Book Club: The Book Thief | Markus Zusak | Book Discussion Meeting

Hey everyone! Welcome to THE BOOK THIEF Book to Movie Club!

Today, I'm excited to share with you all the first meet up in a recent book club I was asked to host. The book we would be discussing and dissecting would be Markus Zusak's THE BOOK THIEF. But that's not all because this isn't your typical book club. This club is really a book to movie club where first we met and discussed the book itself and what we expect and hope to see in the upcoming movie, then we meet again to go see the film as a group and end with a discussion about the film.

The Book Thief Book to Movie Participants:

In the first picture (left) is Jessica and Rachel. Jessica actually has a pretty awesome story, we got to hear a piece of it, Jessica is a second generation survivor. Her grandmother has actually shared her stories with her about that time.

Then next picture (center) are Sheila, Jennifer and Trudy (Trudy's my mom). So if you have read the book, then you'll know my mom shares her name with Trudy Hubermann from the story. I thought that was cool, to actually see my mom's nickname in the book. Her first name is actually Gertrudis, which I came to find out during this meet was also my great-great grandmother's first name, which my mom was named after. But that's not all, it turns out my great-great grandmother was also from Germany and migrated to Spain during that time period to avoid being sent to the concentration camps. So that was pretty amazing to learn about my family history.

Then in the last picture (right) you see Heather and I. We met at my house and sat inside my office/library area to discuss this book and so much more.

Missing from the meet up were Meagan and Michelle, they both had medical issues they were dealing with that night that were unexpected. They will be at the movie night screening though. But Megan actually has her own story too. Her great-great grandfather also left Germany during those times in a bread crate on board a ship and was out at sea over 20+ days stuck inside the crate. He arrived in Galveston, Texas.

So as you can see even before I post about hints we discussed regarding The Book Thief, so much was learned that night about each other and how our own lives were affected by the Hitler years.

Discussion:

Each of us had never read The Book Thief before, so we were all very excited to join in the adventure together. Because reading books is definitely an adventure.

Death's P.O.V.:

• Sheila has no idea how it will be told in Death's point of View in the film.
• Trudy feels that Death is all over the place with the story.
• Rachel said Death is a bit A.D.D. in the book.

Yes this was the topic or being we would end up always talking about. The main concern from the group was, how will this film be told from Death's P.O.V. When we viewed the trailer together during the chat, we sort of think its told from Liesel's P.O.V. in the film, so we are even more curious now, if Death even makes some type of appearance.

What does Death's look like:

• Shelia pictured a Patrick Swayze 'Ghost" representation while she read the book.
• Jennifer pictured a normal looking person since he is able to pick up souls/bodies.
• Trudy didn't picture a solid entity, she pictured more of a soul/ghost.
• Heather pictured a transparent being.
• Rachel said to her he is that person everyone ignores, who no one pays attention too.
• I said when I figured it was Death telling the story, i immediately thought of Brad Pitt in 'Meet Joe Black' movie. That Death entered a human body like a possession. (maybe even good looking like Brad Pitt.)

Max:

• The group as a whole questions what happens to him and if he was who Liesel's married in the end. Will the movie version show us more at the end?
• Shelia is very pleased with whom is portraying Max in the film, because when she read the book she pictured someone who was malnourished and just skin and bones.

Rudy:

• We all love love love Rudy.
• One thing we noticed when we watched the book trailer concerning Rudy, was that in the book he never asked Liesel if she was hiding someone but in the film's trailer you can see when he does ask Liesel if she is.

Liesel:

• Heather says she was thrown off a bit about Liesel's description. In the book she is said to have brown eyes while the book movie-tie in edition show the actress playing Liesel and her eyes being blue in color. It was a little detail hat bugged her.
• The group also thought that Liesel look very well in the book trailer as opposed to how she is described in the book. We all wished our hair curled as pretty as hers, lol.

Ending:

• As a majority the group hopes that in the film we will see more closure in the end and not how it ended in the book.
• We all just agreed that Death was very descriptive in the beginning and when it came to the end, he just stop giving details.
• Sheila is dying to know how the end will be done, in the book its very choppy. So she hopes to see more of that last chapter play out.

Scene we want in the film:

• We all agreed and said we hope they show the part where Rudy portray Jessie Owens and paints himself black with charcoal and pretends to be running in the Olympics. The scene was awesome.
• Its not really something we want to see, but if they do show this scene, we know we will ugly cry. The part when the mother carries Liesel's deceased brother. Again, ugly cry if in the movie.

So there you have it folks, that's most of what we discussed. Like I mentioned earlier, Death was the hot topic. We just kept coming back to him or it. We are very excited that we get to see the film soon, on Sunday, November 17th. We will have boxes of tissue on hand.

This was definitely a great book to have this book to movie club for.

Have you read The Book Thief? What do you have to say about what we mentioned? What are you looking forward to seeing in the film? Let us know in the comments.

THE BOOK THIEF – in select theaters November 8

Based on the beloved bestselling book, THE BOOK THIEF tells the inspirational story of a spirited and courageous young girl who transforms the lives of everyone around her when she is sent to live with a new family in World War II Germany.

Starring Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, and Sophie Nélisse.

Directed by Brian Percival.

THE BOOK THIEF online: official website | Facebook | Twitter | #TheBookThief