Book Review - 'The Book Thief' by Markus Zusak

2020 EDIT: Just as beautiful, powerful, and haunting as the first time reading. No, it's more so.

Like with Anne Frank's dairy, I'm still recovering. An awful, harrowing, rage-inducing, magical and soulful experience. An avid page-turner.

'The Book Thief' demonstrates practically everything a book should be. It is a very human story - a living and lived-in story, narrated by Death. It is damn near impossible to put down. It's not uplifting, but it will show us the way.

A breathtaking, heart-and-throat-wrenching masterpiece.


'It kills me sometimes, how people die.'

'I am haunted by humans'


Final Score: 5/5





Original Review:



I know I can't say anything about this book that so many haven't already said before me. And anyway, no type of review I write will be able to do justice how breathtakingly gorgeous 'The Book Thief' is. From the point of view of Death, here is a side of literature I've never come across in all my years of reading. I think it's one of the best stories set in World War II ever written, and Markus Zusak (wonderfully quirky name for a wonderfully quirky novel) definitely did his research. Fitting in so much historical content and making it flow with the story, with its many events and characters, could not have been easy.

I'll just leave off here. Again there can be no perfect review for 'The Book Thief': it is an experience best felt through actually reading it.

Only a few more words to say about this masterpiece:

Timeless
Harrowing
Endless-feelings

Book-loving
Original
Outstanding
Kicks-out-other-bestsellers

Thing-of-beauty
Heartbreaking
Inspirational
Educational
Fast-read

Final Score: 5/5



Page quote:

'First the colours. Then the humans. That's usually how I see things. Or at least, how I try.' - Page 1