**A14 Book Club - The Book Thief** Sunday Discussion Question

BiggerinRealLife

Hi everyone! Welcome to the book club! I hope you enjoyed reading The Book Thief.

Every night I'll post discussion questions. I'm PST and up after most of you are asleep, so I figure I can post with the next day as the title, as I tend to sleep in and don't want to keep you all waiting. Just post when it comes up though, don't feel like you have to wait until the actual day to respond.

For the first day, I thought we could just share overall impressions of the book. What you liked, what you didn't, characters you identified with or enjoyed, etc. More specific questions will follow, but I thought we could start here.

Have at it!

irisheyez7

I was a slacker and didn't get around to reading this month but I did get a Kindle for Christmas so I look forward to participating next month! Have fun ladies!

snmetz7

I got a digital copy of this book and learned that I'm not a digital reader. I only go trough the first 40 pages. I just couldn't get into it.

Bluebird2318

I still have about 100 pages to go but I am really enjoying it. I love Death as a narrator, because it allows the narration to ride the line in a lot of ways. It allows for a very broad 1st person narration without dipping into omniscience (he can exist in a lot of places and times, but can't read minds). Due to the nature of his "job" you see Hans' history in WWI, references to the concentration camps, etc. that a human narrator (Liesel for example) could not provide. I like that he clearly has compassion for humans but is still a "neutral" observer. That is probably my favorite aspect of the book.

My first thought about characters was Rosa as well. I agree with @celticlullaby that she was very well-written and she grew on me as the story progressed (as opposed to a character like Hans who we are obviously intended to like from the get-go). Liesel and Rudy reminded me quite a bit of me and my childhood best friend (a boy) with regards to the scheming, getting into mischief, etc. so I did enjoy that on a personal level.

ETA: I appreciate what @celticlullaby said about the time jumps and foreshadowing as well. I too enjoyed that strategy by the author but couldn't quite put it into words and she nailed it. Instead of feeling anxiety about what might happen, you get an idea of it ahead of time and spend more of your time wondering about and enjoying the spaces in between. It enhances the story rather than spoiling it.

snmetz7

I do like Death as a narrator and agree that it gives you a look into the world that you wouldn't get from a first person narrative. I'm going to keep trucking through it because I really like the story and how it's written. Next time ill be sure to buy a physical copy of the book so I can enjoy reading it more.

Bluebird2318

snmetz7 said:

I do like Death as a narrator and agree that it gives you a look into the world that you wouldn't get from a first person narrative. I'm going to keep trucking through it because I really like the story and how it's written. Next time ill be sure to buy a physical copy of the book so I can enjoy reading it more.

That was my concern about a digital copy as well. I have been a real penny-pincher lately and I still felt the need to shell out extra and get the physical copy. I know I couldn't handle digital for a whole novel.