The Book Thief

I have a confession:

I never finished reading THE BOOK THIEF.

Why?

I couldn't get pass death being the narrator. It felt a little too impersonal.

Then I heard tons of positive reviews on the movie and decided I'd check it out.


Verdict?

OMG, it's amazing.


Sure, at the beginning, death narrates about his 'job' and how he's not like the 'stereotypical' version but rather average looking. He's fascinated with mortals and introduces us to a young girl named Liesel. She's on a train with her mother and brother, who ends up dying. After her brother is buried, the grave digger 'drops' a book. Liesel quickly takes it and holds tight to it as it reminds her of her brother.

We're in Germany during WW2 and later meet Liesel's foster parents. We find that Liesel can't read and is teased at her new school. Her foster father helps her to learn. **The dictionary he makes for Liesel in their basement is awesome. We see the night of broken glass and the bonfire where all books were burned. At this point, Liesel longs to read and even rushes out after most are gone, to grab one of the books.

The emotions, situations pulled me right into Liesel's story.


Here's a little clip of the movie:






One warning: If you do decide to see, take some tissues. At the near end, I sobbed.

Emotional, heart-wrenching tale of courage in face of evil.

One great thing about a movie like this? Now I want to revisit the book and read it.