Stick With It

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a most unusual novel. The setting is Molching, Germany during the second world war. The narrator is death.

It had a strange opening which I persevered through. Each chapter is laid out in a very unique way.

I had heard a lot of good things about it being a ‘brilliant’ book. I however found it extremely difficult to get into. My daughter told me to ‘carry on with it.’ And I am glad I did – the final third of the book was a ‘wow’ moment in literature.

War is futile. War is cruel. War is caused by words. War is an inevitable part of The Book Thief. The book thief herself was very likeable and easy to empathise with. The story is her story.

If you are reading The Book Thief and finding it hard going – my advice is to ‘stick with it’, it becomes a very powerful book that you find you cannot put down.

JULIA WILSON