‘The Book Thief’ a must read

  OK, I admit it. Sometimes I get to books I should read a little later than I could. When a book gets a lot of attention I often will put it on the back burner and read a first-time author instead, figuring everyone already knows about the Oprah book or the latest Stephen King novel, so why not give someone new a little press?
  So here it is, 2009, and I finally got around to reading 2006’s “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak.
  Wow! I had heard this book was good, but I didn’t expect to put it in my top books of all time, and that’s where it’s going.
  Set in Nazi Germany in the late 1930s, “The Book Thief” centers around Liesel Meminger.
  Liesel finds her first book partially buried in the snow near her brother’s grave site. With “The Grave Digger’s Handbook,” Liesel’s life of book stealing and her love affair with reading begins.
  At 9 years old, Liesel is sent to live with a foster family — Hans and Rosa Hubermann. In Hans, Liesel finds a father, friend, teacher and hero. She loves him fiercely. She also loves her firecracker foster mom, despite her sharp tongue and iron fist.
  So the stage is set for a coming-of-age tale. And “The Book Thief” is that. But it is so much more. Zusak paints a portrait of life for the average German family during Hitler's rise to power and WWII. Those people pressed into serving Hitler out of fear of losing their livelihoods or their lives. Those who hid in basements during air raids and watched as books were burned in huge bonfires. Those who lined the streets and watched as Nazis walked through town leading a macabre parade of starving Jews to death camps.
  The narrator of this tale, a story that has been told in many ways, is Death. Zusak portrays a weary Death as having compassion, handling each soul with care while shaking his head at the senselessness of it all. And, surprisingly, Death has his own dark wit, but it’s balanced with his grim observations of humanity.
  God. ... I say His name in a futile attempt to understand. “But it’s not your job to understand.” That’s me who answers. God never says anything. You think you’re the only one he never answers? “Your job is to ...” And I stop listening to me, because to put it bluntly, I tire me. When I start thinking like that, I become so exhausted, and I don’t have the luxury of indulging fatigue. I’m compelled to continue on, because although it’s not true for every person on earth, it’s true for the vast majority — that death waits for no man — and if he does, he doesn’t usually wait very long.
  There wasn’t a character in this book that was not richly developed. The story is a tear-jerker and one that should be put on many educational reading lists. And though “The Book Thief” is labeled as a young adult novel, it really is for all ages.
  January is usually a slow time for new releases, so now is the time to catch up on some of those books you’ve been meaning to read, and “The Book Thief” is one that shouldn’t be missed.