The story was narrated by Death. Death first encountered Liesel Meminger, the title character, on a train to Molching when her six year old brother died in his sleep. Death was intrigued by Liesel enough to keep watch over her. Liesel stole her first book when a grave digger dropped a grave digger's handbook in the snow while burying her brother. She was illiterate but she kept the book, perhaps to remember the moment her brother was buried forever in the ground. On Himmel street in Molching, Liesel found herself with a new set of parents - Hans Huberman and Rosa Huberman. Hans was a kindly man and Liesel immediately bonded with him. Rosa was loud and argumentative, and perhaps slightly abusive but she too had a big heart. It was Hans Huberman who painstakingly taught Liesel how to read. For her birthday, even though the family was scrapping by, she received books as gifts (Hans had traded his beloved cigarettes for them).
On Himmel street, Liesel befriended Rudy Steiner her neighbor, after a race in the mud. The bet was a kiss from Liesel if she lost the race. They tied and became the best of friends. Of all the characters in the book, I love Rudy Steiner the most. He was fiercely loyal to Liesel and cared for her in the tenderest of ways that a boy of 13 could ever care for anyone. Rudy was there when Liesel decided to steal books from the mayor's house out of spite for firing Rosa as their laundry woman; Rudy was there to cheer her on when she was humiliated for being illiterate; Rudy was there when Viktor the bully threw Liesel's book into the river-without a second thought, Rudy had jumped straight into the freezing waters to fish her book out of the river. Rudy asked for his kiss whenever the opportunity arose but we knew deep down that he was afraid of that kiss, just as Liesel was afraid too. There were several occasions when Liesel so wanted to kiss Rudy but decided not to.
Rudy eventually grew disgruntled after his father was sent away to serve in the army. He proclaimed his hatred for the Fuhrer and he empathized with the Jews. Rudy began giving out bread to the Jews who paraded through their town and on one occasion, witnessing a crashed enemy plane and a dying pilot, he placed a teddy bear next to his shoulder to offer a little comfort to the dying. Rudy stood up for his weaker friend, Tommy Muller, who was bullied in the Hitler's Youth training school. He got himself punished for helping Tommy. Rudy was such a beautiful character but we knew about halfway through the book that he was going to die. I found myself wishing and hoping that it wouldn't happen, that somehow a miracle would happen, and Rudy would be kept alive. Unfortunately that was not how the story went. Rudy, the Hubermans and all on Himmel street perished during a surprise bombing. Liesel was the lone survivor as she was writing her story in the basement of her home.
The basement was previously used to hide a Jew, the son of a man who had saved Hans' life. Because of a promise he made to the wife of his savior, Hans risked his and his family's lived by helping Max Vanderburg. Liesel and max became close friends, with Liesel treating Max like a precious pet. Liesel was worried when Max fell ill and became unconscious for days, she was grieved when Max eventually left after a careless (but kind) act by Hans. It did feel like Liesel was in love with Max but in the end, we knew who her heart was for.
My heart broke at the end of the book when Liesel found Rudy's body. She finally told him how much she had loved him and gave him what he had always asked for. It was all too heartbreakingly late. I was reading this part of the story on the subway and was trying really hard not to cry. I had to close the book several times and distract myself with other thoughts, when the tears threatened to fall.
Strangely, I couldn't imagine how Rudy looked like. In my mind's eye, he was scrawny, with lemon hair, scruffy looking and with tattered clothes but I just couldn't "see" his face.
the story of the book thief was lost during the bombing of Himmel street but it was picked up by Death. The book was returned to its writer when Death came to retrieve the soul of an old woman -Liesel.
13/7 - 20/7/2016
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