The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
What an interesting book.... the perspective of Death was certainly unique, even humorous in some parts. We as readers basically already knew what was going to happen, sometimes even giving a matter of days or weeks before said character dies. But despite the very clear foreshadowing, I was engrossed in Liesel's story. In Max's. In the setting... and that ending hit just as rough. I'm glad Max is alive, but how bittersweet when all of Lisel's family and best friend perished.
The book is beautifully surreal, with the intricately written language reflecting the alien, non-understandable, strangely fascinating nature of the narrator - Death. It is the mix of colours and strange metaphors, semi-dictionary entries and frequent strange asides, with skipping time, with complete disregard for spoilers. I feel it's fair to say that readers will either be charmed or massively turned off by descriptors like "breakfast coloured sky". I found it refreshing and charming but at the same time I had to stop to consider some of the more* out there* choices that are woven within the pages.
Max thought he didn't deserve anything, that him sleeping in a bed was absolutely abhorrent. It stung that no one told him otherwise, that no one reminded him of his worth, even though they were helping him, but I understand why. The scenes where Liesel/Hans were trying to give the Jewish people bread
I also loved the unique sketches that Max did which were illustrated in the actual book. Overall I would give this a 4.25 star . I think it was memorable and unique enough that it will stick with me for a while. Being around 600 pages I really thought I would take a bit longer but I just flew through it until the end.
