Product Description

1939 - Nazi Germany - The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier. Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall. Some important information - this novel is narrated by death. It's a small story, about: a girl; an accordionist; some fanatical Germans; a Jewish fist fighter; and quite a lot of thievery. Another thing you should know - death will visit the book thief three times.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #50 in Books
• Published on: 2008-01-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 560 pages

The Guardian
Unsettling, thought-provoking, life-affirming, triumphant and
tragic, this is a novel of breath-taking scope, masterfully told...A
wonderful page-turner.

Lisa Hilton, Sunday Telegraph
Extraordinary, resonant and relevant, beautiful and angry.

Marianne Brace, Independent on Sunday
A moving work which will make many eyes brim.

Customer Reviews

Different
I almost gave up on this book, I struggled with it for a while. Once I had got into it I could'nt put it down! It was totally different, narrated by Death, who at times could be a real softie. Liesel goes to live with foster parents, the Hubermanns during WW2,she makes friends with Rudy, she loves and steals books, and the Hubermanns take in a jew called Max, who they hide in the basement. They all seem to live on pea soup, and little else. Very moving at times, I am so glad I stuck with it, I loved it, and would highly recommend it.

One of the best
This is by far one of the best books I've read. Don't forget to purchase a large box of man size tissues with your order.
Bringing the past right into the readers present, this rare read and unique style leaves a lasting impression.
I recieved this book as a gift from my sister in law, since I closed The Book Thief, my mum and 2 aunts have read it, with other family members waiting in line.
I would recomend this for the top of your 'To Read' list.

Too Little, Too Late...
Quite frankly, I can't see why so many people wax lyrical about this book. I'll start with the good points though...some of the metaphors are quite lovely, and a few of the characters are sufficiently well developed such that you feel true empathy for them. Also, the ending i.e. the last 50 pages or so is devastatingly compelling. The problem is, this book is about 540 odd pages long.

Now for the bad points...It has to have one of the most annoying starts I've ever come across. You get the impression that Zusak is trying WAY too hard, throwing every literary trick available at the book in an attempt to impress. The result is verbose and intensely annoying. Taking the fact that this is a 3rd person narrative into account, Death is a very "in your face" narrator. None of this gently guiding the storyline stuff. Throughout the first third of the book, the flow is constantly interrupted by his little "asides". To be honest, the first 100 or so pages are written in a style more suited to teenage fiction and I had to fight the urge not to abandon ship.

The lead character here is meant to be a little girl called Liesel. Unfortunately, I thought she was the least developed of all the characters. My favourites were her adopted father Hans Hubberman and her trusty sidekick, Rudy Steiner. It was their lives I was most interested in. Liesel remained fairly 2 dimensional throughout.

All in all, a disappointing read for the first two-thirds of the book followed by a vindicating final third. If you can hang on for that long, it's an OK read.