Customer Reviews
Beatiful book - By: Me, 03 Jul 2008 
My mum gave me this book to read, which is usual a bad sign, but I have throughly enjoyed it. Death is the narrator, which should be depressing, butin a weird way it's uplifting.
It's a wonderful story about an horrific time & I'm surprised by how much I loved it!
I dont really understand why this is a bestseller - By: Reya, 02 Jul 2008 
I usually buy bestsellers & books with good Amazon reviews because I trust the majority's opinion. However, I honestly dont understand what's so amazing about 'The Book Thief'. I personally would not recommend this book.
What I liked about it is the beginning (which is quite rare) it seemed so unique & magical. I fellin love with the idea of Death being the narrator & couldnt wait to find out what Mr Grim Reaper had to say. But of all the stories Death could have told us, sadly he chose a pretty boring one. Actually I dont think it's the story itself was boring (because I guess the events of Nazi Germany are quite interesting, if that's the right word to describe them) I just dont think that this story needed all 554 pages it was given.
The story pretty much goes like this: Liesel woke up, she got out of bed, brushed her teeth, scratched her head, lookedin the mirror...etc. Which I think is really unnecessary.
Overall, the beginning was good, the middle was incredibly boring & the end was predictable (partly because Death decided to tell us the ending right away, so you'll find out what happens at the end after reading the first 20 pages) The Book Thief is not a bad book, I actually think it's interestingly written, but it's not the kind of book you cant put down; it's the kind of book you have to force yourself to pick up again.
Unusual, really good. - By: Sarah, 02 Jul 2008 
I liked this book. It wasn't the best written novel i've ever read but i still coudn't put it down. It's really unusual but it works. I'd highly recommend reading it.
great for young adults and children - By: Kris Rees, 02 Jul 2008 Personally, I found this book a little bit childish & simplistic for my tastes. I got about half way through before I got bored. It reminded me a little bit of the dark materials trilogy. If you like reading stories about empowered little girls then Im sure you'll love this. With it being about death & world war 2, I was expecting something far grittier, which raised some difficult moral questions.
I did find the slightly alternative perspective of World War 2 quite interesting, althought it was obvious the characters were written by someone looking back on the war with the benefit of hindsight.
Haunted by humans - and this wonderful book - By: Andy Miller, 01 Jul 2008 I approached this book with some apprehension. The cover illustration on my copy seemed almost twee & the selected review quote - `When Death tells a story, you really have to listen' - contrived & gimmicky. The first few pages did little to relieve my reservations either. Death, the narrator, had a glib style, using colloquialisms & jokey asides, again worrying me that a topic as serious & solemn as lifein Nazi Germany & the plight of the Jews during the War was to be treatedin such a manner.
If any other readers find themselves approaching this bookin a similar frame of mind, my advice is `Do please read on!' After the brief & unusual scene setting by Death, the narrative turns to a more straightforward but compelling account of the life of Liesel Meminger. At the start of the book,in the winter of 1939, she is nine years old & being taken south with her brother by their mother to a small town near Munich. Here Death intervenes again, to my irritation at the time, to tell us `We know now, of course, that the boy didn't make it'.
Liesel is left with foster parents, the wonderfully strong & gentle Hans Huberman & Rosa his stern, but loving & principled wife. Many sectionsin this book are devoted to everyday lifein this household & paint a picture of tenderness amongst all the privations & fear, especially as Liesel is taught by Hans to read using a book she has `acquired' at her brother's graveside. These moving scenes are intensified & compounded with danger & suspense when the family shelter a Jewish manin their cellar for many months.
Life outside the house is also paintedin vivid detail. The hungry wanderings of Liesel & her friends, the interminable football games, the cruelty of bullies & the strength of enduring friendships over years, all provide emotional hooks for a reader. Liesel's membership of the Hitler Youth was,in true adolescent fashion, something to do, a social activity, with the hateful ideology failing to register. There is comedy here too; Liesel reports that, when joining the Hitler Youth, the first thing they do is to `check that your Heil Hitlering is working properly'.
A major theme within the book is the power of the written & spoken word. Liesel acquires her second book from under the noses of the Nazis as they ignite one of their trademark town square conflagrations. As she hurries home with her smouldering bounty hidden beneath her clothes, the reader can feel the heat & pain, whilst also sharingin the defiance & sense of triumph.
The horrors of Nazism & the war are ever present & come to the forein certain dramatic sections. But for me, this book is as much about the finest qualities - love, heroism, compassion, sacrifice - to be foundin people. I had started the book, which extends to almost six hundred pages, wondering whether such a length was absolutely necessary. By the end, - the deeply, deeply moving end, - I did not want these characters to leave me. I had come to know them, even, seemingly, Death, so well!
Death, whoin the final sentences says, no jokes & gimmicks to be heard now, `... I am constantly overestimating & underestimating the human race'. Death, who concludes the novel with the words `... I am haunted by humans'.
This book has haunted me since reading it, but as much with its depths of warmth & hope as the horrors amongst which these wonders can flower. A wonderful read.
