The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

HERE IS A SMALL FACT - YOU ARE GOING TO DIE.
1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier,
Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall.
SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION - THIS NOVEL IS NARRATED BY DEATH.
It's a small story, about: a girl, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist fighter, and quite a lot of thievery.
ANOTHER THING YOU SHOULD KNOW - DEATH WILL VISIT THE BOOK THIEF THREE TIMES.

It took me a long time to get into this book as to be honest, it was exceedingly dull.
I'm not quite sure what I had expected but Death narrating a book as he looked back at some events that played out in Germany during World War II wasn't it.

Eventually though, the main character, nine-year-old Liesel grew on me as did her story, her mindset and the people surrounding her. The book even ended up being difficult to put down towards the end. It was also a very interesting look at how the typical German population experienced the war a madman forced upon them.

I read the book in English and loved the many German words and phrases that infiltrated the lines. I learned German for about 5 years throughout school and reading this book made me want to revisit that gorgeous language.
The book is all in all well written but it is also quite heavy to read; at times it's very descriptive as in almost poetic - a genre that's never appealed to me.

I'm not sure I ever want to see the film they've turned the book into as I'm doubtful a child can carry the film and convey all the feelings that Liesel conveys both directly and indirectly on the pages. Furthermore I'm afraid Death will look comical and the characters stereotypical. 

	The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak ISBN13: 9780552773898 554 pages / published in 2007
	Review by Iben Jakobsen, BoB, 2013