The book thief book was written in 2005. Its author is a young Australian writer Marcus Zuzak. The book was praised by critics and readers. The world press enthusiastically responded about the book, calling it one of the best literary works about World War II.
Death Teller
The action takes place in Nazi Germany. The narrative is conducted on behalf of Death. Death in the Book Thief, a summary of which is presented in this article, is masculine.
Death violates its eternal rule - to deal only with the dead - and begins to observe with curiosity the girl whom he calls the "book thief." Death and the girl met three times: when the brother of the “book thief” died, when Death came for the dead pilot, when the bombing ended. Then the girl accidentally lost the book that she wrote about herself. Death found a book and decided to tell the story of the “book thief”.
The first book of the gravedigger
January 1939 Germany. A woman carries a daughter and son to foster parents. The woman’s husband is a missing communist. Having given the children to foster parents, she hopes to save the children from Nazi persecution. On the way, the unfortunate boy dies of pulmonary hemorrhage. His death makes a huge impression on the girl. After the boy’s funeral, his sister, whose name is Liesel Meminger, picked up a book dropped by a grave digger. So she became a "book thief."
New family
The book Thief Book, a brief summary of which is presented in this article, tells that a lady from the state guardianship took Lizel to the town of Molking on Himmel Strasse - Heavenly Street and assigned her to the Huberman foster parents. Foster parents seemed to the girl not the most charming people. Rosa and Hans Hubermans are rude and not prone to violent manifestations of feelings people, by conviction - anti-fascists. They tell Liesel to call them dad and mom. The girl is a little afraid of her adoptive mother, although she begins to become attached to her. A brief summary of Zuzak's Book Thief tells us that the girl quickly found a common language with Hans. His kindness and calm helped her to survive the nightmares that tormented her after the terrible death of her brother.
At school
The girl went to school. Although she is 9 years old, she is forced to go to the same class with the kids, because she is not even trained in the initial reading and writing skills. The summary of The Book Thief tells us that Hans, having seen the book at Liesel, tells her that it is called “Instructions to the grave digger”. The adoptive father teaches the girl to read. She is transferred to a peer class, where she meets a boy Rudy, with whom she has a strong friendship.
Rudy Steiner is a Huberman neighbor. He dreams of looking like his idol - black American athlete Jesse Owens, who won 4 gold medals at the Olympic Games in Berlin.
Liesel is not too good at reading, she is not easy to learn. Classmates laugh at her, and she fights in response.
Start of war
The Second World War begins. Hubermans are doing poorly. They are getting poorer. Liesel learns to write letters. She decides to write to her mother, for this she steals money from the Hubermans and sends a letter. An angry rose punishes a girl. The letter does not reach the addressee, - the Nazis took the mother Lizel.
Second book
On April 20, on the birthday of Adolf Hitler, a huge bonfire is lit in Molking in which they throw old things and books that the Nazis found harmful to the Germans.
Hans quarrels with his Nazi son. Death says that the young man will die in the Battle of Stalingrad.
When dusk came, the people went home, and the bonfire burned out, Liesel and Hans passed by. Lizel stealthily picks up and miraculously hides the surviving book Shrugging. This is seen by the governor's wife, who is known as a madman.
"My struggle"
Liesel is worried that the governor’s wife will give her away, but in vain. She shows the girl her room full of books.
Hans exchanges Hitler’s book “My Struggle” for tobacco.
Death tells of Max, a young Jew. He is forced to hide in a closet and starve. A friend gives him false documents embedded in the book “My Struggle” and advises him to go to Hans in Molking.
With the onset of summer, Liesel reads "Shrug" at night, and during the day - books that she takes from the burgomaster’s library. By chance, the girl finds out the reason for the insanity of the wife of the governor - this is the death of her only son.
Arthur Berg is a fifteen-year-old teenager, the leader of a gang that plunders neighboring gardens and vegetable gardens. He takes a gang of Liesel and Rudy. Summer passed, Arthur left. Death saw him in Cologne, holding a dead sister in his arms.
In November, Max arrives and opens the door to Hans's house with his key.
Max
Hans tells Liesel the story of his acquaintance with Max. As it turned out, his father saved Hans's life during the First World War. In turn, Hans saved Max during the Jewish pogrom, putting him in his basement for two years. Hans instructs Liesel not to extradite Max.
Girl and Max become friends. A Jew fills the pages of Hitler’s book and makes illustrations to the story of his acquaintance with Liesel to give her a birthday present.
The third book "Whistler"
The governor’s wife gives Lizel the book Whistler, but the girl rudely refuses.
In the summer, Viktor becomes the leader of the gang - a sadist who rudely treats Rudy. At the instigation of Liesel, teenagers climb into the governor's house. Liesel steals a book.
The fourth book in the girl
So that Max could make a snowman, Liesel brings him snow to the basement. Max is seriously ill and recovers only in the middle of spring.
Liesel steals a new book - The Postman of Dreams.
New fifth book
Rudy becomes the champion of local sports competitions. Liesel steals a new book.
The summary of the Book Thief by Markus Zuzak states that during the bombing, the girl reads “Whistler” for the people in the bomb shelter. Max on this occasion makes a series of illustrations "The queen of words."
Hans gives bread to an old man from a column of Jews, both are beaten. Max has to get away from the Hubermans.
The Nazis want to take champion Rudy to their special school, but his father refuses to give him away. Father Rudi and Hans are sent to the front.
Sixth book
The book thief, a brief summary of which is interesting to read, tells how a girl steals the book The Last Human Stranger. Hans commission. He is coming back. Near the city the plane falls, the pilot is dead. Death sees Liesel.
The girl sees Max in a column of Jews. She walks next to him. Both are beaten. Lizel spends 3 days in bed, and then Rudy talks about everything.
Book Thief
Frau German - the wife of the governor - gives the girl a book without words, so that she herself wrote Liesel. According to the summary of Book Thief by M. Zuzak, the girl regularly fills it in the basement, calling her story Book Thief, thanks to which she remains alive during the bombing, in which almost the entire population of Himmel Strasse dies.
The girl says goodbye to the dead mom, dad and Rudy. The girl’s book goes to Death.
Frau Hermann takes Liesel to him. In the fall of 1945, Max finds her.
From the summary of the Book Thief, one can learn that, having lived a long happy life, Liesel dies. Death gives her her book.