by Markus Zusak"It's just a small story really, about, among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist fighter, and quite a lot of thievery...."
I don't really know what to say about this book that hasn't already been said very eloquently and enthusiastically by others, such as booklogged, Les, Heather, bookfool and no doubt others. But I can say that like Death, the unusual narrator, who claims he is "haunted by humans", this is a haunting, moving story. The characters came alive so vividly, I couldn't help but be drawn into their lives. Full of unique, imaginative language,
"The soft-spoken words fell off the side of the bed, emptying to the floor like powder."it was compelling reading. A beautiful book about the power of words, and the "ability of books to feed the soul."
"This time, his voice was like a fist, freshly banged on the table."
"Liesel's blood had dried inside of her. It crumbled. She almost broke into pieces on the steps."
My Rating: 4.5/5
No doubt this one is in my top two for the year. Gorgeous, gorgeous book, and it made me cry for hundreds of pages. lol
ReplyDeleteYAY! So glad you liked it!. It made me cry too. So sad. This guy is such a great author. His prose is exquisite.
ReplyDeleteBut you didn't absolutely love it, did you, Nat? What was missing for you? Do you think it was over-hyped?
ReplyDeleteMe again. Looking at your Top Five for the year, I see that none of them earned a perfect 5, so maybe you really did LOVE The Book Thief?
ReplyDeleteI felt a lump in my throat near the end, but it didn't make me outright cry like some other books have.
ReplyDeleteI also found our lovely narrator, Death, to be an intrustion at times and very occasionally the writing felt too clever. So you're right Les. I really liked it and think it's a very good story, but there was just a little something keeping it from being perfect for me.
But you should know that I'm a very stingy rater. A perfect 5 needs to be exactly that- perfect! So a 4.5 is still a pretty darn good book by my rating!
I agree with you, tanabata, about the writing feeling a little too clever. Nonetheless, it was on of my favorite reads for 2009. Here's my review on it: http://tinyurl.com/bkthief
ReplyDeleteI can't find any spot to leave a comment on your main pages, and I just wanted to say how I admire and how envious I am of your blog. So much painstaking work poured into it. Your love for books is so apparent.
So much to read here, I can stay all day. I'm in the process of transferring my book reviews from an old blog to my new one, and I've been having an attack of the lazies lately. I hope reading your blog inspires me to work on mine more.
Great, great blog!
gege - Thanks so much for stopping by, and your kind words. I'm kind of embarrassed by these old, super short reviews, if you can even call them that, but the blog is both a labour of love and a work in progress. I often get attacks of the lazies too! Good luck working on your own blog. :)
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