Thief

The Book Thief
$11.99
I have a horrible memory, so one of the most redeeming qualities for me, for a book, is when I can remember it. When it touches me so much that I remember scenes and lines, and images the author created months after having read it. There are a few books I can do that for and The Book Thief is no exception. I read this book in December of 08, and I can still remember most of the plot, some of the things the characters said, and overall my incredible love for Liesel. At such a young age she's already learning so much about life and death, things that a nine year old should not have to deal with. The Book Thief is a good lesson about the Holocaust, even the people who seemed to have it good, or better than others, still had it horrible.

Liesel is followed by the narrator from the time when her brother dies and she steals her first book, until the end of the story. And her story is by far heart-wrenching, but also shows the power that kids have: of imagination and the ability to think for themselves. She's a strong girl, with a strong heart, and the ability to know right from wrong even when the entire world around her is denying anything is wrong. My absolute favourite memory of Liesel is actually when she sees the library in the Mayor's house for the first time. I have grown up around libraries and book stores my entire life - My mom used to have closets full of books - I have never been deprived of reading. And yet the Mayor's library is like a treasure trove for Liesel, and through Zusak's writing I honestly felt as if - reading that revelation for Liesel - I had never seen so many books before. I felt her excitement, her amazement at the rows and rows of books. I was in awe right along with her.

Other than Liesel, my favourite part of this book, is the writing. I have read so many books in my life, but honestly, never before have I read such a hauntingly beautiful story as I did in The Book Thief. There are so many passages in the book that take ordinary things that we see everyday and put completely new meaning to them.

"Summer came. For the book thief, everything was going nicely. For me, the sky was the color of Jews."
Excerpt pg. 340, The Book Thief

This paragraph reminds me of the saying `If walls could talk' - and changing it to `If the sky could talk' - it has definitely seen a lot more then the inside of a house. And Zusak does an amazing job at illustrating that.

My absolute favourite part of the entire book, is something you either love or you hate about it: the narrator. If you read any review on this book you will notice that they always mention the narrator. Being of course, Death, himself. Most people love this, some do hate it though. I am one of the former, but even being one of the later you have to admit that this is something unique. As a designer, I often find myself saying that `There are no original ideas, just new takes on old ones', and often times that applies to books as well. This is something that I have never seen done before, a story from the point of view of Death? Especially in such a place experiencing death in such an excruciating way. The Book Thief gives a whole new meaning to the past, and to having sympathy for the Devil... or well Death, at least.

The Thief
$27.95
I noticed this movie from its' nomination for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category. That's usually a solid category in which to find quality movies and "The Thief" is no exception. The title keeps no secrets but I had no idea of the direction that the plot would carry us. It is the story of a boy who searches for something to hold on to in the years after WWII in Soviet Russia. The various stages in his life (and most of this film takes place with him about 4 years old) present challenges that most of us could not fathom. The lessons in life that he absorbs leads to a strange climax which is followed by an equally pondersome post-script. My take is that "The Thief" suggests that life repeats itself no matter how offbeat the circumstances of our youth.

As an aside, this film is rather crude at times. Check out the (to date) lone one-star review for a somewhat over-reaction to the crudeness. Nonetheless, there's a youthful example of how European cinema standards cross a line that, to my knowledge, US films still (thank goodness) consider taboo. There actually is a cultural context for the scene that comes to mind but it could have been filmed differently. I was impressed by the Russian life style that "The Thief" depicted so well. It is certainly worth watching (even if you might want to avoid watching every scene).

The Thief
$9.99
I have the VHS version of this movie and I was glad when I saw it was on DVD.
The print is beautiful and surpasses the one on VHS.
G. Gonzalez

Thief
$14.98
What they were thinking when releasing this brilliant film to dvd is beyond me. The transfer is horrible! I love Michael Mann and this will always be my fav, but this dvd transfer is horrendous and does not give the movie justice. I give the actual movie a ten, I give the dvd a one.