Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
What we're reading

Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

Original poster

The Book Thief - give up or persevere?

33 replies

Bumperslucious · 11/08/2009 20:14

I'm not even half way though and I'm finding it very putdownable. Should I persevere or give up?

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
cheapskatemum · 15/09/2009 20:49

I also lost the book when I was about two thirds way through. I never bothered to replace it as I wasn't enjoying it. I did enjoy Boy in Striped PJs tho' (which, coincidentally, I had just finished when I started Book Thief. I would say give up.

TheFoosa · 15/09/2009 17:08

it's very good, but if it's a slog then don't bother

Read Maus instead

juuule · 15/09/2009 17:01

I loved it. Got quite caught up in the characters lives.

I needed the tissues.

hotcrossbunny · 15/09/2009 16:47

I agree with GinSlinger!(great name BTW!)

GinSlinger · 15/09/2009 16:29

I agree that if you don't love it by now then you never will - I did love it.

Poodlehorse · 15/09/2009 16:17

I struggled through this, not sure when I decided it was any good but I finished it one morning because I woke up at 5am and thought oh goody now I can finish my book. I felt glad I had read it but I can't quite use the word enjoy. I kept wanting it to hurry up but then you don't want to hurry death do you? I quite liked the ending.

Wouldn't reread it though. And wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it either but if you have started it I would say it get's better.

nkf · 21/08/2009 14:59

I gave up pretty early on.

muggglewump · 21/08/2009 14:57

I finished this last night and absolutely loved it.
I must be a teen at heart too!

I sobbed at the end.

madameDefarge · 16/08/2009 14:46

I really thought this would be a good 'un, and there are lots of really promising bit in it, just didn't quite hang together in the end.

Flamesparrow · 16/08/2009 14:12

I read it, but was still left a bit meh by the end.

HarlotOTara · 16/08/2009 12:45

Persevere, it took me a while to get into it and the style is a little odd but I enjoyed it once I got over that.

Thought 'The Boy...' was not that great, probably because from what I have read of concentration/extermination camps I know that children were not around due to be murdered as soon as they arrived. Maybe I was being to literal but it irritated me.

CheeryCherry · 16/08/2009 12:38

Boy in the striped PJs, yes twas good, v simplistic so a good youngster read. Can be read in a flash.

AliGrylls · 16/08/2009 12:35

Give up - I read the first page and knew it would be rubbish. Instead read something interesting like Boy in Striped Pyjamas or Goodbye Mr Chips. Both very good books and neither suffer from the vanity of modern authors who think people actually want to read an averagely written epic.

CheeryCherry · 16/08/2009 12:34

Loved it (must be a teen at heart!), one of my fave books now actually.
But perhaps if you are having such a hard time with it, maybe give up. Life's too short, plenty more books in the sea etc.

ClaraDeLaNoche · 16/08/2009 12:11

Uh oh this may deter the OP from finishing.

CoteDAzur · 14/08/2009 15:41

LOL @ "Tissues"

So everyone dies. Boo hoo. I just rolled my eyes and wished they all died way earlier so I didn't have to read through 500+ pages of that drivel.

ClaraDeLaNoche · 13/08/2009 22:11

CoteDAzur we meet again.

Finish it. And make sure you have tissues handy.

CoteDAzur · 11/08/2009 22:34

It doesn't get more interesting. Are you under 15? If not, give up. Life is just too short and you will never get those hours back.

It's a book written for teenagers. ("Young adults", according to Amazon)

LightShinesInTheDarkness · 11/08/2009 22:32

I started this, got half way through - then literally lost the book! Or maybe the Book Thief got it

When it turns up again, I will probably finish it.

Polaris · 11/08/2009 22:31

Give it up if you don't like it as the same pace continues throughout. There isn't a climax as such.

I loved it tho and read it in days.

IsItMeOr · 11/08/2009 22:25

I'm reading this (really slowly) at the mo, and I loved the style from the start. What's the point in reading something if you don't enjoy the journey though? Find something else to read?

Didn't realise it was a children's book, but that does make sense.

SixtyFootDoll · 11/08/2009 22:22

I am reading it right now
Finding it pleasantly easy and interesting.
Not the most exciting of books, but like the quirky style.

MollieO · 11/08/2009 22:21

Took me a while to get into it but read it to the end and thought it was one of the most interesting books I've read despite it being a children's book.

ellybett · 11/08/2009 22:19

I read it and was totally unmoved considering the subject matter. But it's been staring at me from the bookshelf for the last couple of days demanding to be read so I'm wondering if it's one that might improve on a second go. I've been contemplating putting it in my hospital bag! But maybe I'm being a tad naive thinking I'll be in the frame of mind to read it!

cheeseycharlie · 11/08/2009 22:18

it's quite pants. apparently it was originally started as a children's book but grew in scope until the author decided to turn it into a full novel, which explains some of the style. you won't miss much if you give it up. or flick through to the end for highlights?
shame it's not better as you don't often get a holocaust story told from point of view of the German population. I enjoyed that aspect, but otherwise not really up to snuff

Swipe left for the next trending thread