Read the Book, Watch the Movie: It'll "Thieve" Your Heart
Originally published December 2013. Movie seen at AMC Port Chester 14 in Port Chester, NY, during the film's last weekend run.
AFTER READING AND WATCHING THE BOOK THIEF
The Book Thief is a must-read story and a must-see movie. I had high expectations for the movie version but I must say, I am satisfied with the theatrical rendition of the movie.
Set in Nazi Germany, The Book Thief is the story of Liesel Meminger, a young German girl and daughter of a communist who is adopted by poor Germans the Hubermanns who live on Himmel (German for "Heaven") Street, and is narrated by Death. Haunted by the death of her brother Werner and the abandonment of her parents, Liesel learns of the power of words in reading and writing--two things she didn't know how to do before meeting the Hubermanns. I was told this was another stereotypical Nazi movie--I mean, after Schindler's List, there's not more you can do about the Holocaust. The Book Thief, however, both book and movie, is less about Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, and more about using that history to tell of the human drama of perseverance and courage through the written word. Nonetheless, Markus Zusak's choice to set the story in Nazi Germany was not only natural but in my opinion paramount to the type of story he needed to tell.
The Book Thief is one of, if not, the most true-to-life stories I have ever read (CONFESSION: I used the audio book and listened to it while I commuted to and from work; finished it in less than two weeks) and seen as a movie. The characters sprang to life in Zusak's storytelling, and the movie did justice to these real characters.
The Book Thief will go down as a modern classic and should be read in high schools everywhere as it lays a firm argument as to the purposefulness and power of the written word, provides a basic yet clear understanding of necessary history concerning Nazi Germany that goes beyond stereotypical caricatures, and provides a real and necessary observation of Death. This excitingly haunting story is proclaimed by Zusak as the story he needed to write; I proclaim this as the story you need to read (or hear as an audio book ) and then see.
CAVEAT: The characters will make you laugh, their struggles will make you cry, their stories will make you appreciate life...and death.
~Michael DeNobile
AFTER READING AND WATCHING THE BOOK THIEF
The Book Thief is a must-read story and a must-see movie. I had high expectations for the movie version but I must say, I am satisfied with the theatrical rendition of the movie.
Set in Nazi Germany, The Book Thief is the story of Liesel Meminger, a young German girl and daughter of a communist who is adopted by poor Germans the Hubermanns who live on Himmel (German for "Heaven") Street, and is narrated by Death. Haunted by the death of her brother Werner and the abandonment of her parents, Liesel learns of the power of words in reading and writing--two things she didn't know how to do before meeting the Hubermanns. I was told this was another stereotypical Nazi movie--I mean, after Schindler's List, there's not more you can do about the Holocaust. The Book Thief, however, both book and movie, is less about Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, and more about using that history to tell of the human drama of perseverance and courage through the written word. Nonetheless, Markus Zusak's choice to set the story in Nazi Germany was not only natural but in my opinion paramount to the type of story he needed to tell.
The Book Thief is one of, if not, the most true-to-life stories I have ever read (CONFESSION: I used the audio book and listened to it while I commuted to and from work; finished it in less than two weeks) and seen as a movie. The characters sprang to life in Zusak's storytelling, and the movie did justice to these real characters.
The Book Thief will go down as a modern classic and should be read in high schools everywhere as it lays a firm argument as to the purposefulness and power of the written word, provides a basic yet clear understanding of necessary history concerning Nazi Germany that goes beyond stereotypical caricatures, and provides a real and necessary observation of Death. This excitingly haunting story is proclaimed by Zusak as the story he needed to write; I proclaim this as the story you need to read (or hear as an audio book ) and then see.
CAVEAT: The characters will make you laugh, their struggles will make you cry, their stories will make you appreciate life...and death.
~Michael DeNobile
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