The Book Thief

Regrettably I have not read this book, but I need to. The narrator is Death but there is a gentleness to his narration that reminds me a bit of Kevin Spacey’s in ‘American Beauty’. The fact that he’s voiced by Roger Allam doesn’t hurt.
Liesel is a young girl who’s mother is a Communist and is sending Liesel and her brother off to new parents (because we all know what happened to Communists in 1930s Germany). Her brother dies along the way and Liesel snatches a book that falls out of one of the gravedigger’s pocket as they are burying her brother. Her new mother, Mama, is the most stereotypical German woman I’ve seen in a film, while her new father, Papa, is a kindred spirit. Liesel can’t read so she and Papa read the book that she stole (The Gravedigger’s Handbook) together and she makes friends with this adorable neighbor boy named Rudy (seriously though, this kid is so cute).
Something I loved about this movie was watching the rise of Nazism through the eyes of children. It was very casual, kids singing Nazi themed songs, propaganda posters on the streets, even the book burning. There was a weird innocence about it because, of course kids wouldn’t see the impact of these things in the way adults would.
Then Kristallnacht happens and shit gets real (but still in a PG-13 kind of way) and we meet Max. Max managed to escape the Nazis and shows up at Liesel’s house. Papa explains to her that he knew Max’s father during the War and had basically sworn to protect the family if it ever came to that. So Max comes to stay with the family (hidden of course) while war slowly breaks out.
Even though he’s in a decent part of the movie, I didn’t find Max to be that interesting of a character. I’m not sure if he’s written that way intentionally or not but I was never terribly interested in most of the scenes he was in.
I think you can take away several messages in this movie (and probably the book as well). What I took away was the idea of making the most of your life, regardless of your circumstances. I think we all have times where something doesn’t go the way we want or plan, but you can find a way to get through it and come out stronger.