Friday, February 24, 2023

Worth County Library -- "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak is First Book for Book Club

Kandi Hughes, Librarian

The Worth County Library is excitedly inviting everyone to join us for our very first Book Club.  We will be reviewing the book – The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.  Please send an email to libraryworthcountymo@gmail, call 660-541-4024 or stop by the library to get a copy of the book.  We will meet on Tuesday, 3/21 at 5:00.  Hopefully everyone will have had enough time to have read the story by that date.  

This book was originally published in 2005, and became an international bestseller.  It has been translated into 63 languages and sold over 16 million copies.  The setting is Nazi Germany at the start of WWII.  The main character, Liesel Menger’s life is changed when she picks up an object by her brother’s grave.  It turns out to be her first act of book thievery.

The book starts with a narration by Death stating a small fact that everyone dies.  I read the first 35 pages and put down the book convinced that this was not going to be a book I enjoyed reading. It has a unusual format as the author  throws in a few facts, a few thoughts and sometimes he tells you what will happen to a character before the story is told.  After getting a snack, I decided to continue on to see if the plot got any better.  Before I knew it I was engrossed in the story and finished the book.  Needless to say once I gave the book a chance, I really appreciated it.    

Screenplays that are derived from a book are always missing some of the excitement as the story must be shortened due to time constraints.  However, after reading a book I like to watch the movie to see what they were able to incorporate into the screenplay.  

The movie, The Book Thief, was released in 2013.  Sophie Nelisse had only one prior film experience was only 12 years old when she starred as the main character, Liesel.  She received much acclaim and some awards for her performance.  The movie also starred Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson, award winners themselves.  According to Rotten Tomatoes 73% of the audience enjoyed the movie.  The DVD is available here at the library for checkout.  It includes some deleted scenes which I enjoyed as they showed some additional material from the book that didn’t make it to the final film.

It will be a fun evening to see how everyone perceived the book.  Don’t miss out!


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