Has anyone read 'The Book Thief' by : Markus Zusak?

Everyone is saying that it is such a great book (beautiful being the most used adjective) but really, what is the book about (for all the ignoramuses like me out there)? And please, give me at least one good reason to struggle my way though it (since you say it's hard) besides that it's beautiful and well-written and the time frame jumps around. Please?

TheWordsmith wrote:Everyone is saying that it is such a great book (beautiful being the most used adjective) but really, what is the book about (for all the ignoramuses like me out there)? And please, give me at least one good reason to struggle my way though it (since you say it's hard) besides that it's beautiful and well-written and the time frame jumps around. Please?

It's about a girl named Liesel who steals books in a time period in which books were burned, and how she grows up. The people she meets, her everyday life from the point of view of Death, all sorts of things.

I'm sorry I can't say more, because all that is spoilerrific. Give it a shot.

I've read the first 50 pages. The little sign things that are like this:

******DESCRIPTION OF GIRL***********

Really bug me. I don't understand them.

I guess it's just the author's style? It's rather odd.

-Jared

A girl i knew last year and ate lunch with, read the book. She loved it and told me to read it, but I never got around to it, and never will. But she highly recommends it for anyone who cares.

I think it would be better to describe it like this;

It's set in Germany, World War II, and follows the experiences of a young girl called Liesel who begins stealing books. There is stuff on both sides of the war in the way that she sees it.

It is very well written (In my opinion) and worth a read. I have to confess I cried at the end.

With the ****Insert Words*** thing; yes, that would be the authors style, he is entitled to do so

The Book Thief is well thought out, creative and completely absorbing.

At first I thought that I might struggle with the style of writing, but I fell in love with the characters and story so quickly that the actual writing didn't bother me.

[spoiler]When Liesel finally kisses Rudy I sobbed my heart out. And, to me, a good book is one that provokes emotion, which this well and truly did. [/spoiler]

I must admit that certain parts became a little repetitive, however, the book still managed to keep me hooked right to the end.

I would recommend it - in fact I have and my friend is currently reading it and loving it.

Alainna
xxx

I loved it.

The ending was very sad, but I still feel like reading it again.

I have this book waiting on hold for me at the library, but I'm not quite sure if I want to read it. Will I zip right through it? Or is it really slow? Because I currently am reading Duma Key and Watership Down, the latter which I despise.

-Jared

BigBadBear wrote:I have this book waiting on hold for me at the library, but I'm not quite sure if I want to read it. Will I zip right through it? Or is it really slow? Because I currently am reading Duma Key and Watership Down, the latter which I despise.

-Jared

It depends on how you feel about the writing style. I read it in no time at all, so I don't think you'll find it really slow. As with any book, there are slow parts but they don't last long.

Have a go, Jared. I reckon you might like it.

xxx

I absolutly loved this book. I picked it up and couldn't put it down. It completly hooked me from the first page. I think it was the different, if slightly unconventional, writing style which hooked me so much and so many things which he wrote really were beautiful. The book was very sad and quite poignant but it was done so well. The kinds of things I read and thought 'I really wish I could write like that'. Things like the bits in bold and the way it was narrated by death I found were really effective.

I think that anyone should at least try it. If you don't like it fair enough but don't just dismiss it because otherwise I really do think you'd be missing out.

This book was life changing. It seriously changed the way I think. Yeah, at first it was hard to understand, but once I got into it, I couldn't put it down. It was a great story with a great message.

i read it a few years ago and loved it. all i remember (beside the basic plot and how much i really liked the main characters) was that it was enchanting

Yeah, I agree with Jennafina. This book made such a big impact on my life. I guess when ever we talked about the Holocaust and I looked at it just as that. But after reading this book, after Markus telling us through Death's Eyes....seriously, it was a big eye-opener for me about that whole deal.

The ending made me cry no lie...

But please give it a chance. It is such a wonderful book. You'll never look at that event in history again as before.

Well, hope you enjoy it!

Just want to say that I read "I Am The Messenger" and I highly recommend it. It was the second book that made tears roll down my face, the first being the Book Thief. Though the PoV isn't nearly as interesting, there is a wonderful twist at the end, and like the Book Thief, Zusak manages to change the way you look at things with it. I loved it just as much, if not more.

I will never foregt that book, before my nanna died she was in and out of hospital a lot and when we went up to see her I Would always go and look at this little book stall thing they had and my dad bought me the book thief from it. Love the book, and always makes me think of ma nanna