The Book Thief

Bookshops and books I have always loved. Reading I enjoy, to the point where I hate finishing books. There is that moment when you have finished a good read, you close it a final time with satisfaction of being hooked on something good, and then it turns to almost a loss as it dawns on you that you now have nothing to read.

For the first time in a long time I have just experienced that. And it was so good being totally hooked on a book that I had to keep distracting myself from reading it. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a fantastic story smartly told.

It is based in Nazi Germany during the Second World War, and follows the story of a young girl Liesel. She is placed in foster care and slowly settles into Himmel Street due to the consistent care of her foster father Hans Hubermann and childhood loyalty of fellow theif, Rudy Stiener. Through the stories and adventures of Liesel and her most loved companions, the story is able to paint a stark account of life drenched in poverty, war, fear, anger, discrimination, mistreatment and misused power yet engulfed in loyalty, honesty, innocence, dreams and love. Loads of contrasts can be pulled from throughout the story. None no better than the comment by Death himself who says "I am haunted by humans".

The story is narrated by Death, one busy presence throughout the years of history particulary over this period. What I think I enjoyed most about this book is how Death is given such humanistic characteristics that depicts Death as a hard worker, intelligent and surprisingly emotional.
"A human doesn't have a heart like mine. The human heart is a line, whereas my own is a circle, and I have the endless ability to be in the right place at the right time. The consquence of this is that I'm always finiding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugliness and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both. Still, they have one thing that I envy. Humans, if nothing else, have the good sense to die"

With Death's random insights throughout the story, conclusions are blantantly drawn between people and events which made the story easier to follow with more meaning which could have been easity looked over by the reader. Or perhaps just me... who knows.

I know it sounds like I am giving this book alot of kudos. It isn't my favorite book of all time (that would be The Life of Pi) and it won't leave a lasting impression on me for years to come. Being the first book I have been hooked on for a long time, it's all just a little exciting.

I originally bought this book while in Brussels, with the intention of taking it on vacation with me to Spain. I should have left the book in Brussels as intended and not given into pressure, temptation and the promise that I could read Shantaram also when on holiday. From the sounds of it, Shantaram won't be finished, and I don't have a book.

That moment of loss is here again.