The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

What have I been reading ? : The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Is it that...Movie ? :  The Book Thief(2014)

A Crisp Note:  Liesel Meminger,a 12 year old living with her foster parents, her friends and a secret tenant In short, the book deals with her life and the lives of others, through her eyes.

In a little detail : We have all known about the pain, the hunger, the atrocities in lives of Jews under Nazis. But a few authors or articles have showed us about the real people in Germany. Real people like us, who just go about living with our lives with our family, with our children, deal with our happiness, and sadness etc. Life of such normal Germans during the time of World war II has been shown outright in this novel.

The main protagonist Liesel is a 12 year old girl living with foster parents - the stubborn Mama and sweet hearted Papa. She goes to school with her friends , plays football with them and they are also her neighbors. Amidst the war, the novel shows how the standard of living of Germans come crashing. With pea soup to eat and drink to almost nothing to eat at all. Having few jobs at hand to nothing at all. In order to escape hunger, Liesel and her friends especially Rudy starts stealing. They steal apples and potatoes, which also develops to sharing a beautiful bond between them. But Liesel finds books more interesting to steal. She steals her first book from the graveyard where her brother was buried. Though she does not know how to read, she likes the idea of books and reading. Its her Papa during their late nights chats help her read and eventually help her write.

To add-on to the woes of the family ,enters Max, a Jew, who has approached our Papa to help him in finding a suitable hiding place. And which place other than their own basement is best one.Ths strong friendship of Liesel and Max is described so naturally.

We have know about famous underground life of Jews but rarely does a writing mention about the German people escape routes while bombs raid their homes. Liesel calms down the emotional neighbors in one such bomb shelter during bomb raids by what she knows - Reading :)...

As the war heightens its grip on people with every passing day, Liesel starts writing. She writes pages and pages about her life, her friends, Max. And incidentally this piece of literature saves her life.

The narrator who is very busy during the World War, is absolutely surprised by the sheer luck of Liesel and he hopes he can get to her one fine day!!And yes as you guessed it right, "Death" is the Narrator of this story.

P.S : I hope to read and write a review for at least 12 books that I will be reading this year. Off late I have been very busy and thus not able to even skim through a book.Hence, I made it a point to read for few minutes everyday.That has paid off. Even though its been slow, I am able to complete one book off this self challenge. This is a starting point. Hope this inspires someone just like me to pick up a book today and read for few minutes :)

Happy Reading to All :)