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The Book Thief

Author: Markus Zusak
Publisher: Black Swan
Category: Book

List Price: ~~Ł7.99~~
Buy New: Ł3.10
You Save: Ł4.89 (61%)

New (33) Used (6) from Ł3.10

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

112 reviews
Sales Rank: 1

Media: Paperback
Pages: 560
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 1.6

ISBN: 0552773891
EAN: 9780552773898
ASIN: 0552773891

Publication Date: January 1, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Excellent condition: Never read spine un-broken.

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Customer Reviews: Read 107 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic book! May 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I read this book as my son was bought it as a gift. It made me weep, it is so intense and very moving. Whether I would recommend it as a childs book (that is how it is advertised in my book shop!) I don't know. I think it needs an adults perception of the potential cruelty of the world and the kindness of good people to really appreciate this tale.

5 out of 5 stars

I cried for days! May 14, 2008
Such a wonderful, emotional and breathtaking book! It is the most colourful as well as sad book I have ever read. I could not put it down. It is worth reading!
Moved me just as much as Suite Francaise!

5 out of 5 stars

A surprising book May 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

What would you think of a book narrated by Death, with an orphan German girl as the main character, situated in Germany during WW2? Depressing perhaps... well, guess again!

This is an excellent read, one that will thrill and move you with every page. It offers beautiful, well developed characters, and an extremely original mode of narrating.
It is on of those books that cannot really be described, one needs to read and discover it by himself.
But I can tell you this much; Death has rarely been painted in such humane colours, and we rarely come across stories about seemingly not-so-extraordinary people, which nevertheless form such extraordinary tales... and what is best, tales that do not need to force impressions upon the reader; the feeling flows out of the pages and carries you with it, without effort.

5 out of 5 stars

World War II from a German point of view May 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Like a previous reviewer I feel that it would be wrong to give too much away of this highly original story. Most unusually, it shows the effect of the war on ordinary Germans "on the home front". The main character is a young German girl who is placed with a foster family after the disappearance of her parents. She is placed with a working class family in an ordinary German town. Her foster mother is irascible and foul-mouthed but nonetheless has redeeming qualities. Her foster father is a gentle man who is a big influence on her life. She makes friends with the local children and the book charts several years from the age of 10 onwards. What happens to her during that time and the difficulties of living under a totalitarian regime are movingly dealt with.

However, the book is far from an ordinary historical novel and has a most unusual narrator - who appears throughout her life from girlhood to old age.

I was fascinated and enthralled by this book and found myself moved to tears by the ending. Read it and enjoy a most enjoyable and original story

1 out of 5 stars

Don't be fooled this is a badly written book May 13, 2008
0 out of 4 found this review helpful

Occasionally I succumb to Amazon's recommendations and bought this title. Had I seen it in a bookshop I would never have taken it from the shelf. It is appallingly badly written even though the premise of the story is quite interesting. I have nothing positive to say about it other than what I have indicated here. If you have the attention span of an insect you could probably tolerate it but I'd say leave it well alone and buy a proper book to read instead.