The Book Thief

Ladies,

I am finally going to post my reviews of the last 3 books!! (Thank heavens for Christmas Break . . . I have read & read!) I will do them in order: The Book Thief, These Is My Words, then Snow Flower. I asked Katie if I should just drop out of book club during the school year and she said, "No." I hope late reviews are better than no reviews :( I really DO enjoy reading and am glad I have Les Liseuses to give me a reason to do something I love!

Anyway . . . about The Book Thief: Laurenda . . . thank you so much for selecting such a powerfully moving book! I loved the quotes that Katie used in her review. I thought Zusak's writing style was so creative. I don't think I have read anything quite like it. I also loved the characters. They seemed real, genuine and believable. I could even see a little of my grandmother in Rosa (a little gruff and cold on the outside, but a warm heart inside). The way the mayor's wife was disabled by grief and the way Liesel brought some life back to her was poignant and again--believable.

And Max . . . the complexities of wanting to live and yet feeling like being alive betrayed the dying were so heart wrenching. My brother-in-law felt something similar when he came back from Vietnam. He felt guilty for being alive when he knew that other "better" men died.

I, too, wondered if Liesel married Max. I wanted to know more about what happened to her. And yet, the discussion and thinking that occurs because Zusak DOESN'T give all the answers enhances the impact of the book.

Laurenda--I am like you . . . the history buff part of me really loved hearing the human side of the factual story. I know something about the German experience from people that I have known. My son, Matt's, first soccer coach was the son of a member of Hitler's SS. (Thankfully, he was only an accountant. He was a member of the Church and his experience at the end of the war was miraculous!) I also worked with two Germans (Emil and Emmy) in a factory that my uncles owned. Emil had a wooden leg because of his experience on the Russian front. (He would NEVER talk about what happened there.) Emmy was almost stereotypically German. She worked in the sewing room and was happy as long as she was IN CHARGE (even if being in charge meant she cleaned the restroom as well).

As many of you have commented, The Book Thief made me think. I have always been appalled by man's inhumanity to man. I can only hope that I would have the courage to risk my life to save another's. Perhaps when we spend time to help someone who needs us, we ARE giving our life for them. Perhaps . . .

--Karen S.