Our book club ended up small for The Book Thief, but we had a good discussion. The only theme we had was some pea soup since it seemed a little morbid to all dress as the grim reaper. Here's a few things we discussed.
A New Perspective
The book was depressing. There's no other way to put it. But it was also a wonderful and fresh perspective on the holocaust. Since we live in Germany we've had the chance to learn these other sides. We've met neighbors that were children during the war. They weren't particularly involved, but had to live through it. It's eye opening to think about the people who didn't have a choice but had to be involved because this was their home.
The Characters
We talked a bit about how the characters looked. Everyone agreed that the name 'Rudy' doesn't fit the perfect Aryan boy. Hans Hubermann is a skinny man with a skinny head and a beer belly. Rosa is plump and soft. We couldn't quite decide what Liesel looked like. Was she blond or dirty blond? I think we all had an idea of her in our head that somewhat matched ourselves.
Death
Death is not really a skeleton in a cloak. But he was creepy. I thought of him as a man in a suit and that in his world he's real but we're all ghosts. He thinks that we are talking to him, sometimes begging him to take us, but we don't know he is there we just hope. He (as the book says) is haunted by us but perhaps he doesn't know if we are real or not. The same way we aren't sure if he is.
What did you think of this book?
