The Book Thief

by Markus Zusak

Paperback

About the author

Markus Zusak is the author of five books, including the international bestseller, The Book Thief , which spent more than a decade on the New York Times bestseller list, and is translated into more than forty languages – establishing Zusak as one of the most successful authors to come out of Australia.

To date, Zusak has held the number one position at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, the New York Times bestseller list, as well as in countries across South America, Europe and Asia.

His books, The Underdog, Fighting Ruben Wolfe, When Dogs Cry (also titled Getting the Girl ), The Messenger (or I am the Messenger ) and The Book Thief have been awarded numerous honours ranging from literary prizes to readers choice awards to prizes voted on by booksellers.

Zusak’s much-anticipated new novel, Bridge of Clay , is set for release in October 2018 in the USA, the UK and Australia, with foreign translations to follow.

Reviews

[Nick The Critic · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Book Thief is one of the most minimalistic yet loaded works I've read containing the most unique stylistic unconventionalities. It's hard to not be gimmicky when brushing on such a subject matter. The characters are developed on a deeper level that you connect with them despite the flaws. The ending is gut wrenching but I predicted it.
Liesel is one of the sweetest characters you'll read about and the holocaust shows what a burden she has to carry through her life, before and after even her foster family's life was taken away which leaves her with nothing but the words her parents left.
After the epilogue, the book left me with a strange and bittersweet aftertaste. Because of the ecosystem and the world the author gave us. I do, vividly remember the accordion music, Max hiding in the basement, Rudy's lemon hair, before it was all torn to shreds. If I'm honest, it didn't make me cry. But I liked it by a ton. Left me with a more subcluded and quiet feeling of sadness feeling. It’s like someone putting a weight on my chest.

Liesel, Rudy, Max and even Rosa Huberman remain beloved by me.
They occupy different spots certainly
but the author curated them with such precision and a different texture that it made me feel for them.

However, I have to be honest, there were subtle issues where Death became a bit cliche, pretentious or irresistibly annoying. He falls a bit flat. It’s what holds the book back from being devastating. Just imagine someone you have loved deeply was in a casket and instead of crying, your cousin was looking stoically, with not ONE thought behind those eyes. That’s why I’m giving it four stars for now. It earned my grief but kept enough distance that I never fully lost myself in it. I think that’s kind of fair actually. If I’m quite honest? The writing style *sometimes* stumbles into a rather generic state, though it’s rare, but noticeable. Compared to the theatrical and smart writing of The Neverending story, or, the gritty and the allegorical way that Holden is portrayed by the author, this book’s tone is the thing that makes or breaks it.

I really liked this book. It was certainly the true mix of kind of-comforting and devastating-classical style that made your brain think a lot about it. I have learnt a lot of things from this book and if anything it has made me more interested and curious about world war two. The ending was great.

[Picky Christian Fiction Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emotional damage but in the best way possible. Awesome writing style (read it in German). Love the characters and character depth.

[Mariam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me go back in time and i love how it is written in the pov of the death. I crieddddd when i finnished it because what do you mean lisel lost everyone and himmel street got bombed.