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The Book Thief | 
 enlarge | Author: Markus Zusak
Publisher: Black Swan
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy New: £2.78
You Save: £5.21 (65%)
New (36) Used (7) from £2.78
Rating:  151 reviews
Sales Rank: 7
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: Brand New & In Stock - Immediate Despatch!
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| Customer Reviews: Read 146 more reviews...
 Very hard to read July 5, 2008
Anthony Martel
This book is very hard to read. The writer tried so hard to tell us the story from the point of view of a ghost, and tried very hard to be inventive, as some reviewers said. But it is NOT. In recent years, we have got the American Beauty which is written exactly the same way. This is a bad copy at that.
From the pure literary point of view, this is a bad book, because of these factors: the narrator is too remote, and unbelievable, the story is weak for the readers. It is anything but engaging. There is no urge in me when I turned the pages. If it is not for the fact that I paid for it, I would not go beyond page 50. So it is definitely not a page-turner.
The writer also tried very hard to give the book a mood of depression. But he was not successful at doing that at all. The impression from the story is first and foremost too remote and not engaging for the readers and it is that make the story irrelevant somehow. The book is full of interior monologue, narrative summery, character description that peppered with very little dialogue. There is a character summery almost on every other page in big fat letters which seems to tell people: remember this, you stupid readers! Throughout the book, you can see hundreds if not thousands classic examples that your teacher of literature at school have warned you not to make.
The sad thing is: popular novel is by no means good literature. That is a fact. The reason? Lots of them. At least some of them are: most of the people who read novels are either people who only care to read stories, or people who are easily satisfied by any literary story. And boy, they are patient! A book with such problematic magnitude can receive such tremendous review is beyond my belief. The publisher has not even done any decent work to eliminate the editing failure.
Do publishers really know what they are talking about? I don't think so. Don't forget, When Joanna Rowling (J.K. Rowling)'s agent sent her Harry Potter manuscript to 12 big publishers in 1996, they all rejected. So, who is the judge for a good novel, you people out there who can be so easily satisfied with any kinds of stories. And they needn't be good.
 Beatiful book July 3, 2008
Me
My mum gave me this book to read, which is usual a bad sign, but I have throughly enjoyed it. Death is the narrator, which should be depressing, but in a weird way it's uplifting.
It's a wonderful story about an horrific time and I'm surprised by how much I loved it!
 I dont really understand why this is a bestseller July 2, 2008
Reya
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
I usually buy bestsellers and books with good Amazon reviews because I trust the majority's opinion. However, I honestly dont understand what's so amazing about 'The Book Thief'. I personally would not recommend this book.
What I liked about it is the beginning (which is quite rare) it seemed so unique and magical. I fell in love with the idea of Death being the narrator and couldnt wait to find out what Mr Grim Reaper had to say. But of all the stories Death could have told us, sadly he chose a pretty boring one. Actually I dont think it's the story itself was boring (because I guess the events of Nazi Germany are quite interesting, if that's the right word to describe them) I just dont think that this story needed all 554 pages it was given.
The story pretty much goes like this: Liesel woke up, she got out of bed, brushed her teeth, scratched her head, looked in the mirror...etc. Which I think is really unnecessary.
Overall, the beginning was good, the middle was incredibly boring and the end was predictable (partly because Death decided to tell us the ending right away, so you'll find out what happens at the end after reading the first 20 pages) The Book Thief is not a bad book, I actually think it's interestingly written, but it's not the kind of book you cant put down; it's the kind of book you have to force yourself to pick up again.
 Unusual, really good. July 2, 2008
Sarah (Ireland)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I liked this book. It wasn't the best written novel i've ever read but i still coudn't put it down. It's really unusual but it works. I'd highly recommend reading it.
great for young adults and children July 2, 2008
Kris Rees (Cardiff)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Personally, I found this book a little bit childish and simplistic for my tastes. I got about half way through before I got bored. It reminded me a little bit of the dark materials trilogy. If you like reading stories about empowered little girls then Im sure you'll love this. With it being about death and world war 2, I was expecting something far grittier, which raised some difficult moral questions.
I did find the slightly alternative perspective of World War 2 quite interesting, althought it was obvious the characters were written by someone looking back on the war with the benefit of hindsight.
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