We met on May 26th at Judy's to discuss The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.
Though we didn't really intend it to be this way, our May title is another YA book and another book on WW II. We all seemed to enjoy the book. Even though the story includes a hidden Jew, it is an entirely different perspective on the WW II experience.
The Book Thief is a childhood tale, a story of family and friends and reading and books in the midst of this horrific setting--a small town on the outskirts of Munich in Germany during WW II. It's sweet and funny and tender and loving but every action is shadowed by the world in which they live. It reminded me that people grew up like this. That entire childhoods were sprouted and spent under the shadow of Hitler, with fear lurking dark all around.
The story's narrator is Death and I liked that aspect, but because of that the whole construct of the point of view, of that narrative device, the book is a bit wobbly. I found his voice and fascination with color and use of synesthesia to be poetic and lovely, but some have found Zusak's writing style to be suspect.
One twitter friend admits that while she loved it, most in her book club found it just too depressing, though I 'm not sure anyone in OUR book club felt this way. I guess I found it uplifting. I felt that Hans and Rosa Hubermann were great heroes and wonderful parents and people. I loved so many small details in this book and the big ideas too. I'd highly recommend this one.
