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Minli's Reviews > The Book Thief
The Book Thief
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This is one of the books that everyone else knows about already, so I'll just sum up how I felt about it:
I wince whenever I pick up a book set during the Holocaust. Of course I recognize the importance of remembering it, and writing about the Holocaust experience. But I'm always seized by this horrible fear that everyone's going to die in the end, and it will be sad and depressing, because I will have attached myself to these characters. One of my triggers is torture and violence, which I especially dislike in literary fiction--not for any inherent reason, but because (by definition) literary fiction describes these horrible scenes in poetic ways, ways I know will be far more poignant and disturbing than "he whipped him with the belt; blood gushed out of the lines on his back."
Well, The Book Thief is no exception to any of those things. Zusak is definitely writing a literary work, and he opts for a few interesting paths: Death is an omniscient narrator, and spoils the plot for the reader on several occasions. He tells us who dies, that it was awful, that it wasn't deserved. This depressed me at the beginning, but I was relieved to know when it actually happened, because I'd gotten accustomed to knowing what happened, and sat back to examine how the story was being told to me.
Personified Death felt artificial at times (since Death is also so... abstract and all-knowing. He "works" for the world's worst villains but is wary of humans), but I think that on the whole, it worked. Even though the cut-out descriptions ranged from amusing to annoying. Death narrates Liesel's story and takes meticulous note of her growth and personal relationships. And does this because Liesel perplexes him--he's so used to humans being awful to each other that he's intrigued by this little girl who initially struggles with words, and then goes so far as to steal them back from places where words are lost, contrasted with Hitler who uses words to manipulate and charm. But then again, Zusak is doing the same thing to his readers, which I found trying.
Zusak can clearly put together a story, which I appreciate and admire. Some things nigged at me (a lilting, broken sentence structure that seemed "consciously" literary, just not my cup of tea in terms of subject matter) but I will chalk it up to personal taste.
I wince whenever I pick up a book set during the Holocaust. Of course I recognize the importance of remembering it, and writing about the Holocaust experience. But I'm always seized by this horrible fear that everyone's going to die in the end, and it will be sad and depressing, because I will have attached myself to these characters. One of my triggers is torture and violence, which I especially dislike in literary fiction--not for any inherent reason, but because (by definition) literary fiction describes these horrible scenes in poetic ways, ways I know will be far more poignant and disturbing than "he whipped him with the belt; blood gushed out of the lines on his back."
Well, The Book Thief is no exception to any of those things. Zusak is definitely writing a literary work, and he opts for a few interesting paths: Death is an omniscient narrator, and spoils the plot for the reader on several occasions. He tells us who dies, that it was awful, that it wasn't deserved. This depressed me at the beginning, but I was relieved to know when it actually happened, because I'd gotten accustomed to knowing what happened, and sat back to examine how the story was being told to me.
Personified Death felt artificial at times (since Death is also so... abstract and all-knowing. He "works" for the world's worst villains but is wary of humans), but I think that on the whole, it worked. Even though the cut-out descriptions ranged from amusing to annoying. Death narrates Liesel's story and takes meticulous note of her growth and personal relationships. And does this because Liesel perplexes him--he's so used to humans being awful to each other that he's intrigued by this little girl who initially struggles with words, and then goes so far as to steal them back from places where words are lost, contrasted with Hitler who uses words to manipulate and charm. But then again, Zusak is doing the same thing to his readers, which I found trying.
Zusak can clearly put together a story, which I appreciate and admire. Some things nigged at me (a lilting, broken sentence structure that seemed "consciously" literary, just not my cup of tea in terms of subject matter) but I will chalk it up to personal taste.
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October 3, 2010
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October 21, 2010
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Francesca
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Oct 22, 2010 09:49AM
By extremely bizarre coincidence, this is the book my book group is discussing tonight, which I, alas, have not yet read because of being so busy. So thanks for the tips! I will try to read a little of it before our meeting... if I can finish my work.
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I tend to avoid fiction about the Holocaust; so far, nothing has convinced me to break the rule for this book.
I think you're like me in that respect, Sherwood--it's just not my cup of tea. That said, I was reading it because I thought I should, and while I didn't love it, I did appreciate what the author attempted to do.Asaki--your mileage may vary!
I struggle with the same thing in literature. How do you write about such horrendous things like Holocaust or slavery or any kind of abuse and not make it sound shocking for the shock's sake, gratuitous, obvious, exploitative even. It's not that hard to affect readers with themes like that, but to do it in an honest, subtle way is hard.
I think it has to do with the fact that the Holocaust is so entrenched in our cultural imagination (probably as a result of the large amount of literature, film and art already produced). Everyone--at least in US/North America/Europe (excluding Germany, maybe) reads Anne Frank, watches Schindler's List, and studies it in their history classes in school. It's not that I think people should not continue to write about or study the Holocaust, it's just that anything new is bound to be retrospective, and reacting to existing cultural output. Asaki's review compares Holocaust books as "a bad dream that you’ve had repeatedly," which I think is a perfect descriptor.
Well put. I've been raised on WWII literature and film, so it is harder and harder for me to find something that would affect me in a new way. And in general I prefer older books on the subject. They are more authentic, more real.
