I read the book in 8th grade. It was part of the reading curriculum. Other than Animal Farm, it was the only book I loved.
The story is set in World War 2 Germany, narrated from the point of view of Death. It follows the story of Liesel, who is adopted by foster parents Hans and Rosa Hubermann and lives and grows up in a socialist world with many internal conflicts.
Hans is a tall gentle man that teaches Liesel to read and plays the accordion. Rosa is a sharp-tongued woman who has a soft heart inside. She swears and curses frequently and often, using the words saukerl and saumensch, meaning "filthy pig", and arschloch, meaning "asshole".
I was so afraid that the movie would underscore the book, because the book was beautiful on its own, and i was sure that the beautiful, witty language could not be transcribed onto screen.
I was wrong. I bawled. The entire time.
It makes me want to cry just thinking about it, because the movie was amazing all on its own.
There was Max Vandenburg, the German Jew that hid in the Hubermanns' basements for a time. Liesel made him want to survive and know what it was like to live, describing simple things such as the weather, or bringing a handful of snow. Max, on the other hand, encouraged her to read and to write and share the stories of her own. He says, (heavily paraphrased"...
"In our religion, we believe that every living thing, every leaf, every creature, every human, has a secret word that gives them life. it is what separates us from that lump of clay...Use it, Liesel. Words are the power we have."
That is deep.
And then there was Rudy.
Rudy!!!!!
Rudy :'( :'( :( :(
He was the boy Liesel befriended, who played soccer and once painted himself black with charcoal to pretend to be Jesse Owens. He walked with her, he raced with her down the streets, and once, he tried to run away with her, with nothing but a three-piece suit on his back and a soccer ball in a rucksack. The first time he raced her down a snowy street, he bet her a kiss if he won. No spoilers, but I was laughing crying so, so hard in the scenes with Rudy, because he is adorable and impulsive, rebellious and funny.
So many feels.
The scenes that I imagined in my head while reading the book were shot so powerfully. Even in the scenes where there were no words spoken, there was a deep presence of the era, of a war-torn country and the people living in it. It wasn't a country full of brainwashed people--no, no, no. They were desperate, but they were still strong, still loving and stoic. It depicts that time period without judgement, and I was grateful for that.
In the end, there was this old couple in front of us that kissed, and hugged each other, which just...
The tears.
So watch it. Bring tissues.And read the book too, because it truly is one of the great contemporaries of this century.
