num_pages: 592
description: The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak was the best-selling debut literary novel of the year 2007, selling over 400,000 copies. The author is a prize-winning writer of children's books, and this, his first novel for adults, proved to be a triumphant success. The book is extraordinary on many levels: moving, yet restrained, angry yet balanced -- and written with the kind of elegance found all too rarely in fiction these days. The book's narrator is nothing less than Death itself, regaling us with a remarkable tale of book burnings, treachery and theft. The book never forgets the primary purpose of compelling the reader's attention, yet which nevertheless is able to impart a cogent message about the importance of words, particularly in those societies which regard the word as dangerous (the book is set during the Nazi regime, but this message is all too relevant in many places in the world today).Nine-year-old Liesel lives with her foster family on Himmel Street during the dark days of the Third Reich. Her Communist parents have been transported to a concentration camp, and during the funeral for her brother, she manages to steal a macabre book: it is, in fact, a gravediggers’ instruction manual. This is the first of many books which will pass through her hands as the carnage of the Second World War begins to hungrily claim lives. Both Liesel and her fellow inhabitants of Himmel Street will find themselves changed by both words on the printed page and the horrendous events happening around them.Despite its grim narrator, The Book Thief is, in fact, a life-affirming book, celebrating the power of words and their ability to provide sustenance to the soul. Interestingly, the Second World War setting of the novel does not limit its relevance: in the 20th century, totalitarian censorship throughout the world is as keen as ever at suppressing books (notably in countries where the suppression of human beings is also par for the course) and that other assault on words represented by the increasing dumbing-down of Western society as cheap celebrity replaces the appeal of books for many people, ensures that the message of Marcus Zusak’s book could not be more timely. It is, in fact, required reading -- or should be in any civilised country. --Barry Forshaw
language: English
title: The Book Thief
titlecomplete: The Book Thief
characters: Max Vandenburg, Rosa Hubermann, Rudy Steiner, Ilsa Hermann, Hans Hubermann, Death, Alex Steiner, Liesel Meminger
genres: Fiction, Holocaust, Classics, World War II, Young Adult, Historical, War, Historical Fiction, Books About Books, Novels
ratings_count: 2438275
places: Germany, Molching
awards: awardedAt: 1136102400000
name: National Jewish Book Award
category: Children’s and Young Adult Literature, awardedAt: 1167638400000
name: Book Sense Book of the Year Award
category: Children's Literature, awardedAt: 1199174400000
name: Buxtehuder Bulle, awardedAt: 1167638400000
name: Sydney Taylor Book Award
category: Teen Readers, awardedAt: 1230796800000
name: Prijs van de Kinder- en Jeugdjury Vlaanderen, awardedAt: 1167638400000
name: Michael L. Printz Award, awardedAt: 1167638400000
name: Exclusive Books Boeke Prize, awardedAt: 1199174400000
name: Rhode Island Teen Book Award, awardedAt: 1136102400000
name: The Quill Award
category: Young Adult/Teen, awardedAt: 1199174400000
name: Zilveren Zoen, awardedAt: 1262332800000
name: Teen Read Award
category: Best All-Time-Fave, awardedAt: 1230796800000
name: Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
category: Preis der Jugendjury, awardedAt: 1136102400000
name: Association of Jewish Libraries
category: Teen Book Award, awardedAt: 1262332800000
name: Lincoln Award, awardedAt: 1199174400000
name: Australian Book Industry Award (ABIA)
category: Literary Fiction, name: Kathleen Mitchell Award, awardedAt: 1199174400000
name: Ena Noel Award, awardedAt: 1230796800000
name: Literaturpreis der Jury der jungen Leser
category: Jugendbuch, awardedAt: 1230796800000
name: LovelyBooks Leserpreis
category: Allgemeine Literatur, awardedAt: 1388563200000
name: Margaret A. Edwards Award
publisher: the Bodley Head