This month, I’m leading the discussion for the book club I’m in with the Cambridge chapter of the NFB. We’re reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, which is a reread for me, and which I still absolutely love.
I first read this book back in 2012, when I was studying abroad in Torino. I probably read it three or four more times between 2012 and 2014, especially as I was working on my World War II Italy novella for my senior honors project. I’ve said on countless occasions that The Book Thief is one of my favorite books ever, but I haven’t revisited it since I graduated from college, so rereading it this month was a treat.
The Book Thief is set in a small town in Germany from 1939 to 1943. When Liesel Meminger is ten years old, she’s put into foster care and goes to live with Hans and Rosa Hubermann, who at first seem like complete opposites but are both loving foster parents. But on the way to her new home, Liesel’s younger brother dies, and at his funeral, Liesel steals her first book, even though she doesn’t know how to read. But she learns how to read, makes friends with a host of great characters, and as World War Ii begins, she starts stealing books in earnest. And then her foster parents take a Jew into their home to hide him from the Nazis. Oh, and the story is told by Death.
I still absolutely love this book. It was great to dive in and rediscover this world and all these great characters again, and it’s been so long that it really was like rediscovering them. I really enjoyed the writing style too. I love how Zusak personifies things like the sky, and people’s expressions, and the words that they’re saying. And this book just gave me so many feelings!
I will say it this pointhat The Book Thief might not be my favorite book ever, but that’s more because I’ve read so many other amazing books since I last read this than because of any fault on the part of The Book Thief. If I had to nitpick, I’d say there were times when the writing style was a little excessive for me, and the discussions of things like the extermination camps felt like token references because they weren’t really part of Liesel’s story. But I felt like I had to dig to find anything negative to say about this book, so I really don’t have strong feelings about either of these criticisms.
On the whole, The Book Thief is an amazing read, and if you haven’t read it, you absolutely need to. I can’t wait to talk about this with my book club this evening, but in the meantime, if you’ve read it, I’d love to know what you think.