her. She was not your typical sassy YA heroine, but she was a force to be reckoned with. I didn't realise how much I grew to care for and bond with her character until the climactic part of the story. Then onwards my tear duct was broken.
I love how Zusak gave us a clever perspective in an often seem rather typical story set in the Holocaust. We are seeing the story neither from the POV of the victim nor the villain. Liesel and her family were actually the group of people protected by the Nazi party, yet their conscience screamed something was wrong. But they weren't also revolutionarists, for they only saved one Jewish person and even he was the son of Hans' best friend. The existence of Max was clearly the driving point that made Hans and, in turn, Liesel grow braver to oppose openly. Eventhough it might not end well for them. Eventhough it did not end well.
Years, decades from now, The Book Thief will be hailed as a classic.
Overall, The Book Thief...
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