(以下內容引用自博客來)
內容簡介：
這是一個關於文字如何餵養人類靈魂的獨特故事，
一個撼動死神的故事。
死神首度以豐富的感情，為讀者講述一個孤單的小女孩，
如何藉由閱讀的力量，度過人生最艱困的時期。
9 歲小女孩莉賽爾和弟弟在戰亂中被迫送到寄養家庭，但弟弟不幸死在旅途中，莉賽爾在弟弟冷清的喪禮後偷了一本掘墓工人的手冊，為的是要紀念自己永遠失去的家庭。寄養家庭位在慕尼黑凋蔽貧困的區域，大人彼此仇恨咒罵，老師狠毒無情，戰火時時威脅人命。莉賽爾每晚抱著掘墓工人手冊入睡，惡夢不斷。養父為了讓她安眠，於是為她朗誦手冊內容，並開始教她識字。
學會認字進而開始讀書的莉賽爾，儘管生活艱苦，吃不飽穿不暖，卻發現了一項比食物更讓 她難以抗拒的東西——書，她忍不住開始偷書，用偷來的書繼續學習認字。從此莉賽爾進入了文字的奇妙世界，讓她熬過了現實的苦難，也不可思議地幫助了周圍同樣承受苦難的人：讀書給躲在養父家地下室的猶太人聽，在空襲時為躲入防空洞中的街坊鄰居朗讀故事，安慰了每顆惶惶不安的心，潛移默化改變了原本粗鄙的性情。
對照著戰場上萬人之間的爭奪殘殺，莉賽爾藉由閱讀與文字所散發的力量，讓死神驚訝地睜大了眼睛，一面收取戰場上的靈魂，一面思索人性的深奧：為什麼人類一面展現殘酷的殺戮，一面又有發自內心的關愛呢？
多年以後，死神前去迎接莉賽爾的靈魂。死神坐在喧囂的大馬路旁，忍不住感嘆道：「人哪！人性縈繞我的心頭不去！人性怎能同時間如此光明，又如此邪惡！」
本書特色：
本書的特點有三，其一是敘事者死神的角色。他既不煽情，也非全然冷酷，反而是用尖銳的觀察力與一點點嘲諷，看著世上的人群相互殘殺，又相互扶持。最後，死神不得不承認，人心之複雜，是無法測透的。
另一個特色，是作者在情節當中充分展現了文字的力量。女主角從不識字到識字，整個過程就是她成長、懂事的經歷。她學會了認字之後，不但協助了猶太裔逃犯，也用故事的力量轉變了整個本來是低俗下流的街坊鄰舍。主角懂事之後，面對的卻是殘酷的命運。這樣的遭遇，正呼應了現實生活的情境，也因此使得本書廣受讀者認同。
作者本身簡約的文字風格，賦予這部小說一種冷冽、抽離的情感，加上死神的口吻，讓讀者不斷感嘆於人性的光輝與險惡之中。這本書會讓人一讀再讀，一再對照當下的人間萬事，產生極大的感觸，並與書中人物建立直接的聯繫，彷彿感同身受他們的遭遇，與他們同感希望，同受苦難。
(以下內容引自The Book Thief From Wikipedia)
Theme(s) (故事中的主題)：
Death, dying – Throughout the novel, the discussion of dying
comes to the forefront. This is a very apparent theme because the
narrator is Death (who even experiences difficulties with the sheer
amount of brutality). World War II is also in the background, which
denotes that death is all around Liesel. The source of all of Liesel's
and Max's nightmares are the deaths of their family members.
Literature – Liesel learns the value of having a voice and
knowing how to read from the beginning of the book. She also realizes
that words are what hold the country under the power of Hitler and Nazi
party. The theme is recurring: Hans teaches her to read at night, the
mayor's wife allows her into the library and Max gives her two books he
wrote himself. As well as being the source of her strife, literature
also becomes Liesel's escape from her bleak life.
Guilt - A lot of the story contains the central theme of guilt.
When Max stays with the Hubermanns he is constantly asking for
forgiveness for putting them through many trials with Nazis and other
situations. Another prime example is when Alex Steiner returns home in
the end and realizes that his whole family has perished. He feels
guilty for not letting Rudy go to the Nazi school which eventually got
his son killed instead of him, to which he expressed he would rather
have died in his son's place.
Friendship – Much of the plot revolves around the friendship
between Liesel and Rudy, whose friendship is borderline on romance.
Hans' loyalty to Max's father leads to hiding Max in the basement,
which creates the deep bond between Liesel and Max.
Man vs. Society – The conflict in the novel The Book Thief is man
vs. society. The novel's events are set against the background of the
Jewish Holocaust and the greater events of World War II. Hans, one of
the main characters, is morally opposed to the actions of Hitler and
the Nazi party, although he knows that he cannot oppose it outright at
the risk of being sent to a concentration camp along with his wife Rosa
and foster daughter Liesel. However, Hans does challenge the Nazi
regime, but chooses to do so through quiet means such as painting over
anti-Semitic slurs which have been written on Jewish shopfronts. At one
point he even goes so far as to shelter and hide a Jewish man who is
trying to escape the concentration camps. At the same time, Hans is
aware of the judgment he receives from the "party members" in his
neighborhood, as they all know that he is not sympathetic to Hitler's
cause, which he is obligated to be as a German citizen.
The Beauty and Brutality of Humanity – The brutality of humans
is primarily a product of the setting in Nazi Germany. The horrors of
war are shown to the reader through the treatment of Jews and scenes
such as the dying pilot. In this scene Rudy places a teddy bear on the
man's chest which is an example of the beauty of humanity. These acts
of kindness re-appear throughout the novel to show both sides of the
human nature.
我是因為66折所以下單買書的，雖然買書的行為這件事是不環保的，但是作著就是靠著買書的人才得以拿到版稅生存。看待事情的角度的確是會影響到一個人的價值觀的，其實我也是給我買書這個行為找藉口合理化我的消費唄。一切的起因就是許多人都非常的推這本小說，加上網頁上的介紹寫的十分動人，我也抱著很高的期待來讀這本書。結果我一開始非常無法進入作著的寫作模式，一開始我以為是翻譯的關係，後來才發現原來是我不習慣死神的表達方式。就像看電影的時候，後排的人突然講出後面的劇情甚至是決定性的結果時，真的看到演出的時候，我總是會覺得有些掃興。死神不斷地預告後面發生的事情，讓我一直無法完全的投入故事當中。不過看到後半段之後也漸漸地習慣了，即使是已經預告了結果，但最後一個chapter讀完的時候，我心中還是悶悶地好一段時間，不捨的感覺一直揮之不去。
一開始讀這個故事的時候，我找不到任何一個讓我喜歡的角色，但看完書之後，卻對每一個角色都好喜歡，連死神也是唷。我喜歡麥克斯寫的小故事，也喜歡莉賽爾的偷書賊。不過我實在不認為抖抖手是寫給小朋友看的故事，我看原文的網頁上還有分Adult和Teenager兩種版本，不知道內容會不會差很多喔~每天下班花十分鐘在交通車上斷斷續續地終於在上星期五把這本小說讀完了，雖然不到大推的地步，但也還不錯看喔。也許再讀幾次會也不同的感受也不一定~
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