The Book
Markus Zusak had a genius idea when he decided to use Death as the narrator for his novel. Through him, you are able to have a bigger picture of the atrocities and deaths taking place across Germany but maintain the focus on Liesel, the book thief, and her story. He is able to provide warnings and fore-knowledge of the future in order to maintain interest and pace, because Death is the only character who we know for certain will still be around at the close of the book.
As a librarian, its hard to resist a title and story that features books! The novel is a homage to the book and the power of stories, as it is what keeps characters like Max, the Jew hidden in Liesel's basement, and all the Germans sheltering together from bombs, sane and distracted from the terrible situation. Stories are able to transport you to another place, where your interest focuses on others and away from your own troubles.
Words are powerful things and can be used for evil as well as good, however, as Max's tale "The Word Shaker" highlights. Hitler rose to Fuhrer through his stirring speeches and propaganda - knowing the right words to say and planting ideas in people's consciences.
The Official Movie Site
The Film
There are two difficulties to overcome with transferring the novel to the screen - the narrator Death and the focus on words in a medium which is visual.
Roger Allam has a warm, nonchalant timbre as the voiceover for Death, which doesn't seem quite right somehow, but how would Death sound? Much better to leave it to the inner voice while reading.
The film tells the story well and as an audience, there was a connection with Liesel (the beautiful wide-eyed Sophie Nelisse) and the other characters - worrying about their safety, enjoying the developing friendship between Lisel and Rudy. The unexpected street bombing, which comes as a "wait a minute, did I read that right?" in the book, however, doesn't have the same shock value when introduced with Roger Allam's comforting tone.
Just as Max gets Liesel to describe the day outside, painting a picture in words, so the best way to enjoy this story is letting the words on the page paint a picture in your head, rather than let someone else tell you what to see.
If you enjoyed the book, try Irene Nemirovsky's Suite Francaise or Rachel Seiffert's The Dark Room
If you enjoyed the film, try Lore or Sarah's Key
The Official Movie Site
There are two difficulties to overcome with transferring the novel to the screen - the narrator Death and the focus on words in a medium which is visual.
Roger Allam has a warm, nonchalant timbre as the voiceover for Death, which doesn't seem quite right somehow, but how would Death sound? Much better to leave it to the inner voice while reading.
The film tells the story well and as an audience, there was a connection with Liesel (the beautiful wide-eyed Sophie Nelisse) and the other characters - worrying about their safety, enjoying the developing friendship between Lisel and Rudy. The unexpected street bombing, which comes as a "wait a minute, did I read that right?" in the book, however, doesn't have the same shock value when introduced with Roger Allam's comforting tone.
Just as Max gets Liesel to describe the day outside, painting a picture in words, so the best way to enjoy this story is letting the words on the page paint a picture in your head, rather than let someone else tell you what to see.
If you enjoyed the book, try Irene Nemirovsky's Suite Francaise or Rachel Seiffert's The Dark Room
If you enjoyed the film, try Lore or Sarah's Key
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