Book of the Month
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The Book Thief is a story of Liesel is a young girl who lives with a foster family in Germany during World War II. Separated from her mother and having lost her brother to a sudden death, she steals her first book, even when she does not know how to read. Her foster father, Hans, spends nights teaching her how to read as a way to soothe her when she has nightmares. Her life changes again when Max comes in to their lives, then again when he has to leave and finally when one bomb strike destroys everything and everyone beloved to her.
The book was a slow read, the first handful of page especially difficult to get through. While story being told by death was a novel way to go and it was interesting in the beginning, by the end the constant talk of catching hundreds of souls and flying with them lost it impact and just seemed repetitive.
The other issue I had was the way the story went back and forth, where death gave some fact about the future and then went back to the present and kept on with the story. It threw me off every time.
However there were three things about the book that especially stayed with me.
1. The love and care Liesel gets at her foster parent's place: I was once as a early 20 something asked about my views on adoption and I was quick to say, 'of course I would adopt if given a chance'. Now however that I have kids of my own, I would always be scared if I can give the same kind of love if I adopt. Every kid deserves that unconditional love and what if there is ever a chance that I would not be able to give it in equal measures? That Hans and Rosa cared was evident through out the book and I connected on a very emotional level.
2. Liesel learning how to read and her love for book: I am currently at a stage where my elder one is learning how to read. She struggles and her every success is celebrated. The number of books we buy for her and the care we take in picking every book is in such stark contrast to Liesel in the book. The only way to get books for her was to steal them, and there was no carefully crafted way to learn how to read. And still it was her love for books that kept her going and in the end saved her.
3. Hans goodness: We all think of ourselves are good human beings but I wonder if put in a position like the people were in the book where every disobedience came with a huge price, would I have been able to keep my goodness alive? Would I have taken the chances at the expense of the bare minimum comforts that they had? Would I have helped?
I have read a number of books from the World War II time but they all told the story from the Jews eyes. To read a story about normal Germans and their struggles was a nice change.
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Sorry for the late post. AD is not being nice. Please forgive the typos, have not proof read. Hopefully with have some time to read all your views later in the day today, since I doubt I will be able to participate in the discussion.
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