The Book Thief

[April 2010]

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The Book Thief
Markus Zusak

number of voters: 5
percentage of voters who finished the book: 5
highest rating: 9
lowest rating: 8
average rating: 8.4

percentage of readers who are more grateful for books after reading this book: 100

* * * TWO QUESTIONS: * * *
1. Do you like historical fiction?
2. Are you open-minded?

Yes and yes? That’s a good start.

* * * A DEFINITION * * *
open-minded
adjective
willing to consider new ideas; unprejudiced

Still with me? Good. Now you are ready to meet the book thief and the one who tells her story. But I won'’t be the one to introduce you. I will let the author himself do that. Because, no matter how I phrase it, there is no way to summarize this book in a few sentences without making the book sound cliché... and it is anything but that.

* * * ANOTHER DEFINITION * * *
What this book is not:
cliché
noun
a very predictable or unoriginal thing

Let’s review what we know so far:

* * * THE BOOK THIEF by MARKUS ZUSAK... * * *
...a kind of historical fiction
...requires an open mind
...completely unpredictable and original

Is this enough for you? Can you commit yourself to reading a book without knowing anything about time period, setting, or plot? No? Then just for you:

* * * THREE THINGS YOU MIGHT WANT TO KNOW * * *
1. time period: World War II
2. setting: Germany
3. plot: not what you’d expect from 1 and 2

There. I’ve said enough.
More than enough.
Go meet the book thief, then come back and we’ll talk.