Thursday, November 14, 2013

The Book Thief Review - 3½ Stars

Based on a well regarded, “The Book Thief” tells the story of a young girl orphaned in Germany in the days before World War Two.  One interesting device is the use of the voice of “Death” as the story narrator.  Sophie Nelissse plays an orphan taken in by kindly Geoffrey Rush and stern Emily Watson.  She enrolls in school where her fellow student discover she can neither read nor write.  Rush takes her aside daily and teaches, in the process developing in the young girl a love of reading.  On bringing laundry to the town mayor, she discovers his vast library, opened to her by the mayor’s wife.  But a misstep closes the library to her.  So she and her friends devise a way to sneak in and “borrow” the books she loves.  The war begins and the town and her life gradually change.  The son of a friend asks for asylum in the basement and the couple hide him.  The story moves at a steady place and pulls you into this young girl’s world.   Does it deliver what it promises?  War story told with interest.  Is it entertaining?  Really holds you.  Is it worth the price of admission?   A delight.