Study Guide for Book Clubs: The Book Thief: Study Guides for Book Clubs, #5

By Kathryn Cope

An essential tool for all reading groups!

No reading group should be without this book club companion to Markus Zusak's bestselling novel, The Book Thief. This comprehensive guide includes thought-provoking discussion questions; useful literary and historical context; a detailed plot summary, notes on themes; lists of recommended further reading and a quick quiz.

Study Guides for Book Clubs are designed to help you get the absolute best from your book club meetings. They enable reading group members to appreciate their chosen book in greater depth than ever before.

Please be aware that this is a companion guide and does not contain the full text of the novel.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kathryn Cope
• Release date: Mar 13, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393923831

Kathryn Cope

Kathryn Cope graduated in English Literature from Manchester University and obtained her master’s degree in contemporary fiction from the University of York. She is the author of Study Guides for Book Clubs and the HarperCollins Offical Book Club Guide series. She lives in the Staffordshire Moorlands with her husband, son and dog.

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Introduction

There are few things more rewarding than getting together with a group of like-minded people and discussing a good book. Book club meetings, at their best, are vibrant, passionate affairs. Each member will bring along a different perspective and ideally there will be heated debate.

Nevertheless, a surprising number of book club members report that their meetings have been a disappointment. Even when their group enjoyed the book in question, they could think of astonishingly little to say about it and soon wandered off-topic altogether. Failing to find interesting discussion angles for a book is the single most common reason for book group meetings to fall flat. Most groups only meet once a month, and a lacklustre meeting is frustrating for everyone.

Study Guides for Book Clubs were born out of a passion for reading groups. Packed with information, they take the hard work out of preparing for a meeting and ensure that your book group discussions never run dry. How you choose to use the guides is entirely up to you. The first few chapters provide useful background information which may be worthwhile to share with your group early on. The all-important list of discussion questions, which will probably form the core of your meeting, can be found towards the end of this guide. To support your responses to the discussion questions, you will find it helpful to refer to the sections covering Themes and Character.

A detailed plot synopsis is provided as an aide-memoire to recap on the finer points of the story. There is also a quick quiz—a fun way to test your knowledge and bring your discussion to a close. Finally, if this was a book that you enjoyed, the guide concludes with a list of further reads similar in style or subject matter.

This guide contains spoilers. Please do not be tempted to read it before you have finished the original novel as plot surprises will be well and truly ruined.

Why Read The Book Thief?

Potential readers of The Book Thief are sometimes put off when they learn that the novel was originally written for young adults. Any fears that it might not be challenging enough might also be confirmed by a glance at the dust jacket which claims that it is a small story, about: a girl; an accordionist; some fanatical Germans; a Jewish fist fighter and quite a lot thievery. This is understatement on a grand scale. The Book Thief is, in fact, a huge story which encompasses all the elements listed on the dust jacket, but also a great deal more. Although focusing on the life of one German girl, Liesel Meminger, it explores the heavyweight subjects of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.

Scratch away at the surface of the novel’s deliberately simplistic, often playful tone and an incredibly rich and complex text lies underneath. Ambitious and inventive, it weaves in original literary devices, resonant symbolism and powerful themes. It is the kind of book that begs a second reading to fully appreciate just how much is packed into it.

Book groups will find a wealth of material to discuss in The Book Thief, from its treatment of the Holocaust and powerful themes to its inventive style, and colourful characters. Those who have seen the 2013 film adaptation may also find a comparison between the book and screen version makes for an interesting discussion.

Happy debating!

Markus Zusak

Markus Zusak was born in 1975, making him only 30 when The Book Thief was first published (extraordinarily young in the literary world where most novelists only achieve real success in their 40s or later). It was not his first novel. The Australian author had already published a series of award-winning young adult novels: The Underdog (1999); Fighting Ruben Wolfe (2000); When Dogs Cry (aka Getting the Girl, 2001) and The Messenger (2002) (published as I Am the Messenger in the USA, 2002). The Messenger had achieved international success with both its intended young adult readership and also adult readers. When The Book Thief was first published in Australia in 2005 it proved to have even greater appeal. It was published in the US in 2006 and has since been translated into over 30 languages. Zusak is currently busy on his next novel which has the working title, Bridge of Clay.

The Inspiration for The Book Thief

A novel about Nazi Germany seems an unusual choice for a young Australian writer. Zusak’s mother grew up near Munich, however, and throughout his childhood the author would listen to her stories about Nazi Germany and the wartime bombings. One particular story of his mother’s really captured Zusak’s imagination. When she was six, intrigued by the commotion coming from the main street, his mother ran to find out what was happening. Expecting to see