The Book Thief
Overall, this book was very entertaining to read. I enjoyed it very much. The narrator, Death, foreshadowed quite a bit, and it was very confusing in the beginning. Most of the time, I was reading something that occurred towards the end. Once I finished reading this novel, I felt the need to read the first seventeen chapters again, to achieve a better understanding of the book. Doing that allowed me to analyze the plot more clearly. It made so much more sense once I did that, and if I’m being totally honest, it was kind of a hassle in the beginning, but I truly did love the foreshadowing. It improved the book a lot, in my eyes. Then again, though, at the same time, I somewhat didn’t enjoy it. It ruined multiple things that happened …show more content…
Another thing that I liked, was how the narrator was Death. It really made me think about life and how extremely valuable it is. I loved how you wouldn’t really expect Death to tell us the story of Liesel Meminger. It made the story super unique and original.
Is reading a way for you to escape reality? This was the story of Liesel Meminger, narrated by Death. The novel takes place in Germany, in 1939, around the time she was 10. Liesel and her brother, Werner, were on their way to their new foster parents, Rosa and Hans Hubermann, when Werner unexpectedly dies and she steals her first book, The Gravedigger’s Handbook. Upon arriving at the Hubermann’s house hold, she has the same nightmare every night: her brother dead on the train. Hans then teaches her to read each night after he calms her down from her bad dream. Meanwhile this is happening, Liesel becomes best friends with her neighbor, Rudy Steiner. They go on to have many great memories, some of which they stole together. She also becomes close to the mayor’s wife, Ilsa Hermann, due to her at-home library, where she invites Liesel to read with her. Liesel stopped going …show more content…
Every night since she arrived at the Hubermann’s, she would wake up screaming and crying. I guess the bad dreams were a way of her coping with and understanding that her brother was dead. It made her a stronger and braver person. Death states that, “Every night, Liesel would nightmare. Her brothers face. Staring at the floor. She would wake up swimming in her bed, screaming, and drowning in the flood of sheets.” (Zusak 36). She never really told anybody about the way her brother died, so I think that’s the reason she kept having her dreams. When she yelled at Ilsa Hermann for firing Rosa, her brother visited her. In a way, the memory of him was haunting her. An external conflict that Liesel dealt with was not being able to read and made fun of for it. She was put into a class with children way younger than her. Who knows what people said when that happened. Then she moved back to her regular grade where she was expected to read. She was teased and called rude names, by a boy by then name of Ludwig Schmeikl, he came up to her with a book saying, “‘Hey, Liesel, ‘he said to her, ‘I’m having trouble with this word. Could you read it for me?’ He laughed- a ten-year old, smugness laughter.” (Zusak 78). It didn’t end there though, she ended up fighting him. She kicked, punched, scratched and slapped
Overall, this book was very entertaining to read. I enjoyed it very much. The narrator, Death, foreshadowed quite a bit, and it was very confusing in the beginning. Most of the time, I was reading something that occurred towards the end. Once I finished reading this novel, I felt the need to read the first seventeen chapters again, to achieve a better understanding of the book. Doing that allowed me to analyze the plot more clearly. It made so much more sense once I did that, and if I’m being totally honest, it was kind of a hassle in the beginning, but I truly did love the foreshadowing. It improved the book a lot, in my eyes. Then again, though, at the same time, I somewhat didn’t enjoy it. It ruined multiple things that happened …show more content…
Another thing that I liked, was how the narrator was Death. It really made me think about life and how extremely valuable it is. I loved how you wouldn’t really expect Death to tell us the story of Liesel Meminger. It made the story super unique and original.
Is reading a way for you to escape reality? This was the story of Liesel Meminger, narrated by Death. The novel takes place in Germany, in 1939, around the time she was 10. Liesel and her brother, Werner, were on their way to their new foster parents, Rosa and Hans Hubermann, when Werner unexpectedly dies and she steals her first book, The Gravedigger’s Handbook. Upon arriving at the Hubermann’s house hold, she has the same nightmare every night: her brother dead on the train. Hans then teaches her to read each night after he calms her down from her bad dream. Meanwhile this is happening, Liesel becomes best friends with her neighbor, Rudy Steiner. They go on to have many great memories, some of which they stole together. She also becomes close to the mayor’s wife, Ilsa Hermann, due to her at-home library, where she invites Liesel to read with her. Liesel stopped going …show more content…
Every night since she arrived at the Hubermann’s, she would wake up screaming and crying. I guess the bad dreams were a way of her coping with and understanding that her brother was dead. It made her a stronger and braver person. Death states that, “Every night, Liesel would nightmare. Her brothers face. Staring at the floor. She would wake up swimming in her bed, screaming, and drowning in the flood of sheets.” (Zusak 36). She never really told anybody about the way her brother died, so I think that’s the reason she kept having her dreams. When she yelled at Ilsa Hermann for firing Rosa, her brother visited her. In a way, the memory of him was haunting her. An external conflict that Liesel dealt with was not being able to read and made fun of for it. She was put into a class with children way younger than her. Who knows what people said when that happened. Then she moved back to her regular grade where she was expected to read. She was teased and called rude names, by a boy by then name of Ludwig Schmeikl, he came up to her with a book saying, “‘Hey, Liesel, ‘he said to her, ‘I’m having trouble with this word. Could you read it for me?’ He laughed- a ten-year old, smugness laughter.” (Zusak 78). It didn’t end there though, she ended up fighting him. She kicked, punched, scratched and slapped