The Book Thief

Article written by Ugo Juliet

Former Lecturer. Author of multiple books. Degree from University Of Nigeria, Nsukka.

The Book Thief sold 16 million copies and was translated into 63 languages and was also adapted into a feature film of the same name in 2013.

Key Facts about The Book Thief

• Title: The Book Thief
• When/where written: Markus Zusak wrote the book in Picador, 2005
• Published: 2005
• Literary Period: Late Modernism
• Genre: Novel / Historical Fiction
• Point-of-View: Third-person omniscient
• Setting: Fictional town of Molching, Germany in 1939-1942
• Climax: When Himmel Street is bombed
• Antagonist: Nazism, The Nazi Party, Adolph Hitler
• Protagonist: Liesel Meminger
• Pages: 584

Markus Zusak and The Book Thief

Markus Zusak wrote about the horrors, wickedness, and suffering that were inherent in Germany during the Nazi era and especially during the second world war following the events of the Holocaust. He tells this story in The Book Thief through the eyes of the orphan girl, Liesel Meminger.

Liesel was just coming of age in the book and through her foster father learned how to read. She learned the power inherent in words and she desired more. Then she started stealing books so she could have more to read. The story follows her life and struggles and also shows us how she meets her friends- Rudy and Max, the jew that was hidden in the basement of her foster parent’s home.

Markus Zusak got the inspiration for The Book Thief from the stories that his parents told him when he was a little boy. Being the last of four children, their parents always told them stories from their native European countries. He shares the story of death and danger that exist in the lives of people who were living in Germany when the holocaust and the associated war were going. Death the narrator of the story was busy picking souls that at times, he was weary of it all.

In the novel, we see that words and, in extension, stories are among the most powerful ways people connect. So many examples show how the words connect people up throughout The Book Thief. Through learning the alphabet and how to use it to make words, Liesel and Hans Hubermann began developing their deep bond. Liesel’s descriptions of the weather to Max later in the novel also help establish a bond between them.

Books Related to The Book Thief

The Book Thief is a historical novel by Markus Zusak written to show the ills that happened in Germany during the second world war. It was published as a young adult novel, though everyone young and old alike can read and understand the novel. The novel is a way of telling some of the stories of pain and love and the family life of the people who lived in Germany during the Nazi era.

This novel is a historical fiction, which means that while it is a fiction of Markus Zusak, it is based on true events that happened at a certain time in the past. This book was based on the events that occurred in Germany during the period of 1939-1945 when there was world war 2. It was a horrendous event in the history of mankind when millions of Jews perished in what is now known as the Holocaust. Apart from The Book Thief, there are many other pieces of literature that talk about what happened in Germany during the Nazi era.

Some of the books that told similar stories and are related to The Book Thief include The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne, Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, and Night by Elie Wiesel. You will also find more interesting stories in these historical novels: The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris, First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung, Girl at War by Sara Novic, and Maus by Art Spiegelman.

The Lasting Impact of The Book Thief