Book Thief by Markus Zusak ~ March Book Club Online

[JoanP]

The Book Club Online is  the oldest  book club on the Internet, begun in 1996, open to everyone.  We offer cordial discussions of one book a month,  24/7 and  enjoy the company of readers from all over the world.  everyone is welcome to join in.

 

The Book Thief -  March Bookclub Online
Everyone is invited to join in!  

"Fortunately, this book isn't about Death; it's about death, and so much else."     "Some will argue that a book so difficult and sad may not be appropriate for teenage readers. "The Book Thief" was published for adults in Zusak's native Australia, and I strongly suspect it was written for adults. Many teenagers will find the story too slow to get going, which is a fair criticism. But it's the kind of book that can be life-changing, because without ever denying the essential amorality and randomness of the natural order, "The Book Thief" offers us a believable, hard-won hope. The Book Thief is a complicated story of survival that will encourage its readers to think." (Bookmarks Magazine) "How can a tale told by Death be mistaken for young-adult storytelling? Easily: because this book's narrator is sorry for what he has to do. The youthful sensibility of "The Book Thief" also contributes to a wider innocence. While it is set in Germany during World War II and is not immune to bloodshed, most of this story is figurative: it unfolds as symbolic or metaphorical abstraction. "The Book Thief" will be widely read and admired because it tells a story in which books become treasures. And because there's no arguing with a sentiment like that." (New York Times)

Discussion Schedule: March 1-2 ~ Prologue March 3-7 ~ Part I & II (the gravedigger's handbook; the shoulder shrug) March 8-14 ~ Part III & IV  (mein kampf; the standover man)      March 15-21 ~ Part V & VI (the whistler; the dream carrier)                 March 22-28 ~ Part VII & VIII (complete duden dictionary; the word shaker)   March 29-April 4 ~ Part IX & X (the last human stranger; the book thief); Epilogue

Some Questions for Your Consideration

March 29-April 4 ~ Part IX & X  (the last human stranger; the book thief); EPILOGUE

1. Do you think  the story  would have been different if Liesel didn't keep having nightmares about her brother?  Did you understand why she stopped dreaming about him after she returned the cookie plate to Ilsa Hermann? 
 
2.  What brought Ilsa Hermann down to 33 Himmel St?  Why did she give the lined notebook  to Liesel?  What was her warning to Liesel?

3.  Liesel wrote a book  that was divided into 10 parts, each telling of how  books and  stories affected her life.  Liesel is the author of this book then? 

4. How does  Liesel answer Rudy when he asks her how it feels to steal a book?  Is her answer the reason he left the teddy bear with the dying pilot?  (Why had he packed  that teddy bear in his toolbox?)

5.  Did you notice Death's explanation why he has been offering us a glimpse of the end before it actually  happens?         

6.  Was Liesel ready to die when she joined Max in the road?  How did Rudy save her?  After she told him about Max,  was it significant that he didn't kiss her then?

7.   Why did Death carry  Rudy's soul  "with a salty eye and a heavy  heart"?  Rudy got to him.  Can these be Liesel's thoughts?  Why did she later tell Rudy's  father that she had kissed him?

8. Now how did Liesel get to Sydney?  What happened to Max?  Dare we imagine they went together?  Can you find a reason to support this?

9..   Death meets  Liesel on her last day and  wants to tell her about the beauty and the brutality of war.  Do you think she knows this already?  Did you see beauty in this story?

10.  Everything considered, how would you rate this book on a scale of 1 * - 5 *****  What will you remember about this book?.  Would you recommend it to a friend?  To a teenager?   

Relevant Links:
Readers' Guide Questions: Prologue; Parts I - VIII ;   A Brief History of German Rule;    Dachau;    Mein Kampf;   The Book Thief Metaphors ~ Our Favorite Zusak expressions;
   
 

Discussion Leaders:  JoanP & Andy

[salan]

So much to think about in this book!  I see Ilsa's connection to Liesel as the same connection all we book lovers have with each other.  Loving books and reading gives us common ground that transcends race, religion, or philosophy.  I personally feel a connection with people who love books, and an automatic "disconnect" (of a sort) with those who don't.  When book lovers get together, they automatically share common ground.

I will not be joining next month's discussion.  Non-fiction is not really my "cup of tea", and after absorbing The Book Thief; I need some light reading for a while.  I will be around for Noah's Compass, and Possession.
Sally

[JoanP]

Guten Morgen, Alles!

  Countrymm - a good assessment of Ilsa Hermann as she was when Liesel first comes into contact with her when she delivered the laundry with her mother.  The woman never seemed to get dressed, did she?  Always in her bathrobe, no matter the time of day.   "Fragile, weak and malleable."  I'm not sure if she was unhappily married, though she was clearly unhappy.  We don't know much about the Mayor, except that he was a Nazi - and he had a very depressed wife at home.  The Mayor must have been suffering the loss of their son, as well, don't you think?  

Sally, I think you're right - it was Liesel's appreciation for her books in her library that touched off the connection between the two.  Do you think Ilsa saw herself at Liesel's age - before tragedy struck and she cut herself off from everyone, from life?

Wasn't that a striking image -  Ilsa walking down to Himmel Street - dressed! On those "porcelain legs" - what an image!!! What did the image of the porcelain legs suggest to you?  We hadn't seen Ilsa dressed, ever.  Here she is in a bright summer dress, having tea in Rosa's kitchen, (was it tea?) with Liesel. And then the gift - the lined notebook with the words of advice.  Write it all down, Liesel, don't be like me, keeping everything bottled up inside.  Wasn't she telling Liesel with this gift to keep on living?  

And then there's Frybabe/Margie's question -
What kind of life do you think Liesel had with Ilsa and the Mayor  after the bombing?  Margie, this question has me thinking about what kind of life any of the German people had following the war.  I hope Traudee gets here to address this question before we break . (As you can see in the discussion schedule above, we will be finishing up on April 4 - but always stay open a few extra days to be sure we've heard from everyone.)

Jenny, I have to admit that I did not cry at the end as so many did.  I remember being very quiet, and very sad at so much that had happened, and so much that MIGHT have been.   ("Might have beens" always get to me.  Just one kiss would have been enough for me.)   I thought the book ended on a high note, with the promise that for Liesel, at least, life would go on.

May I ask what you learned from the this "ugly, glorious story - its words and stories so damning and brilliant"?

[okietxjenjen]

For me, the book brought insight, truth with no blinders about the beastliness of war.

[Babi]

 I would be curious, JOAN. However, I might wait to hear from others who
have seen it before deciding if I want to do risk it.

  If the Mayor is strongly pro-Nazi...and he would have to at least
pretend to be, wouldn't he?...then I can't help thinking it would be
very hard for Liesel living in that house. But she and Ilsa have formed
a bond, and perhaps the Mayor remains a shadowy figure in the background
of her life.

[ALF43]

Drats- I went to look something up and lost my #^%&*(#(@! post.

Ok It was probably too long anyway.
Sally-

Loving books and reading gives us common ground that transcends race, religion, or philosophy.

  I agree with that but do not feel that was the connection that brought Liesel and Ilsa together.  Ilsa was mourning the loss of her son, filled with apathy and angst to the point she isolated herself from the world, albeit her bathrobe.  That is depression to the Nth degree. 
Liesel jolted her out of her detachment and lassitude by raising her voice when her mother was fired as the laundress. That is probably the first time anyone had given her any attention at all, negative or positive.  We tend to shrink from and avoid those afflicted with grief and suffering.  Their distress tends to enhance our own sorrow and melancholy.
Liesel brounght life back into that house for Ilsa with her youth, with her daring and with her impetuous pranks, as she became more and more obsessed with books.
Joan-

The Mayor must have been suffering the loss of their son, as well, don't you think? 

We will never know that will we because the author, much to my surprise, strangely chose to make this PRO-Nazi a very minor character.

[ALF43]

Ilsa walking down to Himmel Street - dressed! On those "porcelain legs" - what an image!!! What did the image of the porcelain legs suggest to you?  We hadn't seen Ilsa dressed, ever.  Here she is in a bright summer dress, having tea in Rosa's kitchen, (was it tea?) with Liesel. And then the gift - the lined notebook with the words of advice.  Write it all down, Liesel, don't be like me, keeping everything bottled up inside.  Wasn't she telling Liesel with this gift to keep on living? 

AHA!  Life moves on for Ilsa and the gift of the book was her way of returning her appreciation for what Liesel had brought to her life.  She reciprocrated with a book for the gift of life given back to her, by Liesel.  (Didn't Liesel do the same throughout this story?)

 The legs of procelain, Joan, I saw as big, white and enamel, ceramic like a toilet bowl.

[marcie]

LOL, Andy, on the ceramic "toilet bowl" legs. I saw them as white and fragile like a "China doll." 

The bombing of Dresden took place in 1945 (I was thinking that was around the time of the accidental Himmel Street bombing in the book). WWII ended shortly after that. If this timeline is correct for the book, then Liesel would be living with the Mayor and his wife starting shortly before the war ended. I don't know if there continued to be the big NAZI push after the war. Perhaps the mayor no longer had to show his Nazi loyalty (real or pretend) and that would make it more possible for Liesel to live with them. It sounds like she spent much of her time with Rudy's father in his shop during the day, after he returned from his war service.

[Laura]

Elizabeth, Joan P, and all, I again mention a wonderful non-fiction book of stories which I highly recommend, Small Miracles of the Holocaust.  Here is a synopsis from the publisher:

From the authors of the bestselling Small Miracles series comes this inspirational collection of over 50 stories - each with the upbeat twist ending that has become the trademark of this remarkable series.
The authors, both second-generation Holocaust survivors, have culled stories from before, during, and after the Holocaust that demonstrate the full strength and power of the human spirit. 
Stories reaffirming that nothing truly happens by accident…
Even during the worst of times small miracles did happen - and the legacies of those individuals live on.

I think Ilsa and her husband did not interact much.  I assume that he was working long hours.  Slippers with swastikas on them seem so over the top that I am now thinking that the mayor may have been putting on more of a show than were his true feelings about Hitler and Jews.  Again, in the “happily ever after” mode, I think the three of them, Liesel, the mayor and Ilsa, were able to live a pleasant life together.

I think the key thing that Ilsa said to Liesel when she visited and gave her the notebook her was on the top of page 524:

“And please,” Ilsa Hermann advised her, “don’t punish yourself, like you said you would.  Don’t be like me, Liesel.”

I think Ilsa gave Liesel the gift of freedom that day --- freedom from guilt, freedom to pursue her writing, and unknown to both, freedom from Death.

[JoanP]

Imagine how much better off Ilsa would have been had she recorded her thoughts and feelings in a notebook like the one she gave Liesel!  Instead, she kept all of these emotions and feelings jumbled up  inside - punishing herself as Laura points out in those those words of  advice she gave to Liesel.

Wow, stories from Holocaust survivors.  A bit more intense than the average German would have experienced after the war - one would think.  Minus the guilt.  
I  checked - our library doesn't carry the title Small Miracles - is it a series with different book titles?  

The white legs -(as white as a toilet bowl ) indicated fragility as Marcie points out.  For the Mayor's wife, a Nazi wife,  to brave it to come down unescorted to Himmel St. proves she felt vulnerable, but almost defiant, going to see Liesel.  Her white legs also said that this woman had not seen daylight, sunlight for quite a long time, don't you think?  The walk to Himmel St. indicated a change in Ilsa... As Laura says, Ilsa gave Liesel the gift of freedom that day - but it was reciprocal, wasn't it?

Babi suggests that the Mayor might have been pretending to be an ardent Nazi...to keep his position, perhaps?  Hmmm, that doesn't explain why his wife is wearing those swastika slippers in the house, though, does it?   Do you remember when  Liesel came to the door to see his wife?  He didn't send her away, but rather stepped aside and let her speak to his Ilsa.  I thought that was uncharacteristic behavior for a man in his position.

[salan]

Umm-porcelain legs...I see them as thin, translucent, and fragile--certainly not like a toilet bowl!  Joan P.  you are so right. This was an ugly glorious story.  Life after war in a war torn country.  You simply pick up the pieces and try to get on with living.  Yet you are forever changed and parts of you remain broken for a long while--perhaps forever in some cases.

I don't know that this book taught me anything particularly new; but rather reinforced the idea that war is an evil thing.  Why do we keep keeping on?  Do we never learn from the past?
Sally

[countrymm]

I believe it was JoanP who said:

Liesel brought life back into that house for Ilsa with her youth, with her daring and with her impetuous pranks, as she became more and more obsessed with books.

Isn't that the truth?  I really liked her comment.

I am thrilled that our discussion has really sparked interest in some of the readers who had been offline for a while. Great to get such an interesting conversation going.  I can hardly stay away from it.

I'm going to reread the last few chapters because when I read them, it was late at night and I probably missed a few things.  Loved the book.   5++++++

[countrymm]

Here is a link about TBT being made into a movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUMkbVA0NkM&NR=1

[marcie]

The discussion below that video does speak of a film coming out in 2012. The video itself seems to have been done by someone for an English project. It seems very good for a student project.

At http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/446969/The-Book-Thief/details there is info about the projected production credits. It lists Michael Petroni responsible for the screenplay. He wrote the screenplay for "Possession."

[countrymm]

Marcie,

Thanks for the link from the New York Times movie review.  However, I believe it's a different "Possession", not the one coming up for our book discussion.  The blurb says the film is a thriller. 

[marcie]

Yikes, countrymm. I didn't follow the link for that Possession. LOL, it looks like a movie about two people in comas and one of them being possessed by the other's consciousness!! Thanks for clarifying. This may not bode well for the filming of The Book Thief :-(

[PatH]

I apologize for deserting you.  The book was so intense for me that I had to step away for a while.  I, too, cried toward the end, and felt a little like I’d been run over by a truck.  But the rest of you said just about everything I thought of, so I wasn’t needed.

The one thing we haven’t touched on is an attitude of Death himself.  He’s freaked out by the instinct for survival, and can’t come to terms with it.  On page 5 he says

"It’s the leftover humans.
The survivors.

They’re the ones I can’t stand to look at…now and then, I witness the ones who are left behind, crumbling among the jigsaw puzzle of realization, despair, and surprise.  They have punctured hearts.  They have beaten lungs.

Which in turn brings me to the subject I am telling you about….one of those perpetual survivors—an expert at being left behind."

Death has fished out Liesel’s journal from the dump truck, and read and reread it until it’s falling apart, and it still haunts him.  When he finally comes to take Liesel, he shows her the book.  She asks if he understood it.  He wants to say that he doesn’t see how humans can be at once so ugly and so glorious, but all he can say is:

"I am haunted by humans."

He’s puzzled by people clinging to life and goodness in the face of the inevitable.

So the book is really about the  goodness of the human spirit in the face of the badness of the human spirit, and the will to survive in spite of everything.

[marcie]

I'm glad you came back, Pat, to share your thoughts about Death's point of view and what the book is about.  I think you've captured that very well.

[Laura]

Joan, I think Small Miracles may be a series of books.

I was able to get it via interlibrary loan.

[JoanP]

Guten Morgen, Alles!

We have a few days left - let's make the most of it - until we are all talked out.  That might be difficult, because every time we pick up the book, we find more to discuss!

Laura, thanks for that information about "Small Miracles"  - the story of Holocaust survivors.  And we are still hoping that Traudee,  finds some time to follow up with information on the post-war morale in Germany.

Countrymm - that was Andy who wrote of Liesel bringing life back into Ilsa's home and then becoming obsessed with her library.  A really good observation.

[Babi]

Perhaps the mayor no longer had to show his Nazi loyalty (real or pretend) and that would make it more possible for Liesel to live with them.

   
 Marcie, your observation above made me consider that having Liesel
with them would also make the mayor look good when the Allies arrived, no? Liesel was surely a comfort to Ilsa, but she may have been strategic policy to the mayor.
 But we don't know; he could have been playing a role all through the
Nazi madness, to protect himself and his family. JOAN reminded me that he let Liesel in to see his wife. I believe he greatly loved his wife
and did whatever he could to comfort her.  Since we are not told much
about him, I am choosing to read the clues to him as a good man doing
the best he could in a really bad situation.

[JoanP]

Good morning, Babi!  I agree with your assessment of the Mayor.  I think we need to give him the benefit of the doubt.  How many times did we see Liesel - and Hans for that matter, giving the "Heil Hitler" salute when their hearts weren't in it, just to avoid trouble.  Considering his position, the Mayor had to appear to be with the party.  What else could he do?  

Marcie, I tried, but couldn't find the names of the cast in the New York Times link you provided.  I was happy to see Markus Zusak's name mentioned prominently though.  It just had to be - no screenplay writer should dare tamper with it.

There are several different trailers for the film around - don't know if this one has been posted before.    I like it too because Death doesn't seem to have a narrator - but rather speaks in subtitles.  That would make it easier to get the full impact of the story, I think - Death in subtitles, the narrator, Liesel, telling her story -

Book Thief - A movie trailer

PatH -it's really good to hear from you...I'm happy that you continued on - because, while upsetting, the end message can lift your spirits.  That's a good description of the way I felt while reading it - as if run over by a truck.  All the wind knocked out - but the need to go on was too great to just lie there in the road.  Perhaps that's how Liesel felt following the Himmel St. bombing.

We needed to hear from you if only to hear that you weren't a casualty on the roadside.  Plus you have brought up some very, very good points  on Death and the leftover humans - the survivors.

There was so much truth tin Zusak's  treatment of the survivors, wasn't there?  (I think his parents must have impressed this on him with their stories.) Though Death is a fact of life, we are never really prepared for the loss of a loved one...puzzlement, despair and surprise, all part of it.  "Punctured hearts" says it all.  

You got right to the heart of what Zusak is saying - that  people cling to life and goodness and the will to survive, no matter the circumstances.  He's telling us how Liesel was able to go on after all  she went through.
The other thing he said in this same context - that he finds himself unable to estimate human behavior - always UNDERESTIMATING or OVERESTIMATING.  Isn't that the truth?  In this story, we find humanity at its worst - and at its most glorious.

Sally - I really hope we learn from the past.  Right now, it doesn't appear that way, does it?  But the bright spot that we can take away from this story is the notion that the human spirit has the ability to survive and carry on.  Let's not UNDERESTIMATE the survivors!
Glad you liked the book!  So far no one has rated it below 5 stars.  

[marcie]

JoanP, I too couldn't find a list of the cast for the upcoming film of "The Book Thief." I wonder if that is really a trailer from the film? The part of Max looked like Adrien Brody so I searched for him and found the trailer for "The Pianist." It looks like some of the shots from "The Book Thief" trailer come from "The Pianist." http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi988938521/

[countrymm]

Marcie,

You are right.  The actor is definitely Adrian Brody.
I did not see the film "The Pianist".  Was it very depressing?

[marcie]

I didn't see The Pianist either.

[Babi]

 JOANP, I have come to the conclusion that what we must learn from the past is that there will always be those whose greed, egoism and lust for power will rise to confront us. If we want peace, we must be prepared to face them promptly and firmly.  I am seeing that lesson repeated in another discussion, "Troublesome Young Men".

 I do want to say how much I appreciate the thoughtful work you and ALF have put into leading this discussion. The two of you offered insights
that were most helpful. Thank you both, so much.

[ALF43]

Well that is very nice of you and I thank you, as well.  I wish to thank all of our participants. YOU are what makes our site work and so enjoyable.

[countrymm]

Thanks to both of our discussion leaders.  I loved the book and the interaction we readers had with each other.

Signing off for now, but I'll catch you at a future discussion.

[PatH]

I thought this was a remarkable discussion, thanks to our fearless leaders JoanP and Andy, plus all the participants.

For me, this is an example of what SeniorLearn can accomplish.  If it hadn't been in SL, I would probably never have read the book, certainly not like this.  I would have zoomed through it, missing a lot.  But everyone found different things in it, and together we got so much out of it.

It can't have been an easy discussion to lead, and for some of us, including me,it wasn't always easy to participate, but it sure was worth it.

Thanks to all.

[JoanP]

Babi, yes,  there will always be those whose greed, egoism and lust for power will rise to confront us - and sometimes overwhelm us, Hitler was the best example, but the human spirit has always pervailed - to confront the power and then to rebuild and carry on.  Perhaps we can take heart from that.
Here's an example - do you know the name of this city?

Countrymm, Babi, PatH -  all of you, THANK YOU!  Andy said it all.  It's all of you, taking the time from your busy days to share your views with us, that makes these discussions what they are.  We hope to see you again in the near future.

  

[Frybabe]

JoanP and Andy, thank you so much for a wonderful discussion. I hate to see it end.

[JudeS]

Dear Book Friends
I was on a trip nad had no access to the site.  During the trip our beloved dog, Andy, age 18-yes eighteen- died.  we had a hard time with this .  When we got home we had just al few days to prepare for our Passover Seder for fifteen people. After that we had house guests and life became too crazy.  All is finally approaching normalcy now.
 I loved the book and the discussion.  I thought a lot about the question :"Why is this book considered a Young Adult" book.

I came to the conclusion that it would be perfect for teenagers. They could learn a lot and also become more aware of the realities of WW2.  There is a lot of love in the story , much hope and yes, reality. There is no explicit sex in its pages. In some ways the book is tender and innocent.
I thought of the books I read as a teenager-In school the tragedies of Shakespeare, Dicken's "A Tale of Two Cities", by Kafka "Metamorphisis"  and on and on. 
Young people today( and in my day too) are smarter, more aware and more mature than we give them credit for. This book may become a classic and rightly so.

And I am happy that this book was written!
Lest we forget-Lest we forget.

[Frybabe]

JoanP you went and changed the picture on me. I still don't know where it is.
JudeS, so sorry the hear about your dog. It IS tough when a beloved companion passes. I hope Andy went peacefully.

[straudetwo]

Mercy!!! I just lost a long post and am   unable to retrieve it.  Worse,  I have no idea what caused mthis ishap.
So without recapitulating  let me come to the point = the book.

A friend lent me the book late last month and I tried to catch up with the march of the Jews through Molching,  which had been mentioned  in the posts  and I had questioned.  Sure enough, it was right there in the book, and THAT is where I stopped reading.  In my experience - which I had related before more than once - no such march would have been possible at that time, let alone three.  

Point two, nobody would have dared to "stand up" to the Gestapo ( - as good as that term sounds and is  oh so reminiscent of  "bring it on").   All I can say  is that I was there, the author was not.

Point three,  I never  saw or heard of "rich" Germans.  If indeed they existed, they might only have been Nazi functionaries. The notion sounds absurd to me.

Re a recent question : there would be no book without Liesel. She IS the book, the raison d'être for it.

IMHO the male characters are credible and convincing. Not so the females IMHO, except Liesel, of course. Rosa is a caricature, impossible (for me) to imagine as a real person. Her constant spouting of expletives is illogical, unreasonable, perhaps pathological.
What or whom was Markus Zusak  possibly trying to portray? Some stereotype?

I believe the thirty-something Zusak wrote the book as a primer for young adults as a warning, so that nothing like this would ever happen again--- after all,   their  elders already knew all about  the Holocaust!

Moreover, I too felt there are elements in the book that are  "a bit much": what the French inimitably call  "de trop".

As for the movie, I can see it now - especially the people in air raid shelters or bunkers, with bombs falling, the bunker shaking from impacts nearby.  I have experiened iti n 1943.

But all these years later I'm still here, the sun as shining today in Mass,., and in Washingnton, the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, right on time.  How I wish I were there ...
Please ignore any typos.   Blame my macular degeneration.

But why on earth are we still so fascinated with evil and dark forces?  Isn't there enough excitement in our own lives?
Did you notice there's a nw Italian movie out here, with English subtitles, titled Vincere ?
The accent would be on the "i" and the vowel would soundlike "in". It's about Mussolini as a young man before he became the"Duce".  

As for what happened to the defeated Gemany, Google will provide all the details. When I returned there after my exile and survival in late 1947, things were still grim.

Many thanks to Andy and JoanP for your guidance.

[ALF43]

Traude- you have been a valuable resource for us during this discussion and I know how difficult this must have been for you.  You must relive the horrors of that part of your life.

I would like to ask one question however.  I am not questioning YOU, I am questioning my own beliefs. 

Point three,  I never  saw or heard of "rich" Germans.  If indeed they existed, they might only have been Nazi functionaries. The notion sounds absurd to me.

I was under the impression that the Nazi soldiers and those "at the top" made off with millions of dollars worth of jewels, gems, paintings and expensive artifacts.  Is this not so?

I do believe you when you say that noone would have dared to stand up to the Gestapo. Their fear was genuine and  I am certain that the majority felt let us just follow their commands and this might "blow over" soon.
again, thank you Traudee.

[Gumtree]

I see I'm just in time to thank everyone for this great discussion.

I read  TBT three times not long after it was first published -my cover has the Grim Reaper and the splashes of red and I can't imagine any other being suitable.  - Like ALF I fell in love with every aspect of this book. When I reread the early part of it for this discussion I was surprised at how clearly the detail came back. So great was its impact that I was physically unable to continue reading it . So I have not read it again this time but the impressions implanted in my mind are still so clear and strong that it all comes back as I read the posts. And believe me it has been hard to read the posts as well let alone comment as we went along.

As Traudee points out it is not a realistic portrayal of the horror but in my view  it is an important book in that it is a retelling of the story for a new generation some of whom in the future will seek out factual historical work or other fictional works in search of  what really happened. And if Zusak's TBT is instrumental in making that happen then it has served a fine purpose - Lest We Forget

I don't think Leisel and Max married - thousands of displaced persons came to Australia after WWII and I believe both sides of Zusak's family were among them - I seem to recall that Zusak's mother was only six years old when the war ended. I think we should give Zusak credit for creating fictional characters - after all, it is a work of fiction - and not place too much emphasis on possible biographical aspects which he seems to deny whilst admitting that his mother told him stories of the period -but they were not necessarily stories of things she had actually experienced but those she knew about.

Zusak's (why can't I think of him as Markus?) understated writing style had lots of gems - not only those one liners - but in the characterisations too - Many were real, Hans, Max, Rudy - but the one who really got to me was Ilsa Herman, the mayor's wife who was such a tragic figure  - the scene where she sits in the library watching Leisel lying on the floor looking at the books is so understated and so poignant and full of the force of unspoken tragedy. I cared about that woman -  describing her legs as porcelain was  a superb piece of understated symbolism in that the legs (read Ilsa) were finally exposed to the light - frail and white and fragile but braving the world - just as Ilsa is herself.

As an Aussie it has touched me quite strangely that an Aussie writer has elicited such positive responses from most in this discussion. Another part of me says writers aren't Aussies or Brits or Yanks or Africans - they're just writers and shouldn't be judged by their nationality or background -  just by their writing and what they have to say. But I'm glad most of you liked this Aussie 'surfer boy' - his earlier work written for Young Adults was very well received - I hope his future writing will come up to expectations.

 Maybe Tim Winton's Cloudstreet could be a contender for a future discussion ?  Tim really was (and is) a genuine Aussie surfer boy - loves the surf, fishing, boating and can often been found in a local surf club drinking coffee after his dip in the briny. And they're currently making a film of 'Cloudstreet' - he's a different kind of writer but can do Aussie understatement to perfection.

Thanks to JoanP and ALF  for their flawless performance as DLs. Love you both more each time. Thanks also to all contributors - how good it is to be part of such a great group. 
 

[JoanP]

Gum, so well put - so eloquently put.  I found myself shaking my head in agreement with just about ALL that you said.  I'm with you on Ilsa - though I never suffered the traumatic experience that she did, I felt I knew her.  Do you think we were able to relate to her circumstance so well because she was an older woman?

Traudee, I did not see Rosa as a stereotype - though I never did understand what caused the change in her from the time she and Hans first married, on some level, I felt I could relate to her too...without understanding.  Some just have a hard time putting their feelings in words.  Liesel understood her, without knowing why she did.

Jude, how sad for you - I have experienced what you have gone through losing your  old dog, your old friend.  You're never prepared for the loss, though you know it's coming.  Do you plan to get another dog any time soon?

I agree with you, Jude -  young people can learn much history from this book - actually the book should serve as a catalyst to learn more about this period in history that they know nothing about. Traudee feels that Markus Zusak wrote this book for young people - although he says no.  Apparently the American publisher agrees with you, Traudee.

 I think Lisa Zusak was six years old when the war started, wasn't she?   So she would have come away with some memories - seen through the eyes of a child, of course.  The author seems pretty firm on the fact that his mother saw a man give bread to a Jew who was walking though her town - and the man was beaten for it. She told her son this story many times - lest he forget.  This scene was said to be his inspiration for the book.

[JoanP]

Thank you so much for taking the time to think back to the "grim"  period in Germany following the war, Traudee.   I realize it was thoughtless of me to ask you to do that.  I am happy that you seem to have gone ahead, leaving the events of the war in the past - you are an example of the indominatability of the human spirit.  and yes, the cherry blossoms too survived the brutal winter we had and have come back more splendid than ever!

Something to try when you next lose a post - and believe me, it will happen - right click your mouse and see if you see "Undo"  - usually the first prompt on the list.  If you click "undo" you might get the whole thing back...

After sons and wives left this afternoon, I sat for a while and paged through a book I intend to start to read more carefully tonight. (618 pages!) Bruce recommended it when I was talking to him about The Book Thief and Traudee's reaction to what she read.  The book is called "After the Reich - The Brutal History of the Allied Occupation" by Giles MacDonogh.  The author is a Brit - this book is heavily researched and footnoted.  It seems quite balanced - by that I mean he has bad things to say about the American liberators as well as the Russians!  Well, maybe not that bad, but some real atrocities were committed against the SS guards in Dachau and other camps after the war - beheadings and the like.  Terrible things I'm not going to write here on Easter Sunday!

From what I gather from a surface reading - the conditions in Germany following the German defeat and the liberation of the camps can be summed up in one word - CHAOS.   I'll let you know more -but the blackmarket and the railway stations seem to have been an important part in the German survival after the war.

Not only can't I refer to the author as Markus, I can't call him Zusak either.  Gum, why not put Tim Winton's Cloudstreet in the Suggestion Box (yes, we're starting another nomination period) - I'll find a link to a review for it.  I'm up for more of that Aussie understatement!
Again, THANKS EVERYONE for all your comments!  What a rewarding experience this has been...and one that will keep on going after we have put our books back on the shelf.

[JoanP]

Frybabe/Margie - haven't forgotten you - Sorry to leave you hanging...

Yesterday we were talking about the human spirit and its ability to  confront evil and then to rebuild and carry on.  Here's one example of this spirit   -

The name of this beautiful city is -   HIROSHIMA!

[straudetwo]

JoanP and Andy,  

Please allow me to add a few more comments on the latest posts - tomorrow.  Forgive me , but I can't manage it tonight.  Thank you.