The Book Thief is a historical fiction set in Germany during World War II. This book tells a story of a young girl named Liesel Meminger from the perspective of death. Death’s first encounter with Liesel was when her brother died in a train on their way to Molching. Liesel and her brother were supposed to live their new foster parents there. After that, death takes special interest in Liesel’s life and follows her journey growing up during one of the worst times of human history.
The Book Thief is different from other books that I’ve read, mainly because it is narrated by death. Death gives unique perspective to Liesel’s life and the horrible events surrounding her. Death as a narrator often gives comment on humanity from an outsider look which I find interesting. Since the story is being narrated by death, we’re not only given a glimpse of Liesel’s life but also of the characters connected to her.
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It’s easy to sympathize with her. She had lost her brother and her mother. But she found new hope in her foster family. Although her foster parents seem rough at first, as the story goes we’ll find out that there’s kindness in them; giving a good example to not judge people by their appearances. Being underprivileged doesn’t stop them to help people in need, especially in this book’s particular time setting when helping people could cost your own life and family.
At some point in this book, Liesel’s family would try to hide a Jewish man from Nazi. The Jewish man, Max, and Liesel form an unlikely friendship through their interaction in the basement. Lisel would sometimes describe the weather to Max because he wasn’t able to go outside. Max would give Liesel stories as gifts that he wrote in papers from Hitler’s book. Their friendship is my favorite part of the book, and also Liesel’s friendship with Rudy. These characters really hooked me. By the end of this book, I was so invested in these characters that I cried when things don’t go well for