I have always made a hobby of watching the world go by. In the same way, Liesel watches and waits for things to happen, predicting the unavoidable and preparing yourself for those moments is something I could relate to during this novel. Her love of words, the colourful way she describes situations reminds me of the clumsy sentences I used when I was ten. Just like Liesel, I sought out books and dictionaries to discover more words to add to my vocabulary. Learning how and when to use them turned into an adventure and the inner narrative became a picture of words instead of a written story. For these reasons I understand Liesel’s need for these words. They become a sanctuary of sorts. Something beautiful but neutral to other people so that cannot …show more content…
To begin, it was very frustrating to have the ending of the novel slapped into the beginning and middle of the story at seemingly random moments. There was no suspense built in the novel, Zusak demolished that when he writes to the reader, through Death, exactly how the book, or this specific character’s life, is going to end. Near the end of the book, just after Liesel has had a relatively normal day Death begins a chapter, titled “The End of the World (Part I)” that describes the immediate events after Himmel Street was bombed. These pieces of writing disrupt the flow of the novel in a startling tone. Death’s lack of suspense while narrating The Book Thief is incredibly unfortunate for the impactful novel. Also, there is a long introduction to Max Vandenberg, the hidden Jew in the basement, yet he has relatively no importance to the story. Being in the basement limits Max’s movement and relevance to the story. He contributes to Liesel a vivid imagery that she applies to her words a deeper understanding to life, but Max isn’t quite a strong enough character to be considered secondary. In the start of the novel, Death gives the impression that the Jewish fist fighter will be very important to Liesel’s story, the story he is telling. But it appear Zusak cares little about the structure of Death’s narrative in general, Death hops around broken stories with very few transitions. Making the reader uncertain as to who is important to the novel; what the message being told is; and whether Death is in the past, present, or future in his