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| The Book Thief | 
 enlarge | Author: Markus Zusak
Publisher: Doubleday
Category: Book
Buy Used: £118.56
Avg. Customer Rating:  328 reviews
Sales Rank: 3388862
Media: Paperback
Pages: 592
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
ISBN: 0385613385
EAN: 9780385613385
ASIN: 0385613385
Publication Date: July 2, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Satisfaction Guaranteed! Delivery in 1-2 weeks.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 323 more reviews...
 What a gifted writer November 12, 2008
This book was accidently left on a bus and I wasn't even one quarter through. What did I do? I re-purchased it of course, also thanks to the fact that I purchased it both times with a great discount price, how could I not have? I would have missed out the opportunity to read such a good though tragic story. The author makes the story somewhat humorous in some parts to take off the horrific and sorrowful edge of what really happened in that time of history. It was a lovely read and the description of each character made you feel like you were right there viewing their actions. It was sad in many parts, heartwarming in others and you grew to like all the protagonists. I also liked the fact that many German words were thrown in and explained or simply translated, making an even more realistic Nazi Germany era impact on the reader. The author is highly talented and very clever.
Incredible - quite possibly the best book ever November 12, 2008
I finished this book last night, rather poignantly on Armistice Day. I was blown away. I had no idea that this was a book for "young adults" but I certainly recommend that everyone of any age reads it. This novel is beautifully written and I found I was carrying the story around with me and thinking about the lives of these characters even when I wasn't actually reading the book. I read most of it on the train and decided to finish it off at home last night - good job I did too because I was literally sobbing my heart out by the end. I don't mean my eyes welled up with tears and I sniffed a little, I mean I was bawling my eyes out. I think quite simply that this is the best book I have ever read - the characters become real and even though you are warned at the very beginning that there will be losses and tragedy, it still hits you like you didn't see it coming. I was rooting for Liesel and her friends and family. I was even moved by the Narrator, Death, who in one sense claims he is only doing his job (like so many who worked in the Nazi Regime)but who is still touched by the the sparks of light from the human spirit in a world that is awash with darkness. I have never cried so much over a story, nor been so hopeful and uplifted at the same time. I should also mention, by no means as an afterthought, that it is also very very funny, with extra points going to Rosa Hubermann, Liesel's Mama. Please read this story and let it stay with you - discover it for yourself - you won't regret a moment spent on reading it.
Delicately written, thoughtful and meaningful. November 10, 2008
I won't go in to the details of this book because I don't want to ruin any of it for you, the story is very unique and told from an unusual perspective.
I just loved this! It's very rare that I keep hold of a book, I usually pass it to a friend to read but I found myself buying additional copies for my friends so that they could share the beauty of it.
This book is just outstanding! I wouldn't usually read this type of book, I thought it was going to be heart-wrenching and gritty which it actually was, but it was done in such a delicate manner that I just enjoyed reading it so much.
I was quite sorry I read it so quickly, I would have liked to keep the joy of reading it for longer.
Buy it, read it, keep it.
 Didn't Quite Steal my Heart November 5, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
An interesting ploy to have DEATH narrate this quaint tale of a young German girl stumbling upon and stealing various books whilst World War 2 and the holocaust is buzzing all around her.
For me it didn't quite hit home as a GREAT, but nonetheless it has a certain charm - and worth a run if you've got the time; at 560 pages you're going to need it as the events are fairly pedestrian.
Oh, give it a go...then tell me I'm wrong!
Death makes a fabulous narrator!! October 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I actually started to read this book with reluctance. It's everywhere in the book shops, always on some sort of offer, everyone appears to have read it. This puts me off! I don't know why. A need to be different I guess. But it had excellent reviews and for once I wasn't going to let my stubbornness get the better of me.
So I started to read The Book Thief. It's narrated by Death, different I thought, but it worked. Yes you know who's going to die before you actually read about it, but why do we have to be surprised by death! I feel that if Death hadn't prepared me for the ending of this book it would have felt a bit OTT, or I would have been so overcome with emotion I wouldn't have appreciated how life affirming this book is. The book would not be the same without the narrator.
It was an easy read. I found I'd made it through a hundred pages in no time at all, always a nice feeling. But my entire outlook on the book changed when Max's first book is given to Liesel. I was hooked; I couldn't put the book down!
The Book Thief made me laugh, and for the first time whilst reading a book, it made me cry! Some people have said that they haven't enjoyed it as it was depressing. Yes it's sad, but I feel completely enlightened having read it. It's set in a tragic time, it's narrated by death, it's going to be depressing. But above all this, it is beautiful and extremely thought provoking. It is interesting to be reading a war story from a German point of view. I think it's very easy to forget that thousands of German people lost their lives during WWII and this book is a stark reminder of this.
I have read that they are going to be turning this book into a film. If it is done well the film should be amazing! If the book made me cry I cannot imagine the mess I would be in by the end of the film. Read this book, it's important!
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