(March 26) My biggest question about this book, an issue that puzzled me right from the beginning: Why is it categorized as Young Adult fiction? (It turns out it was a deliberate decision by the international publishers, who put a lot of faith in Zusak’s established reputation... but it is completely incorrectly categorized.)
I liked it -- it is impossible not to be drawn in by the subject matter (being persecuted by Nazis; hiding a Jewish refugee) -- but didn’t love it enough to read it quickly. It certainly makes a good case in defense of the Germans who “allowed” Nazism to survive and thrive. They were already suffering enough loss and privation -- for the vast majority, the few precious people they had left were worth sacrificing everything else for, worth putting up with any kind of idiocy.
Recommended by Andrea, who was blown away by the persona of the narrator, and by the way he “spoiled” the events that were about to occur. This set-up seemed an old chestnut to me, and I’m not sure it added anything, though it wasn’t a drawback. ::shrug::
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