偷书贼

"The Book Thief," written by Australian author Markus Zusak, is a brilliant* and hugely ambitious* young-adult novel.

It's startling* in many ways, but the first thing many teenagers will notice is its length: 552 pages.

Narrated by Death, the book is set in Nazi Germany, a place and time when the narrator notes he was extremely busy.

It describes a young girl's relationship with her foster* parents, the other residents of their neighborhood, and a Jewish fist-fighter who hides in her home during the escalation* of World War II.

This is no Grim Reaper *****- we have here a kinder, gentler Death, who feels sympathy* for his victims*. But Death is so innocuous* that he is not very attractive.

The book is about Liesel Meminger, whose little brother dies just before Liesel's mother leaves her with foster parents in a dismal* town in southern Germany.

Meminger finds ways of coping with her losses. But she is disruptive* in school and is predisposed* to fighting with boys. More importantly, she becomes a thief.

Her only thieving passion is for books. Not good books or bad books *****- just books. From her bedroom to the bomb shelter down the road, reading helps her commune with the living and the dead *****- and finally, it is the mere existence of stories that proves to be her salvation.

Everything is upside down in Zusak's Nazi Germany. Sounds are tasted, visions are heard, death has a heart, the strong do not survive, and your best chance of living may be a concentration camp*. (SD-Agencies)