The Book Thief

Don't make me happy. Please, don't fill me up and let me think that something good  can come of any of this. Look at my bruises. Look at this graze. Do you see he graze inside me? Do you see it growing before your very eyes, eroding me? I don't want to hope for anything anymore. I don't want to pray that Max is alive and safe. Or Alex Steiner.

Because the world does not deserve them. (521) 

It is hard to describe the emotional journey I had while reading The Book Thief without settling for a cliché. So whether you prefer an emotional rollercoaster or wearing a perpetual Grecian comedy/tragedy mask, this book will afford you the opportunity. In the last five pages or so, alone I teared up twice, smiled and laughed, and the exhaled a sigh of mixed emotions that I cannot comprehend. And I think that is the point the book is attempting to make.

The Holocaust is often cast as a pure evil of Germany and a pure good of the Allies. This book does an interesting job of troubling that for me. It gave me an insight into the bigger systems at play, the continuum of good, evil, and neutrality that aligns in all of us, and the power of words to promote an ideology.

Never have I heard comments referring to pigs spoken so lovingly (from Frau Hubermann), while at other times so spiteful (calling the Jewish people “swine”). Never have I heard a narrator, Death, be so observant of life and love while focused on his job of soul reaping. Never have I seen a wooden spoon stir up punishment and love at the same time (I lie, I have been punished by a wooden spoon in my day). This book for me blurs and reshapes an understanding of the systems we all are a part of, and the destruction neutrality can bring and struggles that come from keeping promises both to ourselves and to others.

Critically, the narration of this story from Death’s perspective makes for a truly unique read and a memorable experience. It gives a truly unique point of view and a distanced vantage point into the tough and difficult issues that make up the narrative. This distance adds depth and understanding, allowing the reader to think of the Holocaust from a different angle.

The plot line is also original, with multiple looping tales and foreshadowing galore, the reader is at the mercy of what the narrator chooses to tell and in what order he finds fit. The added blurbs of random facts, definitions, and stories adds a more rounded understanding of situations. The created stories within gives a glimpse into what the characters are seeing.

As a work of historical fiction it teeters towards fantasy as it is told through the eyes of death. However, it maintains a strong connection to the real world and the historical context of Germany during the time of the Nazi regime. The varying viewpoints of multiple characters give it more depth than more common Holocaust tales. Among this books many awards, are multiple ones from Jewish literary groups, making it authentic to the history.

This book I feel offers adolescents a different look at the Holocaust and the universal array of human emotions, particularly the continuum between good and evil. It is an extremely memorable text, and its vivid toying with emotions would draw in almost any reader.