BIBLIOGRAPHY
Zusak, Markus. 2006. THE BOOK THIEF. Performed by Allan Corduner. Alfred A. Knopf (Publisher): Australia. ISBN 978-0375842207.
PLOT SUMMARY
Liesel is a young girl who watches her younger brother die before her eyes and is given up for adoption to the Hubermans to never see or hear from her mother again. It is not only a tale about Liesel, it is a story about the lives of those around her, her adoptive parents, her friend Rudy, Max the Jewish son of World War I friend of Hans Huberman, and the mayor's wife, as well as all of the later dead people on Liesel's street in Mulching, Germany during the 1930s - '40s. It is about all the oppression and evil of Nazi Germany from the perspective a young girl, whose parents were Communists. The tale is narrated by the omniscient presence of Death, and chronicles Liesel's life from the train ride to the first book she steals and to the final one that Death gives back to her, which is the one that she wrote herself.CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This is the most gripping and heartwrenching tales I have ever read or listened to. The tale is quite sad, however, as it should be given the horrible mass murder and oppression doled out by the Nazi Party and Hitler himself. Zusak masterfully captures the anxiety and feelings of dread permeating the citizens of Germany at that time, especially those who had the misfortune of being Jewish. The friendship forged between unlikely characters both young and old brings a tear to the reader's eye. It is even more difficult to hold back the cascade of tears when the death of innocent friends and family members litter the pages like rubble after a bomb has been dropped. The reader cannot help but cry out at the injustice of it all, which reveals how masterfully Zusak has captured all of the elements of this time period and setting.Corduner speaks with the voice of Death as if he is as timeless as the element itself. His raspy, deep voice unflinchingly describes the chaos and death within the pages. It reverberates through the ears all the way to the bones. I hear his voice when I envision the death of Rudy and Hans Huberman and his wife, as well as the march of the Jewish people through the streets of Mulching. Words are truly the most powerful form of weapon. Zusak's words and the manner in which they are delivered by Corduner haunts me...
BOOK EXCERPT(S)
"The Book Thief is unsettling and unsentimental, yet ultimately poetic. Its grimness and tragedy run through the reader's mind like a black-and-white movie, bereft of the colors of life. Zusak may not have lived under Nazi domination, but The Book Thief deserves a place on the same shelf with The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and Elie Wiesel's Night. It seems poised to become a classic."
- USA Today
"Zusak doesn’t sugarcoat anything, but he makes his ostensibly gloomy subject bearable the same way Kurt Vonnegut did in Slaughterhouse-Five: with grim, darkly consoling humor.”
- Time Magazine
"Elegant, philosophical and moving...Beautiful and important."
- Kirkus Reviews, Starred"This hefty volume is an achievement...a challenging book in both length
and subject..." - Publisher's Weekly, Starred
CONNECTIONS
This book is definitely unsettling, but it does provide the reader with an accurate view of the evil and corruption of the past. Perhaps, it would be a good idea to have children write their own stories about their personal lives or just a fictional fantasy they dream up. Teachers and librarians could make a program where kids can do this and provide them with covers and binding materials to make their own books.Other great books to read:
Lowry, Lois. THE GIVER. ISBN 978-0385732550
O'Dell, Scott. ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS. ISBN 978-0547328614
Zusak, Markus. I AM THE MESSENGER. ISBN 978-0375836671
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