The Book Thief

Acclaim for The Book Thief:

‘Unsettling, thought-provoking, life-affirming, triumphant and tragic, this is a novel of breathtaking scope, masterfully told’    Guardian

‘Extraordinary, resonant, beautiful and angry’    Sunday Telegraph

‘A moving novel that will make many eyes brim’    Independent on Sunday

‘A weighty novel worthy of universal acclaim … A sense of dread pervades this beautifully written novel … As The Book Thief draws to a close, Death says: “… There’s a multitude of stories … that I allow to distract me as I work.” The story of the Book Thief, who tried to change the world in her own small way, proves one formidable and inspiring distraction’    Daily Express

‘[Death’s] remark, “That’s the sort of thing I’ll never know, or comprehend – what humans are capable of,” perfectly encapsulates the brave and bitter vicissitudes of the world of The Book Thief’    Daily Mail

‘A magical tale’    Elle

‘Quirky, engaging and beautifully written’    Woman and Home

‘Brilliant and hugely ambitious … the kind of book that could be life-changing’    New York Times Book Review

‘Absorbing and searing’    Washington Post

‘Deserves a place on the shelf with The Diary of Anne Frank – set to become a classic’    USA Today

‘Zusak makes his ostensibly gloomy subject bearable in the same way Kurt Vonnegut did in Slaughterhouse 5, with grim, darkly consoling humour’    Time

‘A major achievement’    People Magazine

‘One of the most highly anticipated young-adult books in years’    Wall Street Journal

‘Zusak’s playfulness with language leavens the horror and makes the theme more resonant – words can save your life … It’s a measure of how successfully Zusak has humanized these characters that even though we know they are doomed, it’s no less devastating when Death finally reaches them’    Publishers’ Weekly

‘Elegant, philosophical and moving. A work to read slowly and savour. Beautiful and important’    Kirkus Reviews

‘A most rewarding read that could become a book club favourite … Markus Zusak excels in his portrayal of a fractured society where acts of great kindness are still glimpsed, redeeming humanity from total despair’    Waterstones Quarterly

‘The literary canon is riddled with unreliable narrators. From Holden Caulfield to Humbert Humbert … the first-person perspective can never truly be trusted. But when it comes to the central voice of Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, you will certainly find that you are hanging on his every word’    The List

‘A peculiar tale, whose deceptively plain language and cryptic style describe the most profound of human emotions and the most hideous of human actions … an unusual and compelling novel, which is best taken in fingers and then placed in a highly visible position on the bookshelf for when you return to re-read it. Which you will’    The Irish Examiner

‘Zusak is an interesting and inventive author’    The Scotsman

‘Ambitious, readable and exceptionally good … Ultimately, this coming-of-age novel is about the power of words to change people’s lives but it’s also packed with gruelling episodes … and has an ending that will almost certainly move you to tears’    The Word

‘Both gripping and touching, a work that kept me up late into the night feverishly reading the last 300 pages’    Cleveland Plain-Dealer

‘Zusak’s novel is a highwire act of inventiveness and emotional suppleness’    The Australian

‘Brutality and beauty are everywhere. “Death” is also. An original, moving, beautifully written book’    Age

‘A life-affirming book of enduring wit, and immensely readable’    Weekend Australian

‘Zusak has a wonderfully fresh, felicitous style … ingenuous and endearing’    Canberra Times

‘A poignant, clever and moving book from an amazing talent in Australian literature’    Sunday Telegraph, Australia

‘Zusak’s punchy, pictorial prose gives the narrative the simplicity and directness of a comic book – or graphic novel – without diminishing its emotional impact’    West Australian