Agenda of The Book Thief, The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak, detailed review of The Book Thief

I have taken a long break and come back with a hot topic to discuss with you. Though I was busy with my project work, I did not waste my leisure completely. I knew it was ample time to take up my long list of books that I had not read yet. One of them was particularly The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. It is a best-seller and also quite renowned for its sweet narrative. 

I had an eye for Marcus Zusak's, The Book Thief for many years. I already collected it in 2019. But it stayed there on my shelf with those unread ones. 

From my first impression, I understand that it is a book that's easy to love. And one who admittedly walks the line between young adult fiction and more important literature will find it more interesting. The central theme of this book is the power of words. Though it is not something unique to be proud I have gotten to know the story more as I have started to appreciate Zusak's storytelling. He takes this simple theme and weaves it into every aspect of the narrative style. The characters and their relationships, the historical context, and the plot all come around as surreal but realistic. And This was how we would summarize this book. After all, it is a story about a girl who steals books. So in a sense, she might be the destroyer of Words. Still, when Death has started to narrate this story of another destroyer than him, we find a unique take of the world surrounded by Nazi Germany on one hand and Kindness and Humanity on the other.

What is The Book Thief?

But for your kind information, I am saying this at the start. I wrote this whole blog not only based on the book but also on the film. After finishing the book, I went to the film adaption to get fulfilled take on the story. And I am not going to say that I am unpleased with this experience. Yes, that film deducted many points from the book, but still, there are enough in this live-action for us to enjoy. So I implore you guys to go through it before reading my blog further.

Let's look at both the novel and the 2013 film adaptation. The Book Thief novel is a frame story narrated by the Farce of Death. In the beginning, Death tells us the story of Liesel Meminger. It is the result of him discovering this young girl's written memoir fittingly called The Book Thief in a garbage truck. So, from the start, the storytelling is sparked not only by Death as he was being drawn to Liesel's survivor's spirit but also by her writing. He was rescuing her words from otherwise being forgotten. Once the narrative starts, the first instance of the book thievery occurs. Liesel had an irrational act next to the fresh grave of her young brother stealing a handbook on how to dig graves. It is a perfect exciting incident both for the motif of stealing books and the introduction of Liesel's coming of age journey. It has forced her to navigate moving from the past trauma of losing her brother and her mother to metaphorically dig their graves and start to build her own identity. We also see the power of words in Liesel's early stages of her maturing process. When she arrived at her new school, students bullied her for her inability to write her name. Her personal immaturity parallels her immaturity with words. Thus when her words fail her silence, she feels forced to resort to violence.

"do you know what this says?

do you want to know what it says?"

It is no coincidence then that Hans Hubermann had it in him. As is her new father, he has provided the love and security that she needs for her personal growth. He uses these words to comfort her with kindness. Then again, he uses the act of teaching Liesel to read as a way of connecting with her. Ultimately it helps her along the road to maturity and identity.

The Physicality of Words

Words are also at the center of Liesel's other close relationships. Isla's(The mayor's wife) act of allowing Liesel to read books in her library paves the way for their mutual and eventually life-saving relationship. Rudy rescues Liesel's book from the river.

"then how about that kiss?

-come on, you're going to freeze!"

By saving these words and displaying the innocent and selfless love that they share, the author notes an undulated idea of a relationship between children. Liesel and Max are connected by their isolation and their unfavorable status in the eyes of the nazis, but it is through their mutual love of words that their friendship truly blossoms.

"what does it say?

- In my religion, we're taught that every living thing - every leaf, every bird is only alive because it contains the secret word for life. That's the only difference between us and a lump of clay. A word. Words are life, Liesel. All those blank pages they're for you to fill."

Apart from Liesel herself, the power of words is an integral part of the story's historical backdrop. We see propagandistic language marked by hate and discrimination from the nazis and max's fairy tales. He makes an alias called the word shaker and depicts Hitler using words as his primary tool to take over the world. Within this historical backdrop, we see these two marginalized figures, a runaway jew and the orphan daughter of a communist, take subversive action through words. Like Rudy rescuing her book from the river, Liesel literally saves words from the fire of nazi censorship and finds life and hope in these new books. Max overtly uses Hitler's writing within the pages of Mein Kampf. Firstly as a way to hide and blend in on the run. But then he paints over Hitler's words in a cleansing white, making pictures and books as gifts of kindness for Liesel.

The Book Thief's Physicality of Words

Most of all, I love that part in the novel where there were the erased pages of Mein Kampf, gagging, suffocating under the paint, as Zusak said they are stealing back the power of words from Hitler. As the story drives on, Liesel steals more books. Many of which in the novel share direct links to her conflicts. In her mind, the Nazis stripped away all of Liesel's closest connections, yet, along the way, we see Liesel growing in confidence and maturity, which is again illuminated by her use of language just as Hans used words to comfort Liesel at the start. Later, Liesel went on to do the same for Max when he was sick.

The Development of Liesel(The Book Theif and its Bildungsroman attributes)

The story development in this book is particularly praisable. When we are surprised by 'Death's' character, Marcus silently builds the plot around Liesel. With time the novel ultimately becomes a brilliant example of a Bildungsroman.

All Important Characters of The Book Thief

Liesel goes from being a bullied illiterate girl to a confident reader who even reads stories aloud to comfort others in the bomb shelter. She used to describe the weather to Max and thus used her imaginative self. She would remind him how the Sun felt on her skin, what the air felt like to breathe, or how snow felt on her tongue, and it reminded her that she was still alive. It all splendidly helps her character to grow in this book. By the end, when the author was waiting to deliver us an impactful ending, all the characters and their traits were visible to us. Though readers had anticipated the tragedy, the development and anticlimax were hard to digest. It took us time to realize what the build-up emotions actually intended. Still, this was as great as every Bildungsroman novel, and we readers have felt it.

Ending

Then we arrive at the heart-wrenching ending, which always leaves a few dry eyes in the readers' arena. Due to the horror of the bombing on Himmel Street, the world of Liesel turned upside down. It turns out that the act of riding in her basement finishing the book thief is what protected her from the bombs. As Death said when he observed her among the wreckage, she was holding desperately on to the words. The book had served to save her life. The Words, the very thing that inspired the Nazis and perhaps the war, had been with her through her entire journey, ultimately saving her life. As Death completes the frame story in the novel, he recalls Liesel's final lines of the Book Thief, which connect well to the story's other central theme of the strange dual-natured capacity of humans.

"I have hated the words, and I have loved them, and I hope I have made the right."

The film ends in a creative divergence from the book. As the camera passes over the belongings of Liesel at the end of her life, we see a literary award and stacks of books said to be authored by Liesel Meminger, suggesting that she has gone on to pursue an adult life and career defined by the power of words. So despite the seeming simplicity of this theme, the power of words works on many levels. It is vital to Liesel's characterization, and her coming of age arc is a significant part of the meaningful connections. Between most characters, it is key to the historical backdrop and the historical commentary the story provides, and its importance to the plot, central conflicts, and resolutions drive it home. It is a universal truth with wide-reaching implications.

All this is not a detailed discussion of The Book Theif. I can only say it states my feelings and emotions about the book. As I dearly loved the time I spent reading this book, I am expressing these sentiments towards you. I hope you will consider my words as you do the individual reviews. You can nurture different beliefs about this title, but I know we are all connected to the feeling of how we loved to read "The Book Thief."