January 13, 2019A Review by Anthony T. Riggio of the book The Book Thief by Markus ZusakThis book was recommended to me by Chris Manion, author of God's Patient Pursuit of my Soul, who advised that I would really like this story about Nazi Germany in the 1930's through the end of World War II. I ordered this book from Amazon in the Special Anniversary Hardback edition.Markus Zusak in his writing created an interesting way to present the dialog of the narrator. At the outset I thought it was the main protagonist Liesel Meminger narrating then it seemed to morph into another person, not clearly identified at first. It made for an uncomfortable and challenging beginning only to learn after several appearances to be the spirit of Death. This however did not create a feeling of horror or was it distracting once you got the hang of this unnamed narrator. It did not take away from the overall story and the flow was rhythmic and consistent throughout the book, The overall style was very interesting and provided the reader with a glimpse of what was to follow in the succeeding chapter.Many reviews described the book as a something a child would enjoy or relish. I am not sure if this is accurate as the story was very mature in its concept and gave one an inside track on the happenings of Germany during the rise and fall of the Third Reich. The human protagonist is a young girl about ten years old and how she is being abandoned by her natural mother to a family living in a suburb of Munich, Germany. She is traveling with her mother and younger brother who is quite sick. When the train stops, some distance from the final destination in Munich, the boy dies and they have to bury him in a small cemetery where the grave diggers misplace a book; The Grave Digger's Handbook and Liesel, purloins it for no apparent reason other than a simple souvenir of remembrance of her deceased brother. The mother deposits Liesel with the Hans and Rosa Hubermann family, a peasant family who lived in the poorer section of town. Rosa is a seemingly strict foster mother and her husband Hans is unemployed and on disability. Hans becomes Liesel's mentor and teaches Liesel to read via the book she stole from the cemetery. During a book burning in Munich, where Jews were being persecuted, forbidden books were cast into public bonfires and Liesel stole her second book and added to her foster father's reading curriculum. Her friend Rudy is a Tom Sawyeresque young boy who develops a love for Liesel and several fun experiences are had by both.The Hubermanns take in an escaped Jew into their home and hide him in their basement, a very dangerous thing in Nazi Germany. Max the Jewish fugitive becomes a second mentor to Liesel and she develops a similar relationship as she has with Hans.During one of the book burning events, Liesel steals her third book which add to her curriculum being used by Hans and now Max. She is spotted by the Mayor's wife and consequently a covert relationship is developed by the wife of the mayor and Liesel, which results in another mentor for Liesel.The book has all the drama and sadness one would expect in a novel contemporaneous with Nazi Germany but it is a book worth reading. It has humor, love, sadness, drama, tragedy, suspense, unexpected and predicted outcomes.I have to say I loved this book and reading it became obsessive with me and I believe it demonstrated the author's great talent. I unhesitatingly gave this book five stars and highly recommend its reading.