'The Book Thief' - Markus Zusak

“When death tells you a story you really have to listen.”

This is the very apt tagline of “The Book Thief” which is a historical fiction set in Nazi Germany that was blood-stained by holocaust. It is narrated by death which describes itself as “not cruel, just not-nice”. It describes how many young Germans, even after witnessing and loathing the cruelty of Hitler had to silence their conscience and support him in public to save their family and fulfil responsibilities, but at the same time risked their lives into secretively protecting many Jews.

A little girl Liesel Meminger whose brother died at a very young age is abandoned by her father. Her mother, devastated, is not in a condition to take care of her, so the family of a German World War veteran Hans Hubermann adopts her. Initially it is difficult for her to adjust but gradually she becomes close to her foster father- Hans Hubermann who, despite his struggles to make their ends meet, burns the midnight oil teaching her to read and write.

She had committed her first book theft at her brother's funeral where she swiped the funeral manual since it was the only thing that would have been reminiscent of that day. Now being able to read, she began to stealth out of the Hubermann house at night to steal books. Not good or bad, old or new, German or Jewish- just books. She was totally obsessed with stealing them all, not even sparing the half-burnt books from Nazi Book Burnings.

The book thief gets a companion when Max Vandenburg, a Jewish fist fighter in his mid-20s is given shelter in the basement of the house by Hans who channels his guilt of not being able to save his Jew friend during WW by fostering his son.

The story is brimming with emotional drama- Liesel is perplexed seeing people, including her foster father worshipping the cruel Hitler, even slapping her for telling him once that she “hates Hitler” and telling her to “hail Hitler” no matter what. The agony of Max, a boxer of aggressive disposition, who now had to live as a recluse, is also a subplot. The account of Max’s birthday present for Liesel- a storyboard of their lives made using bits of thumbed paper, tugs at the reader’s heartstrings.

Liesel embodies hope as she grows up to be a mature and kind woman despite the sufferings and the forbidding milieu of her childhood. Death, the narrator, seems to resist her and empathise with her throughout the novel.

The author’s poetic style perfectly captures the emotional whirlpool of courage, angst, fear, love, guilt, trust and conscience of the characters whose lives represent beauty and hope in the wake of Brutality of Nazi Germany.

- Shaelja Mishra