Everyone is familiar with death, but no one welcomes it. For some reason, we all dread the phenomenon of rotting away and forgotten by people of our own, even though rotting away helps in the betterment of our environment. Even if some people do not dread it, they don't particularly welcome it either. Even after being the most common and inevitable phenomenon ever in the human history, we as humans have always tried to avoid it. But for one particular girl, death has avoided her. As narrated by death itself, you'll know how he revolves around the girl.
Leisel Meminger is a Jew. May not be surprising now, but in the reign of Hitler it was a crime unless you looked like a true Aryan, blonde with blue eyes. Which just proves how lucky she was. Very lucky. It was as if she was born to evade death.
Leisel Meminger's mother had an arrangement for Leisel and her brother to live a life, not guaranteed if happy or not. She was being given to the Hubermann's, foster parents living on Himmel Street, Molching. As she is going in a train to Molching, still adjusting to fact that she would be separated from her mother. Travelling nonetheless, it was as if she had a visit from a friend, but it did not come to take her. Her brother had died while sleeping on the train, beside her. It was as if she could feel Death scoop her brother and take him away, her first interaction with her new friend. The train stops at Munich for track repairs and the family with two guards come down to discuss what to do with Werner. They go to the Gravediggers to give him a proper burial. It was snowing heavily and the ground was frozen but the Gravedigger and the apprentice manage to dig the ground up. While that was happening, her eyes fell on the book which the apprentice had put down, The Gravedigger's Handbook. She was unnaturally attracted towards, even though she didn't know how to read or write. She picked up the book anyway, and that's how our Book Thief's journey started, books changing her life forever.
When Leisel saw the Hubermann's receiving her at her house, she had no idea that her life would change more drastically in a few years than she ever could imagine. Hans Hubermann was the friendly father, he was the one who read to her most of the nights, helped her wash the bed sheets whenever she had nightmares. He was so amazing that he even helped her complete her ambition, to read and write herself. He became the father Leisel sorely wanted. Rosa on the other hand, became a disciplinarian, always trying to discipline her and bend to her ways. No one actually knows her true colours until she just has to rip apart the cold hard wall she had enclosed her heart in.
Through the course of acquainting and adjusting to her life she got two friends. Max, a Jew on the run and Rudy, the best friend. Both the friendships were poles apart from each other but they both were very special to her. To put in context, if she stole fruits and books with Rudy all those activities rushing with adrenaline, she sat there calmly with Max in the basement of her house, in a serene manner, watching him read and write. Max was always like a brother to her, she obviously dreaded that her family is hiding a Jew in their basement, but she loved his company. Rudy was, the best friend. Nothing more, she spent most her time with him. They were out there, stealing food with their gang. Their personal thing they developed was stealing books from the house of the mayor of Munich, just living across Himmel Street. That automatically became their own thing, only shared between them two.
Just with the exception of the occasional bomb blast which required the neighbors to go into an approved bunker safe for shelter, all was well. But suddenly, a gust of wind blew and crashed her castle of life. The wind was blown by death. This time, death was much more cruel, he turned her back on her.
So here is Leisel Meminger, the one who continued to amuse death and steal books. A Jew in Nazi Germany, her tale of survival. Evading the most dreaded phenomenon in all of human history every single time. Now, you just have to pick up the book and explore the rest of her.
This, is just a summary of a great and revolutionalising book, it only highlights the major events of the book. So people, I hope I put up a decent review after such a long time.
Leisel Meminger is a Jew. May not be surprising now, but in the reign of Hitler it was a crime unless you looked like a true Aryan, blonde with blue eyes. Which just proves how lucky she was. Very lucky. It was as if she was born to evade death.
Leisel Meminger's mother had an arrangement for Leisel and her brother to live a life, not guaranteed if happy or not. She was being given to the Hubermann's, foster parents living on Himmel Street, Molching. As she is going in a train to Molching, still adjusting to fact that she would be separated from her mother. Travelling nonetheless, it was as if she had a visit from a friend, but it did not come to take her. Her brother had died while sleeping on the train, beside her. It was as if she could feel Death scoop her brother and take him away, her first interaction with her new friend. The train stops at Munich for track repairs and the family with two guards come down to discuss what to do with Werner. They go to the Gravediggers to give him a proper burial. It was snowing heavily and the ground was frozen but the Gravedigger and the apprentice manage to dig the ground up. While that was happening, her eyes fell on the book which the apprentice had put down, The Gravedigger's Handbook. She was unnaturally attracted towards, even though she didn't know how to read or write. She picked up the book anyway, and that's how our Book Thief's journey started, books changing her life forever.
When Leisel saw the Hubermann's receiving her at her house, she had no idea that her life would change more drastically in a few years than she ever could imagine. Hans Hubermann was the friendly father, he was the one who read to her most of the nights, helped her wash the bed sheets whenever she had nightmares. He was so amazing that he even helped her complete her ambition, to read and write herself. He became the father Leisel sorely wanted. Rosa on the other hand, became a disciplinarian, always trying to discipline her and bend to her ways. No one actually knows her true colours until she just has to rip apart the cold hard wall she had enclosed her heart in.
Through the course of acquainting and adjusting to her life she got two friends. Max, a Jew on the run and Rudy, the best friend. Both the friendships were poles apart from each other but they both were very special to her. To put in context, if she stole fruits and books with Rudy all those activities rushing with adrenaline, she sat there calmly with Max in the basement of her house, in a serene manner, watching him read and write. Max was always like a brother to her, she obviously dreaded that her family is hiding a Jew in their basement, but she loved his company. Rudy was, the best friend. Nothing more, she spent most her time with him. They were out there, stealing food with their gang. Their personal thing they developed was stealing books from the house of the mayor of Munich, just living across Himmel Street. That automatically became their own thing, only shared between them two.
Just with the exception of the occasional bomb blast which required the neighbors to go into an approved bunker safe for shelter, all was well. But suddenly, a gust of wind blew and crashed her castle of life. The wind was blown by death. This time, death was much more cruel, he turned her back on her.
So here is Leisel Meminger, the one who continued to amuse death and steal books. A Jew in Nazi Germany, her tale of survival. Evading the most dreaded phenomenon in all of human history every single time. Now, you just have to pick up the book and explore the rest of her.
This, is just a summary of a great and revolutionalising book, it only highlights the major events of the book. So people, I hope I put up a decent review after such a long time.
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