Onward!
The Book Thief
Markus Zusak
550 pages. Reading time: 6 days
Back cover reads: It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still. By her brother's graveside, Liesel Meminger's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Grave Digger's Handbook, left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster-father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found. But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up and closed down. In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.
Initial Reaction:
First of all, it came to me well-loved and water-damaged. I watched the movie before getting around to reading the book. I didn't even know about the hype of the book until I read some reviews on goodreads.com. I love the movie- it's got gorgeous cinematography, a great score, and wonderful actors. As in most book/movie situations, the book contains quite a bit more detail. The movie and the book are similar in the way that red is similar to purple. The book contains several more layers, characters, and the plotline/timeline are different. I finished the book feeling impressed. While the book was 550 pages, it didn't drag on. I never grew bored or frustrated with it, and, if I hadn't been so lazy, I would have finished it in a more timely manner. Given the two choices, I do believe I'd pick the movie over the book. It's a bit more heartwarming.
Promote Virtue? Yes and no. There are great things in this work about compassion, forgiveness, and overcoming trials. On the other hand, there is little to no remorse about thievery, and it kind of runs rampant throughout the book. Some of the descriptions of the psychological/emotional effects of stealing are close to those of an addiction.
Transcendentals? Hm... Yes to a certain point. Zusak's style is definitely a beautiful one. They way the narrator tells the story with such description and candor is definitely captivating. The actual pursuit of Truth isn't really present, though. Good is represented in its own ways, but it's not an overarching theme of the book.
Overcome human condition? Unlike the movie, the book focuses a lot more on Liesel's thievery. She not only steals books, but apples and other food from local farmers. About halfway through the book, the symptoms that she displays, when the opportunity to steal arise, seem similar to those of an addiction.
Attitude toward Catholicism? Some of the characters in the book are Catholic, and they break the 2nd Commandment an awful lot. Liesel reads a book called The Dream Carrier that's about a boy who wants to be a priest when he grows up, but then, as a young priest, doubts "his faith after meeting a strange and elegant woman." Ugh.
Our narrator, Death, is a little impertinent toward God on page 350, but it's because he's tired of doing his job.
There IS a chapter where the boys are subjected to an embarrassing physical before moving on to the next branch of the HJ, but it's not graphic. It depicts shame and embarrassment more than anything... however the experience is shared between Leisel and Rudy, and Leisel dwells on it.
Also, one of the tertiary characters (a wounded German officer) commits suicide after being home for some time. He either leaves this note or thinks this thought before hanging himself:
"Dear Mama, Can you ever forgive me? I just couldn't stand it any longer. I'm meeting Robert (his deceased brother who died of his wounds in the war). I don't care what the damn Catholics say about it. There must be a place in heaven for those who have been where I have been. You might think I don't love you because of what I've done, but I do. Your Michael" (504).
I'm pretty sure that the held-belief at the time was that suicide is a mortal sin (which it is), which would automatically send a person to hell. The Baltimore Catechism (1891) has this to say:
Q. 1274. What sin is it to destroy one's own life, or commit suicide, as this act is called?
A. It is a mortal sin to destroy one's own life or commit suicide, as this act is called, and persons who willfully and knowingly commit such an act die in a state of mortal sin and are deprived of Christian burial. It is also wrong to expose one's self unnecessarily to the danger of death by rash or foolhardy feats of daring.
The answer is a little abrupt and leaves a bit of explaining to do. However, I would like to direct you to the Part 3, Section 2, Chapter 2, Article 5, Subsection I of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1982), which has this to say about suicide:
2280 Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of.
2281 Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life. It is gravely contrary to the just love of self. It likewise offends love of neighbor because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and other human societies to which we continue to have obligations. Suicide is contrary to love for the living God.
2282 If suicide is committed with the intention of setting an example, especially to the young, it also takes on the gravity of scandal. Voluntary co-operation in suicide is contrary to the moral law.
Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide.
2283 We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives.
Usually those who commit suicide are in such a state of mental and emotional anguish that they have lost some sense of reality and disregard their own lives. Also, the Catholic Church no longer "denies Christian burial" to those who have taken their own lives. To sum up: God is God, and I am not. God's mercy endures forever, and I honestly have no idea where people will go after their judgment. I can only hope and pray for the souls of the dead.
Paganry? Well, Nazism.
Swearing? Yes. Lots of it. In German and in English. Not the amount you'll find in Band of Brothers or Fury, but enough to make you cringe that it's located in "middle grade fiction." Peppered throughout with "shit, asshole," and variations thereof. "Whore" and "slut" are used a few times.
Violence? A few fist fights, bombing, lots of death, some blood, a suicide or two, public floggings. Book burning. Anti-Semitism.
Appropriate age? High School. Maybe 8th grade and up, but high school would be best. 9th and 10th could handle it, but the vocabulary is really suited more for juniors and seniors, even though the protagonist is an 11-year-old girl. It's really dark. When I think of appropriate WWII novels for kids, I think of Number the Stars. The Book Thief is substantially more dramatic, darker, and complex.
Writing Style: Wow. Blunt. Sarcastic. Heavy. Honest. Amazing grip on tone. This is how I would tell a story. I love the descriptions, the interruptions, the bullet points and lists, and the acerbic tone of the narrator. I just love it. Intense and imaginative, excellent lexicon.
Notable Quoteables:
"The orange flames waved at the crowd as paper and print dissolved inside them. Burning words were torn from their sentences" (112).
"The words distributed into a room that was fool of cold air and books. Books everywhere! Each wall was armed with overcrowded yet immaculate shelving. It was barely possible to see the paintwork. There were all different styles and sizes of lettering on the spines of the black, the red, the gray, the every-colored books. It was one of the most beautiful things Liesel Meminger had ever seen. With wonder, she smiled. That such a room existed!" (134).
"The whisper was soft, clouded in the throat of sleep" (219).
"She was home, among the mayor's books of every color and description, with their silver and gold lettering. She could smell the pages. She could almost taste the words as they stacked up around her" (288).
"A seven-punch knock was hammered into the door of 33 Himmel Street, and it was too late to move anyone anywhere" (342).
"Competence was attractive" (356).
"...the sandpaper texture of her father's hands" (358).
"There was also an acknowledgment that there was great beauty in what she was currently witnessing, and she chose not to disturb it" (428).
"The room tasted like sugar and dough, and thousands of pages" (459).
Great words: Moroseness, repugnant, incriminating, idyllic, copiously, maniacal, castigating, hapless, temerity, and more.
Final Summation:
The Book Thief is an intense novel that is descriptive and dark but hopeful. I would definitely recommend it to adults. I think that anyone over 14 would be able to handle/enjoy this book and all of its layers. Apparently, it's required reading for middle school age at some schools? I really don't agree with that. There's nothing really immoral/inappropriate (besides the violence and anti-Semitism) that a 6th-8th grader couldn't handle. I'm more concerned about the level of the vocabulary, the abrasive and blunt way of the narrator, and the overall dark tone of it. This one is definitely
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