The Book Thief – Markus Zusak
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Review of Markus Zusak’s “The Book Thief” – Đặng Thùy DươngIntroduced to the world 9 years ago in 2006, “The Book Thief” is Markus Zusak’s second international success after “I Am The Messenger”. The book discussed the dark subject matter of death despite being marketed as a young adult novel. Death, the narrator, tells the story of Liesel Meminger, a young German girl during the Second World War. Liesel and Werner, her brother, was supposed to be given up to live with Hans and Rosa Hubermann, but on their way, Werner died. Liesel arrived in the Hubermann’s household traumatized by her brother’s death, but was immediately comforted by her adopted father Hans. She soon made friend with the boy next door Rudy Steiner, who later on became her best friend. As the novel progresses, Liesel showed her love for book-reading despite her inability to read at first. Well into the story, Max Vandenburg was introduced as a German Jew who took refuge in the Hubermanns household. Although his time with the lead character was cut short due to an incident, Max’s role in Liesel’s life was crucial as he was the one who sparked her interest in writing. Not until the last chapters of the book did readers find out that this interest saved Liesel’s life. The protagonist was editing her book in the Hubermann’s basement when an air raid killed Hans, Rosa, Rudy and everyone else on her block. This tragic event was the last time Liesel was portrayed as a girl. After a lifetime-worth time jump, Death ended its narration with Liesel’s “light” passing, as described by the author.
“A small fact: You are going to die” – Death, page 1Almost immediately upon opening the book, I was greeted by Death, the narrator. As off-putting as it sounds, Death’s words were somehow intriguing for me. Never have I ever come across a story narrated by Death, thus I believe that the book has proven its originality right from the beginning. However, despite appearing to be a page-turner at the first, “The Book Thief” to me, was not one. To be perfectly honest, I had watched the movie adaptation long before reading the book, so I had a grasp of the storyline. “Had I not watch the movie before, it would have been different”, I thought. But after further investigation, I recalled that this was also the case for Suzanne Collin’s “The Hunger Games”, which I read in just one sitting. Finally, it dawned on me that the often-interrupted narrative was the problem. The effect of Death’s occasional commentary or background information is a story that is not cohesive, but rather patchy. For this reason, and this reason only, that for me, “The Book Thief” was a challenging read. Yet, the novel has its indisputable quirks. Setting aside the unique style of story-telling, the book portrays Death as this witty, sympathetic character, whose statements are charmingly phrased: