The Book Thief
January 7th 2007 20:23
Image: markuszusak.com
I’ve read many novels about Nazi Germany over the years, covering what I thought to be most angles of the Holocaust, but Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief would have to rate as the most originally narrated yet. The Boy In the Striped Pyjamas, which I reviewed here last year, was wonderful with its beautifully innocent narration of a nine year old boy.
Now Zusak takes us to the opposite end of the scale. Our narrator is none other than the omniscient spectre Death, a very busy character indeed, carting souls away, as bombs and gas chambers do their work. Sounds pretty crazy doesn’t it, but incredibly this narration actually works.
Liesel Meminger, a young German girl is moved to foster parents in Munich after her family is torn apart by Hitler’s rule. Her new life in Himmel Street is cluttered with nightmares, beatings, street football, young love and ‘Heil Hitlers’. And books. Liesel becomes addicted to reading, something that eventually saves her life. For Death has been watching closely, expecting to meet her on a few occasions only to be turned away each time. We meet an array of lovable characters that all blend into life in this forgotten back street of Munich. And a true picture of how the average German neighbourhood existed during this time is portrayed, I think, rather well.
But, it is definitely this fresh approach to the narration that got me in, and Death’s sense of humour and his obvious scorn for mankind’s troublesome nature is totally entertaining. And the use of colour in describing everything from the sky to someone’s mood gives the whole story more dimension, which helps to build a surreal feel. I did find the author’s personifying of ‘words’ a little tiring though. They were propping themselves up, distributed into rooms and fed through doorways. Clever, but a little too overloaded for me. But if you can manage not to be distracted by it, the story and characters carry the book a good way to being more than worth your while. And don’t let the size of this book put you off. It’s an easy read with a lot of information condensed into headings and sub-headings, getting you through the story quickly. No real mysteries, (there never is in a Nazi Germany novel) but plenty of emotional roller-coasting that leaves you feeling well and truly satisfied.
If you like clever narration, give it a try.
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